The eternal SM57...

i have 3 shure 545s, not sure of the dates on em. they are all UnidyneIII models. 1 is US-made and 2 are MIM. all three sound "just fine". the two MIM sound veritably identical to each other, and on par with the recently made 57's i've used. my US-made 545 has more bottom end, more detail, it's thicker sounding, and IMO, it has an overall better (read: "more pleasing to my ear") sound than the two MIMs (which seem "thin" in comparison).

could this be a case of the US just plain being a better mic? possibly. could this be a case of the 2 MIMs being "beaten up" or experiencing diaphragm distress? doubtful--they sound identical and they're both in great shape (as is the US one). i can't tell you why.....i can only tell you what i hear.

take it for what you will, but of my three UnidyneIII shure 545s, i far perfer my US-made one to my 2 MIMs, and quite frankly it sees much more use. that's not saying that the MIMs are bad by any means--i just like the sound of the US one better on most sources. of course, there are times where the "thinner" sound of the MIMs works better in the context of the mix.

of course, YMMV.


cheers,
wade
 
chessrock said:
No, all I'm saying is that it isn't a very thrilling topic. :D I love talking about cheap mics. Your thread just puts me to sleep, that's all. What is it even about? Are you trying to diss Mexico or something? Please. They work 10 times harder than Americans do, and make far less. I don't blame 'em for screwing around with your Blues Junior. I would, too. I'd probably spit in it. :D :D Just kidding.
Click to expand...

Your comments are putting me to sleep...if you don't care, why did you take the time to respond? :confused:
 
Scriabin said:
...if you don't care, why did you take the time to respond? :confused:
Click to expand...

Because the guy seemed really emphatic about getting an answer. He even went so far as to draft up a list of possible expanations as to why people weren't commenting on his thread.

This guy obviously was on a mission to get some answers as to why there weren't many responses to his thread. :D So I gave him an honest one. I'm sorry if it's not the one he wanted, but it was at least honest. It's just not that exciting of a topic for some people. If this guy wants to start his personal crusade against Mexico, let him knock himself out. I like watching mexican television because the chicks are hot. I love Chile Rillenos. What else is there to talk about? This is a big-time yawner of a subject.
 
Guess it's up to me then to straighten this out...

Per many AE's the "Made In USA" Unidyne III's (including SM57 & 545) were more consistant in how they sounded compared to one another.

So if a source responded well to one if you had to use ANOTHER one it would have a more predictable result. In fact many old school AE's even labled the same model of Unidyne "snare", "amp", or whatever other instrument if they liked a particular one. Madonna and John Lennon each had favorite ones for studio vocal tracks. I've never heard two sound THAT close to one another.

Jim Williams at www.audioupgrades.com thinks that due to Shure not replacing the Mylar stampers as Unidyne production went to Mexico, this caused the QC to go "South" :). Maybe they finally replaced them later for all I know.

BTW the 545 capsules are NOT SM57 rejects. The assembly is different on the 545 (has a copper coil for example). The SM57 though is a little more impervious to low end "thumping". The capsule myth seems widespread,
yet neither capsule fits in the other one to boot IIRC.
If you do a search on RAP, a higher up at Shure explains this in detail.

The SM57 that says "Unidyne III" I have (=made in USA) FWIW has a thicker tone than any of the Mexican ones tried.

Suppose this is pretty academic since Unidynes take so well to EQing anyway.

My two faves in the Unidyne series (besides SM7) for my voice are the Shure 546 and the 548-which is a Unidyne IV! (tweaked III capsule)
548 is smoooth compared to a SM57, with more effective bass extension,
don't go by the frequency chart.

Chris
 
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