Fake SM57!?

jaykeMURD

jaykeMURD

I sit on you.
OK, I've been doing a lot of recording and messing with mic placement and such. I use 2 SM57s I got off Ebay a few months ago. Keep in mind, I'm still new to recording and microphones, but I'm starting to think the SM57's I got might be fakes. As most will agree, the SM57 is bar-none as far as budget recording goes. I really only think this when I'm miking my snare. I mic properly, and all my other mics sound great, but the 57 just doesn't seem to live up to it's reputation.
The mic looks authentic, feels authentic, but I can't be sure about the sound. My lack of experience with other 57's, and other mics for that matter, makes it hard to know. I'll post some pics of the units soon. Until then, are there any ways to know if a unit is real or not? I know there were lots of fake sm57 and sm58's found in china and such. I'm really kinda dissapointed with the 57's...and I'm really hoping it's just me being paranoid! :o
 
jaykeMURD said:
OK, I've been doing a lot of recording and messing with mic placement and such. I use 2 SM57s I got off Ebay a few months ago. Keep in mind, I'm still new to recording and microphones, but I'm starting to think the SM57's I got might be fakes. As most will agree, the SM57 is bar-none as far as budget recording goes. I really only think this when I'm miking my snare. I mic properly, and all my other mics sound great, but the 57 just doesn't seem to live up to it's reputation.
The mic looks authentic, feels authentic, but I can't be sure about the sound. My lack of experience with other 57's, and other mics for that matter, makes it hard to know. I'll post some pics of the units soon. Until then, are there any ways to know if a unit is real or not? I know there were lots of fake sm57 and sm58's found in china and such. I'm really kinda dissapointed with the 57's...and I'm really hoping it's just me being paranoid! :o
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yeah, from what it sounds like... (to me) is that they are not fakes. In my opinion its not easy to make it sound good on the snare. you might wanna try it on something else like guitar
 
Nick The Man said:
yeah, from what it sounds like... (to me) is that they are not fakes. In my opinion its not easy to make it sound good on the snare. you might wanna try it on something else like guitar
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i have.....I'm also dissapointed there....but the snare just basically sounds shitty ANY way I place the sm57. If I had an absolutely genuine SM57, I would feel better......after testing them anyway.
 
If the snare sounds shitty in the room It will sound shitty when recorded. Could it just need to be tuned or the heads replaced.

Do a google image search of SM-57 and compare you're mic to the other images.
 
timboZ said:
If the snare sounds shitty in the room It will sound shitty when recorded. Could it just need to be tuned or the heads replaced.

Do a google image search of SM-57 and compare you're mic to the other images.
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I have, and to my dismay, the mic looks offical. The only thing, I can see, to distinguish it is the small sticker wrapped around the "head" of the mic. The sticker that says "Shure SM57 DYNAMIC LO Z" and whatnot; and that appears genuine, however, with 10 bucks I could make the exact same sticker!?
 
Have you tried other mics on snare? A soloed snare mic rarely sounds exactly like you want the snare to sound. It generally provides a lot of "thwack" of the initial attack, but not so much snare rattle. However, when you add in the overheads, they pick up all that snare rattle and it sounds good.
 
I know about tuning and placment. I'm not THAT much of a n00b! It's not the snare, because the snare actually sounds OK in the overheads. I'm just saying in general, the 57 doesn't seem like the mic everyone hypes it up to be.
Also, today I used my cheap Nady SP1 Dynamic mic on snare, and didn't really sound much different that my 57, with the same setup and such. It didn't sound quite a s good, but it also wasn't much worse that the 57 either!
 
Microphones are not magical things. Just because you say "I'm using a Neumann tube mic on my vocals" does not mean you're going to sound like Bing Crosby as soon as you sing into it.
The room, the player, the snare itself matter more than the microphone, IMO. The 57 is not the end-all-be-all mic for snare, but tons and tons of engineers use it for snare, so my guess is it's not the mic that is giving you a crappy sound. And if you really feel strongly that it is, try another mic.
 
bigwillz24 said:
Perhaps you are expecting too much from a microphone which may not be the source of your problem...
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Possibly, but I still think the fact that my 15 dollar mic sounds only SLIGHTLY worse is odd. But perhaps I'm being too hard on Mr. SM57? :rolleyes:
 
jaykeMURD said:
I know about tuning and placment. I'm not THAT much of a n00b! It's not the snare, because the snare actually sounds OK in the overheads. I'm just saying in general, the 57 doesn't seem like the mic everyone hypes it up to be.
Also, today I used my cheap Nady SP1 Dynamic mic on snare, and didn't really sound much different that my 57, with the same setup and such. It didn't sound quite a s good, but it also wasn't much worse that the 57 either!
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I think it helps to know what sound you're shooting for in order to pick a mic for a certain situation.

jaykeMURD said:
Possibly, but I still think the fact that my 15 dollar mic sounds only SLIGHTLY worse is odd. But perhaps I'm being too hard on Mr. SM57? :rolleyes:
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You paid $15 for that thing? I got one free and a cable when I bought a $20 mic stand. It sounds sizzly and raggedy. I never found a use for it.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
You paid $15 for that thing? I got one free and a cable when I bought a $20 mic stand. It sounds sizzly and raggedy. I never found a use for it.
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Actually I didn't buy this one....it came for free also, I forget what with, but nonetheless.. :p
 
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