Shure SM57 vs Audio-Technica ATM23HE?

[DropD]

Does anyone knows how these two compare. I want a microphone that will do 412 guitar cabinets and snares. I know the SM57 is "the classic way of doing it", but I like being different, and I like Audio-Technica. The 23HE has the advantage of being really short which makes it easier to position on the drum kit. I compared the frequency response curves, the 23HE seems to have slightly better bass response and doesn't have the big peak in the high frequency that the SM57 has, although it does have a peak in the 5Khz area, it also catch higher frequency (good resonse from 70hz to 16Khz). What I like less is that the 23HE is an hypercardioid, it will make it difficult to isolate the hi-hat from the snare because that, I suppose...

 

[Van heinous]

two answers here:
1) frequency response data on mic's tells you NOTHING about how that mic will work/sound. Forget about it.
2)In my experience, the AT's -specifially the 23 and the 63 outperform their shure counterparts in almost every case - especially snares and amp cabinets.
I have found that some snares do better with a 57, but I haven't noticed anything real unique about these snares that would make them sound better with the 57. 80% or so sound better with the AT's. If you can, try BOTH mics before you choose one for any given drum.
On Cab's, it'll always be the AT's.