cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
I was doing a search on SM57's and came upon a post by "chessparov" who said that the SM57 will not be appreciated as much being plugged in directly into a portastudio and when using a "good" external preamp. (I have a 424 portastudio btw). I just rented an SM57 and compared it to my beta 58a. I noted a few things: (1) "presence" is higher on the sm57 (2) the sm57 isolated the sound source (the lead singer) A LOT better (3) the sm57 sounded more "raw" like it had an "edge" to it ... kinda had a 70's sound to it or something (4) it had a lot more "popping" and "breath" noises occur than the other mic BUT overall it sounded clearer but less "bright" than the beta 58a. From all the specs it would seem that the beta 58 a would be better but I somehow tend to like the sm57. It's kinda a mistery why it sounds ... well ... different but good. I can't seem to place the sound of it but it sounds so 'Vintage" to me, which I like. The beta 58 a sound a bit "modern" to me and that's a bit of a let down after hearing the sm57. Overall I love the beta but when I heard the sm57 I'm kinda "addicted" to its very unusual sound. Oh, and yeah, I can't seem to cause a bad "proximity" effect with the sm57 even though I'm so close to the diaphragm, much closer than with the beta. But to my question with regards to preamps, and I hope someone can clear it up for me once and for all ... Will a preamp such as the RNP signifcantly improve the sound going to a cassette based portastudio with the sm57 or am I just wastin' money on a preamp ? Mind you that the 424mkIII has DBX, and moves 2x the speed of a normal cassette. I know it's a cassette format and it has its limitations but will the RNP help bring out more of "that sm57 sound" to the cassette than if I had no external preamp and just went straight to the porta ? Thanks a lot.
Daniel
Daniel