SM57 Problems

[Monkey Allen]

Same with me...lots of gain...I like it on acoustic guitar because it doesn't pick up as much boom as condensers....ah well, if you place any mic a certain way you can do anything

 

[NYMorningstar]

...well, if you place any mic a certain way you can do anything

That is so not true. A good mic will make a world of difference.

 

[Mike_J]

You definitely need a mixer. Make sure you're using XLR jacks to plug the mic into your mixer, not the standard guitar lead jacks. I learned this the hard way.
Mike.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

You definitely need a mixer. Make sure you're using XLR jacks to plug the mic into your mixer, not the standard guitar lead jacks. I learned this the hard way.

Another hard lesson, I'm afraid, Mike: there is no need for a mixer whatsoever.

What he needs is a properly-matched preamp. Mixers have mic preamps, sure, but so do stand-alone preamps and interface boxes like the Lexicon Omega that the OP had.

In this case, the Omega specs are not the most optimal. With preamps of an input impedance of only 664 ohms, they are only rated 2-4 times the impedance of the SM57 (150-310 ohms). Ideally one would like to shoot for 6-10 times the impedance rating of preamp over microphone. This is probably contributing at least some to the "quietness" of the OPs signal.

But the big one here, I think, is that the Omega preamp specs imply (but do not explicitly state) a maximum preamp gain of only 51dB. With the SM57s rated sensitvity of -56dBV/Pa, the Lexicon preamps are kind of anemic and could easily have a hard time pushing full line level outputs, let alone a strong signal.

G.

 

[Mike_J]

Glen,
Yeah, whatever.... Solved my SM57 problem.
M.

 

[RichJ]

I too have a Fast Track Pro and a dollarstore dynamic mike with the same observation as above. I've been wondering if a SM57 could be a worthwhile, relatively inexpensive upgrade...
The M-Audio forums discuss this as well. The M-Audio tech replied some stuff about the gain staging of the preamps, blah blah and that you can turn the input quite high without problems.
In essence, since the pre-amp is able to take mic, line, guitar, etc...it is kind of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

I'm sure the Omega is quite similar...

My $0.02 (Canadian!)
-Rich

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

I should know better than to jump into ancient threads.....

It's just not worth swimming through the the carcasses that are left.

G.

 

[Monkey Allen]

That is so not true. A good mic will make a world of difference.

Haha...well maybe you can't do anything...but you can do a lot of things to get the tone you want

 

[jasonbmerrill]

i would rather use a cheap condenser than a 57 on acoustic anyday, for most recording purposes, besides maybe a dirty sounding track (intentional)