Nasty counterfeit SM57 with interesting end discovery

[rob aylestone]

I looked for cheap counterfeit SM57 on ebay - found one for £12 - about $15 and compared it to a real one - then got sidetracked into 57 vs 58, then Beta 58. Then something happened and we've talked about the dangers of this before. A bit cyrptic but you'll see whay.

 

[mjbphotos]

Who uses SM57s for vocals?

You get what you pay for!

 

[TalismanRich]

I've used both a Senn 835 and 57 for live vocals. I prefer the 835, but the 57 works fine too.

When I redid a vocal track from a live recording, I plugged in the 57, put it on a stand, hit record and got right up on the mic, just like at the original event. You really couldn't tell the difference, except this time I got the words right!

 

[ecc83]

Who uses SM57s for vocals?

You get what you pay for!

Almost always true Mike but an exception is the Behringer XM8500 very decent mic for less than £20.
N.B. the output might be out of phase with other mics.

Dave.

 

[Folkcafe]

A number of years ago there were a few videos about modding a Pyle 57 clone using a stock 57 transformer. Some were saying it was a poor man's 421 for Toms. There are a number of mods out there for the 57 so this is nothing new. Funkenwerk's offers a number of transformer replacements and you can even go transformerless.

Well of course I ordered the $20 Pyle and installed a Shure transformer in it. The Pyle doesn't come with a transformer but the Shure one fit no problem. Is it a 421? Um, no. Is it anything special? It's a mic, it works. Brighter than a 421 but short the bottom end. It's in the mic cabinet. There is a lot of oddball stuff in there with it. It was a fun experiment that cost about $35. There are a number of comparison videos out there if you want to hear for yourself.

 

[Folkcafe]

Who uses SM57s for vocals?

You get what you pay for!

For every source, circumstance and session there is a mic that best fits.

We were recording a 3 night live show with a Canadian Folk band called Hart Rouge. One of the singers was just getting over a cold and her already husky voice was pretty burly. During set up we went through just about every mic we had. The corporate studio I worked at had a very extensive mic collection and we tried every high dollar mic to get the harmonies to gel as with previous recordings. After the condensers, dynamics. What ended up working perfectly was a stock SM57. The CD is Hart Rouge Live at the Mountain on the no longer a thing, Bose label.

 

[mjbphotos]

I understand an SM57 CAN be used for vocals/anything, but as a studio choice? Live vocals, I would always recommend an SM58 instead, just for the grill feature, a 57 with foam wind sock as 2nd choice of there were no other options.

 

[Folkcafe]

I understand an SM57 CAN be used for vocals/anything, but as a studio choice? Live vocals, I would always recommend an SM58 instead, just for the grill feature, a 57 with foam wind sock as 2nd choice of there were no other options.

You perhaps misread, this was a live recording session for release not just a live event. It was essentially a studio session. We went through plenty of very expensive Neumann mics then down to dynamics like the RE20. The 57 sounded right with the source and balanced with the rest. Live front of house was secondary to the purpose of these shows.

To give you some idea of the mobile budget, here is back stage for this session. Split mic rig, front of house got transformer isolated feed, recording end, direct. DA78's for 24 bit capture with DA38 as back up capture just in case. At the time, the 78's were a bit un-tested and we were taking no chances. Apogee converters and a whole host of various pre's. Not the first high dollar session to use a 57 as vocal.