SM57 vs. e609

[ryanlikestorock]

Every piece does matter, right down to the guitar pick.

Have a GREAT song, player, instrument, amp, mic, placement, cable, preamp, recording medium and mixing engineer and you'll have a GREAT sound. Every element has a different weight in the sound potential-- ie: a less than average player with a GREAT mic isn't going to sound as impressive as an amazing player with a shitty mic.

The bottom line is- who cares what other people say or do if it isn't helping you? If you think you could benefit from your own mic test, just do it. If not, just keep doing what you're doing. There is no right or wrong. Both those mics are great mics on guitar. Try using them together, or with something else mixed in (m201, md421, sm7, even an LDC to see what that sounds like)...

 

[metalhead28]

well....... I don't give a shit what other people say.....that was exactly my point. And all I was trying to do was defend enferno just a little.

Nobody around here will take something for what it is, they just want to try and apply their latest catch phrase to it so they can sound condescending. I'm not bitching about that, because it doesn't mean anything to me, and it has no impact on my enjoyment of home recording, it's just that I can't help but laugh at everyone's default "knowledge dropping" everytime someone brings up a point that is relevant to "themselves" and not to some pro studio dude who doesn't even consider the usefullness of some cheaper gear.
I value the opinions of professional engineers, but no more than I value my own. And at times I value the opinions of someone who works at my level even more, because they might expose the value of something that I hadn't considered....whereas some people think that they have to convince me that a 1073 would sound better than my "behringer" preamp.....no shit?

And yeah, I know the pick matters.....maybe someone here should start a thread on which pick works the best when using a neve pre-amp.......

 

[Cloneboy Studio]

I value the opinions of professional engineers, but no more than I value my own. And at times I value the opinions of someone who works at my level even more, because they might expose the value of something that I hadn't considered....

So you would value the opinion of a regular dude on a disease over a doctor because the regular dude is more on your level?

Sorry, but if someone is doing recording professionally they have to be doing something right... their opinions are WAY more valid because, trust me, they were where you are now at one point.

 

[Rodger Hartlett]

SM57 thru a budget pre generally sounds pretty bad - but run one thru a high-end pre and it becomes a totally different mic.

tell me about it. the right preamp is like a completely new mic collecton. thing is there are kids out there just wasting their savings on pure hyped up crap and manufacturers dishing out the same old lines. It's getting worse by the minute.

 

[metalhead28]

So you would value the opinion of a regular dude on a disease over a doctor because the regular dude is more on your level?

apples to oranges there my friend. I'm not sure why you even said that.....

lets try this analogy instead.....I would listen to a greasy mechanic who tells me that a $100 dollar fix will work instead of taking it to the dealer for a brand new engine.....point being, that I already know I would rather have a brand new engine...I don't need to be told by somebody, especially if that is all they have to say.

 

[enferno]

the best part about this thread . . is the fact that i wasn't trying to show big major recirding people how to do their shit. i was just trying to show someone in my similar situation what these mics can or can not do.

the thing that tickles me pink is how blue bear gave me negative rep. for this thread.

 

[chessrock]

All I ever hear around here is "only your ears matter".....immediately followed by "every single piece of your signal chain matters, you can't possibly make a decision based on that!!!!!"

That's because half the people on this board are excuse-makers. ha ha.

Just kidding. What you're saying is true. Everything does matter. Right down the pick you're playing with. But let's put things in their proper perspective: truth is everything in life matters, right? Right down to the kind of hair gel you use, to the way you carry yourself in public, and the list goes on.

But let's get some things straight, here. There is a "Masloian" heirarchy in all of this. Obviously, food and shelter are the most important things in life, because without them, you're totally fucked. Followed by access to medical care, and the heirarchy keeps going down to the most menial things like the brand of shoe strings on your feet.

So with that in mind, the heirarchy of importance in getting a good guitar tone tracked goes something like: 1) Ears and the ability to distinguish good from bad tone, 2) Ingenuity and innovation: which is the ability to dial in said tone using what you have available, 3) Skill and technique; which includes the ability to get the most out of that tone, and 4) Tools; which includes using a good amp (Cheapo Crates with old tubes and half-blown speakers probably don't qualify), good guitars, and more importantly is the smarts to use the proper gear that best suits the situation (which, again, goes back to 2 and 3).

I'd probably put mic pres somewhere around #50 through 100 in terms of their ranking of importance. So yea, while everything matters, I would'nt fret too much over not having top-notch recording gear right now. Once you get numbers 1 through 4 all squared away, then we can talk gear, alright? By the time you get 1-4 down, you'll be posting stuff here, and people will be saying "That sounds great. But I think you could take it just a little further. Or maybe you're just 2% away from greatness. That's when it's time to figure out what kind of recording gear to shell out the bucks on.