Sm57

[hotpotato]

Hi

Just had a shure sm57 deilvered from the states. Have plugged it direct into my korg D1200 only to find the signal is incredibly weak. Even put through a pre-amp the trim has to be almost top whack.

I assume i've got a fault?

 

[noodles2k5]

Are you using an XLR cable? I got two... one of them came with a XLR and 1/4" cable, which is a lot quieter.

 

[hotpotato]

Yeah, i've tried two different XLR's. I'm thinking i got a dud mic.

 

[Blue Bear Sound]

The sm57 is a dynamic mic that will require a fair amount of gain (compared to a condenser).... so having to use a lot of level on the trims would not be atypical.

 

[CatCat]

Depends on your definition of quiet. If you are cranking a mic preamp hard and its still barely audible then you most probably have a problem with the mic. However the SM57's are a quiet mic generally.

Cat

 

[The Axis]

Have you used other mikes into the Korg successfully already ?

...just trying to separate the problem to mike, preamp, or Korg.

 

[pdadda]

Sounds pretty normal to me. I have to crank the pre's on my MOTU 828 to get a good signal from a 57. The pre's on my Mackie board have more gain though. To get the full potential of a 57, you need a really nice pre. Then agaibn, I wouldn't buy a really nice pre just for a 57.

 

[BobOC]

Before I got a separate mixer, I plugged my SM58's and 57s directly into my Akai DPS16 (similar to your Korg). You definitely need a lot of gain doing it that way (without a preamp of some kind).

I'd be very surprised if you got a dud mic.

 

[CoolCat]

i've noticed the same thing on the infamous shure57.
bought a SM7 (large dynamic)...very,very weak signal too..but nice.
good mics for a novice acousticly treated room...with some pre-volume added.

hiss???then again...
who knows what quality goes into these "new" wave of
mic's. just because the sm57 from the past is good, most units are outsourced and possibly quality has gone down.
my newest sm57 went dead!!! kapoot. it looks brand new???go figure.

the old sm57's you could use as a hammer for your loose nails on the drum stage and they'd still frkn work great!! tanks.

good luck.

 

[travelin travis]

I have to give my sm57 alot of gain. I think it's pretty normal. Have you ompared it to other dynamic mics?

 

[spargewort]

a dud?

Well, you could send for another one and if it is appreciably louder, send back the first. If not, you have two useful mics that need some hi gain on a preamp, or a beefy signal...

 

[CoolCat]

SM57 needs some volume added to it, this is normal.
there's nothing "wrong" with it, i'd bet.
great mic.

re-stating, the other shure dynamic i have requires adding volume too.
nothing wrong with it, Shure even mentions the abnormal low volume in the manual.

turn it up...