Step up from a SM57?

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mast and marque

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Im running an SM57 into the preamp on my MOTU 828 MKII for pretty much about everything right now. I use it for recording guitar and vocals and I have an SM57 on the snare when doing drums too. I want to upgrade from that to something that has its own distinct sound. To me the SM57 is accurate and flat in a good way. Not too dark, not too bright. Yet Im hoping to find a mic that will add some flavor to vocals or even warm up guitar tones.

Any recommendations in the sub $300 range?
 
Audio Technica AT4040 - $299.95 at Zzounds.com

It's used in tons of studios, has a solid reputation and looks pretty nice on top of it all....
 
mast and marque said:
Im running an SM57 into the preamp on my MOTU 828 MKII for pretty much about everything right now. I use it for recording guitar and vocals and I have an SM57 on the snare when doing drums too. I want to upgrade from that to something that has its own distinct sound. To me the SM57 is accurate and flat in a good way. Not too dark, not too bright. Yet Im hoping to find a mic that will add some flavor to vocals or even warm up guitar tones.

Any recommendations in the sub $300 range?
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I don't think the sm57 is flat or accurate. You may look into a shure sm7.
 
Well I guess what I was trying to say is that it is nothing special. Its just a very solid, general use mic. Im looking for something that has its own distinct sounds.

How are Rode mics?
 
mast and marque said:
Im running an SM57 into the preamp on my MOTU 828 MKII for pretty much about everything right now. I use it for recording guitar and vocals and I have an SM57 on the snare when doing drums too. I want to upgrade from that to something that has its own distinct sound. To me the SM57 is accurate and flat in a good way. Not too dark, not too bright. Yet Im hoping to find a mic that will add some flavor to vocals or even warm up guitar tones.

Any recommendations in the sub $300 range?
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The 57 can sound thin on guitar cabs, the Sennheiser MD421 sounds bigger and it's a decent vocal mic as well, it was designed as a vocal and speach mic.

If you want one mic for both guitar cabs and vocals, a Beyer M88 is a good choice, if you want it for acoustic guitar and vocals you might be more happy with a condenser.
 
not familiar with the MOTU 828 MKII assuming it has phantom power, any condensor mic will be a big difference right away. I used to use the sm57 for everything also. You could get one LDC and do a lot with it.
 
Well, I would look into something to use with the 57. I have used an SM57 "close mic" and an AT4033 "distant mic" for recording guitar amps for years. I think any large diaphragm condensor mic would be better than an SM57 for recording vocals.
 
Not so much as a step up, but more of a "different flavor or color"... there's the dynamic Sennheiser MD-421 (around $300) which has been mentioned earlier or E609silver (around $100), or one of the many types of low cost Chinese ribbon mics (around $150), or Studio Projects B1 LDC (around $100), or one of the others mentioned in this thread. Think of a mic as a can of paint... the more colors of paint, the more ways you'll have to express your art.
 
I think the MD421 IS a step up. Problem is, once you try it you won't have any use for the SM57...

Seriously, the SM57 doesn't suck, although there are many other better dynamic mics around. What you seem to want is something DIFFERENT, which would imply condensor.
 
Another vote for the AT4040. Or maybe an MXL990 if you're on a budget. Even a cheap large diaphram condenser (LDC) mic will sound a lot clearer and pick up more detail than an SM57. You need phantom power for condenser mics, which the MOTU 828 provides.

Plus, with the MOTU 828's two mic inputs, you can mix and blend the AT4040 with your SM57 for additional sonic choices.
 
For most of the things that I used to use a 57 on, I often use an EV N/D 408b.

I'm not saying they sound the same. Just to my ears, I like the EV better.
 
I think the Beyer mics probably come the closest to your description. Think M-88, M-201, etc. They're not really flat, and they kinda' have their own unique thing going on.

As much as I like the AT condensers, I really don't think they fit your description. If anything, they tend to just be really accurate, quality workhorse type mics, but certainly not anything that's going to impart a unique flavor.

.
 
i'd go for a condenser, no question about it. my pick:


AT4040
MD421
sE 2200e


and out of all of those i would go for the sE to be honest. its certainly a great vocal mic. not so sure what it would be like on other sources. AT4040 is also a good vocal mic that can do a bunch of other stuff. i've used it on everything from guitar cabs to kick drums and it sounds great.

MD421 is also a great mic, but i've never used it on vocals. i've used it quite a bit on drums and guitars but thats it.
 
You should go ahead and get the LDC...C1 is inexpensive and very good plus a great tandem with the sm57 on guitar cabnets while the 57 is off axis and the LDC is 5-6 feet away.

This way you will have a useful mic for many other things too.
 
at4040

how would you recommend mic'ing an amp with a 4040? Close or distant? What are the options?
I currently have a 421, sm57 and a 4040....just wondering what kind of options I have.
 
TheNewUnknown said:
how would you recommend mic'ing an amp with a 4040? Close or distant? What are the options?
I currently have a 421, sm57 and a 4040....just wondering what kind of options I have.
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I run an SM57 (or any one of my dynamic mics) on the cab. Depending on the amp mic placement can be different but always within a few inches of the grill and sometimes off axis. The LDC (AT 4040 in this case) would be 4-6 feet back, 2-3 feet above the 57 and pointed at the same spot as the 57. There is alway some ammount of trial and error when micing guitar amps. Different speaker/amp combinations need different mic placement. This should get you in the ball park and some minor tweaking will get you where you want the tone. Keep on mind that you'll get phase issues if the LDC is placed inside of 3 feet from the dynamic mic. I hope that helps.
 
The size of the speaker will matter...I use an 10w 8" amp with tubes so to get a good overdrive sound...57 off axis with C1 or a C414 5 feet away...the c1 is a bit better for my tastes.
 
Though I have no experience with these mics, many are hailing the HEIL PR series...PR20, PR30, and PR40. All under $300 too.

I'm going to give one a shot soon...they're "mission is to re-invent(?)" and build really killer dynamic mics, and I'm in the school of thought that high quality dynamics are far superior to cheapy chinese condensers...many agree as well.

Not that I don't own any chinese condensers, I think you just have to be really picky about them...I narrowned down and ended up buying an MXL V69me(tube swapped it with NOS), and it's an insanely great mic, and I own Studio Project C4s, another great pair of mics.

Good dynamics I like/own include the EV RE-20(maybe my all time fav.), MD421, and I did a "TapeOp Mod" to an SM57 that supposedly makes it sound more like an SM7...lower output, but better bass range and smoother all around. It needs more gain like the SM7, but through a nice pre it's a great little mic.

Another really great option, and probably my best quality, workhorse mic is a true Russian-made Oktava MK319($250 or so) that I had Michael Joly at Oktavamod.com mod for me. Post mod, it is absolutely in the league of AKG/Neumann stuff. The mod costs $99, so for $350 total, you pretty much walk away with a close-to AKG C414. And there were 2 articles recently claiming the "Joly-mod MK319" as the u47 FET's Russian cousin, and another review hailing it an easy win over the Neumann TLM-103. Save some serious loot and get some serious quality too. Turnaround is ultra-fast; 3 days or so. I love my Joly MK319!

Yeah, I'm all about the mods. You save so much money for a custom product, how can you beat that?

I'd say check out the HEIL mics, and if you do, tell me what you think 'cos I want one!

Good Luck!
 
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