AMAZING new microphone day! Sm57 killer? Quite possibly!

  • Thread starter Thread starter VESmedic
  • Start date Start date
VESmedic said:
Ok ok…. When you put it like that, I got nothing! Lol
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Ha!

The main disqualifier is that it's a condenser (requiring phantom power, another consideration); the price would be kinda-secondary if not for the 8x factor IMHO.

People are hearing more room or that it seems more-suited to capturing a room's sound. Well, it's a condenser and that's what many of them are used for exclusively. You don't go trying to accurately capture room sounds with a dynamic, generally-speaking. Impulse-response libraries are a good example of this. I've never, not once seen a room captured with a dynamic and sold on the commercial scene. In fact, it's so rare I can't even think of any examples where one was used even for free stuff at a distance.

By their very nature, dynamics are tailor-made for close-mic'ing and condensers for all distances.

EDIT:
Sorry. I'm sure you know this stuff. For the benefit of others...
 
VESmedic said:
Not sure what you mean about the tape comment though ?
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Analog tape used to roll off some of the highs when recorded hence why SM57 worked so well with it. Nowadays you don't get that and 57 can sound pretty harsh unless you place it to the edge of the cone and use a darker speaker.
 
Monkey Man said:
Ha!

The main disqualifier is that it's a condenser (requiring phantom power, another consideration); the price would be kinda-secondary if not for the 8x factor IMHO.

People are hearing more room or that it seems more-suited to capturing a room's sound. Well, it's a condenser and that's what many of them are used for exclusively. You don't go trying to accurately capture room sounds with a dynamic, generally-speaking. Impulse-response libraries are a good example of this. I've never, not once seen a room captured with a dynamic and sold on the commercial scene. In fact, it's so rare I can't even think of any examples where one was used even for free stuff at a distance.

By their very nature, dynamics are tailor-made for close-mic'ing and condensers for all distances.

EDIT:
Sorry. I'm sure you know this stuff. For the benefit of others...
Click to expand...


No absolutely brotha, you are 100 percent right! No doubt. I just haven’t found another mic personally for me that gets me a tone I’m this happy with by itself other than a 57! It’s just a great mic. And like you said, I’m sure it’s a phenomenal “all around Swiss army” mic to have at your disposal as well!
 
Kyrpajyra said:
Analog tape used to roll off some of the highs when recorded hence why SM57 worked so well with it. Nowadays you don't get that and 57 can sound pretty harsh unless you place it to the edge of the cone and use a darker speaker.
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Ahhh, I see where you are going with this now. I would say there are a lot of factors that contribute to how you think they sound nowadays in the digital domain vs during the tape days, but who knows. For one, when tape was king for recording, the Unidyne sm57 was much more prevalent, which has a much much better high end without the spike and harshness of the newer sm57s( which are still great in their own right to me as well). I don’t personally believe that to be true nowadays as far as 57s sounding harsh, mostly because there are so many factors that could contribute to whatever specific tone you are hearing sounding harsh. I could make a ribbon mic sound harsh on a guitar amp if I wanted.
 
VESmedic said:
Ahhh, I see where you are going with this now. I would say there are a lot of factors that contribute to how you think they sound nowadays in the digital domain vs during the tape days, but who knows. For one, when tape was king for recording, the Unidyne sm57 was much more prevalent, which has a much much better high end without the spike and harshness of the newer sm57s( which are still great in their own right to me as well). I don’t personally believe that to be true nowadays as far as 57s sounding harsh, mostly because there are so many factors that could contribute to whatever specific tone you are hearing sounding harsh. I could make a ribbon mic sound harsh on a guitar amp if I wanted.
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A lot of guitar recordings are quite harsh sounding and one thing that contributes to that is the dawn of the digital recording. I'm not saying that digital's solely to be blamed for this, but the problem is that a lot people just don't know how to record with it apparently. Hence the shitty sounds we're getting these days.
 
I badly want to play around with the digital version of this mic. It’s been on my radar for the past year or so but I just dabble in recording my own demos as a hobby, and can’t justify dropped so much on a mic. These clips sound great. Do I understand the post right, you got the version that doesn’t digitally switch polar patterns?
 
Spaceboy said:
I badly want to play around with the digital version of this mic. It’s been on my radar for the past year or so but I just dabble in recording my own demos as a hobby, and can’t justify dropped so much on a mic. These clips sound great. Do I understand the post right, you got the version that doesn’t digitally switch polar patterns?
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Yes that’s correct. I didn’t think the 818 was necessary for what I am doing. If I was doing my drums or other live instruments it would be something to consider, but while it’s amazing what the 818 can do, I don’t think it’s something I would use much recording guitars.

I pulled some 1k out of this clip becsuse I thought it was a bit harsh, I dig this more I think. Sorry for flooding with clips but I love how this thing sounds in the mic position I have!

https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/mfMBtpauR2t6mnNr7
 
Directly comparing to the 57, specific to your recordings, I think the Austrian sounds better than it. I have always thought the dustcap sounds too harsh, but your recordings sound great for metal. I have to try this with my VR1 ribbon. I think my u87 clone would be waaaaay too harsh there. Time to try...
 
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