E609 or SM57

[hunter]

My fav dynamic in that price range is the Heil PR20. I like it a lot better than the sm57, haven't tried the other mics mentioned.

I like the Heil pr20 also. I like it better than the sm57. However I am curious about the i5 now too.

I prefer the PR20, too. But live it's unusable, too much feedback.

SM57 still rules for live, unless you have a Torpedo

 

[rupe]

I use both of them. I like the 609 essentially dead center and the 57 about midway between dust cap and the edge of the cone, either off axis or straight on...depends on what I'm hearing at the time. The work well together, but if I could have only one it would be the 57 for primarily dirty tones or the 609 for primarily clean/lightly overdriven tones.

 

[MajorTom]

I've recently traded the extra 57s in my arsenal and got all of the above (i5, pr20, e609). All great mics. My personal goto is the 57/e609 pairing. While attempting to not get flamed, I think they're all "close enough", where getting one and messing with mic placement is going to be more important than stressing over which is the best.

After listening to countless demos and comparisons, I think I've reached the same conclusion. I think I'm just going to get the 57 like I originally planned. I'm sure I won't regret it.

 

[stratotone]

The e609 sems to have a little more sparkle on top while the sm57 really has that midrange bite. I can get a really good sound from my 57 but problem is, I don't think I like that tone alone. To me the best tones are probably to combine that 57 with something else.. i'm looking at some cheaper ribbon mics to do this. The apex 205 and 210's get some good reviews. One of them comes in at the 100$ mark too.

MXL144 Is a cheap ribbon and it sounds great IMHO. Under $100 and at every guitar center. I've used it for profiling with great success. I used a Royer ribbon at a recording studio and liked it too, but it's not 10x better. For price/performance, the MXL is a winner. I wouldn't use one live because it picks up front and back of the mic, but for recording it's awesome.

i'll check this one out too.. I agree, the royer is awesome sounding but not 10x a lot of it's competition. If anything, it just sounds like it retains more of the highs which is what the cheap Chinese ribbons worked back into their design. how do you use the mxl? close mic or like 2 feet off the grill?

Couple of feet off the grill. Also works great to mic the back of an open cab combo with a 57 placed normally.