old SM57 vs new SM57!? wtf?

[Where She Wept]

Ok, im starting off by apologizing for the blurry pics but all i have is a radioshack camera.

someone once told me older sm57s sounded better.

I had a 57 broken at the club where i run live sound so took a pic of the cap because i found it to be interesting. this mic was purchased new roughly 2 years ago

and the other day i found an old SM57 i had that was also trashed by a drummer. i got this one from a friend about 8 years ago. and i cant date it, but i just got a shock when i looked at the cap on it. a grossly different design!

opinions?

 

[Seizure.]

I recorded with different sm57's old and new and allways notice a difference between them aswell.. this is interesting, thanks for sharing man!

 

[Soundlurker]

I have two sm57s. The first I bought 3 or 4 years ago from a studio which had probably used it for some years judging by its looks. The second is just a year old. I made a test and the new one sounded way better, smoother, with less harsh treble and with more body. I can record something if anyone's interested.

 

[Sloan]

Something I noticed about 1-2 years ago was a small price change in the SM57's. They were around $89, but then went up to $99. I couldn't find any information about any of this.

 

[colonel kurtz]

i'd guesstimate that a price hike that small was probably due either to inflation, increase in costs to import, increase in the price of a part, etc. etc.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I have 2 sm57 mics about a year apart in age and they sound a tad different (not night and day mind you).

 

[scorpio01169]

it's funny you asked this question...i was just on the shure site, and that was a question someone posed. and shure claims they have made that mic design the same from day one.

 

[Where She Wept]

it's funny you asked this question...i was just on the shure site, and that was a question someone posed. and shure claims they have made that mic design the same from day one.

Thats what i thought. i got this link after posting the same thing on Gearslutz. it was suggested that one of them might be a fake.

http://www.micshop.co.nz/SM57 fake pix.pdf

I checked the old one i have and it seems to be legit, i'll examine the newer one this upcoming week, but i don't have to work a show till thursday.

 

[Torniojaws]

The mic design may be the same, but manufacturing tolerances will affect the end product quite a bit. I've always heard how everyone says that very few two SM57's sound exactly alike. There's always minor differences.

 

[MetalJonesy]

The mic design may be the same, but manufacturing tolerances will affect the end product quite a bit. I've always heard how everyone says that very few two SM57's sound exactly alike. There's always minor differences.

yer theres soo much differences, ive got some test samples from a really shit amp years ago and i couldnt believe how much difference there was, ill have to find the clips!

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

t was suggested that one of them might be a fake.

The fake ones are pretty easy to spot - the grill doesn't rotate like it does on a real one which is a big clue, and the 'R' in the Shure logo is raised slightly (easier to spot than comparing the font to a real one).

I've got a fake one sitting around somewhere; the biggest give-away of all is that it sounds like ass

Steve

 

[diafebus]

Thats what i thought. i got this link after posting the same thing on Gearslutz. it was suggested that one of them might be a fake.

http://www.micshop.co.nz/SM57 fake pix.pdf

I checked the old one i have and it seems to be legit, i'll examine the newer one this upcoming week, but i don't have to work a show till thursday.

hey I retake this post... coz i'm becoming crazy with all that crap,
I bought some Sm57 that, exactly i've got 3 of them which represents to be 7-8 years old and are like the LEFT mic of this PDF.
and on the other side I bought a new one that now is year old and looks like this

WHERE IT SAYS THAT IS NOT FAKE, THAT'S HOW MINE LOOKS LIKE XD

What do you think guys?
attending that the other shures are 7-8 years old and the new one is new... can the be as different as these two pictures?


EDIT:
Ok! that's fine I found the answer the Old SM57 made in Mexico are like PDF
http://www.hispasonic.com/comunidad/download/file.php?id=66233&mode=view RIGHT MICROPHONE IN THE PIC, YOU CAN SEE THE THREE HOLES.
and the new ones made in USA are like the picture that i posted, because both of mine seems to have the right weight, good impedance and they sound different but very close each other and no one is sounding bad.
And I have 2 SM57 FAKE too, that I'm sure that is fake and the seller gave me back the money of them and told me to throw them away, and they sound fizzy and bad, not as the Mexican or USA mics...
so, Is not realy easy to know if its fake or original attending that exists different versions of same mic depending of the year and if it comes from USA and Mexico!!

hope to be helpful!

 

[Norris-wf]

I didn't understand your post fully...I feel it may be a bad internet translater, are you asking if the differences between a new and old sm57 are as drastic as the differences between a real and fake sm57?