SM57 mod comparison!

[RedDog]

I was hunting around old GS threads and came across the old impedance mod for the 57, supposedly a "Night and Day" difference. Judge for yourself, I have two clips available and you choose which one sounds better, and also which one you think is the modded version (They don't necessarily have to be the same sound!)

I'll reveal which one's which later on, but for now what do your ears tell you?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/35204107/57 mod comparison one.mp3
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/35204107/57 mod comparison two.mp3

 

[Trevoire520]

My hearing is currently fucked as I've had the cold all week but I like 2 better.

 

[Shinozoku]

I hear very little difference. the second half of two seems to be a bit more open though. Better transient response?

 

[RedDog]

Both clips are the same DI. The difference of the two is the question I'm asking.

 

[Doctor Gay]

night and day to me, 1 kills 2.

trevoire don't pick your nose and you won't get sick!

 

[CAlexanderParra]

There is no difference. Reddog uploaded the same clip twice.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

pretty subtle on my monitors. I don't think they're the same.

Depending on the impedance of the preamp the mic's impedance may not make a difference.

 

[Djentkitty]

2 is more open. i say 2 is the modded one

 

[006]

2 is noticeably more "open" sounding. The highs are brighter on it. As to which is which, no idea.

 

[Brandon E.]

These clips null each other out 100%....there is no way they would be that close, you couldn't even re-place the mic close enough to make that happen, let alone with a mod...trolling?

 

[RedDog]

Nope, this is getting some interesting replies. I assure you one is modded. The mod applied is the addition of a resistor across pins 2 and 3, the modded version had a loss in output of about 6 db, which I had the preamp compensate for.

 

[Derykus]

The mic doesn't matter when you dial in a really shitty tone.

 

[RedDog]

Thank you, but the purpose of this exercise isn't about my questionable taste in tone, it's about a general frequency analysis of a particular mic sound we're all familiar with.

I'll out it, the first clip is the modded version. I mount with clip-style mounts with the position marked off to get as close to the original position as possible. I A/B'd over and over trying to find what sounds divergent about the mod other than a drop in output, but the only other thing I could discern from any of it wasn't the response, it was the placebo effect.

 

[006]

These clips null each other out 100%....there is no way they would be that close, you couldn't even re-place the mic close enough to make that happen, let alone with a mod...trolling?

That's interesting. Didn't do a null test but I did in fact hear the difference in the top end between the two, it's definitely there.

 

[RedDog]

Personally I can't hear shit. Just ran a null test, and it didn't null. :\

 

[Nuno Filipe]

Well, if you paid for a mod you have been stolen because I cant hear shit.

 

[CAlexanderParra]

Hmm well it's fixed now. I don't know what was going on with your files earlier as I heard no differences & both completely canceled each other out in a null test. But I can hear the difference now and I'm digging what you say is the modded 57 I guess.

 

[RedDog]

I may have fucked something up using dropbox from my phone, but it's fine on the project computer.

Anyway, this mod cost me a whopping buck-twenty-five at the hardware store and about 3 minutes of soldering to this avail.