SM57 on vocals

[Clark Kent]

I'm pretty sure this has been discussed before however I'm not asking for advice. I just bought an SM57 and the A2WS "Popper Stopper" so I can use it on both vocals and recording amps etc. Funny enough this is the first SM57 I've used although I own over a dozen mics.

I wanted to point out an interesting thing I noticed: The SM57 has almost an identical frequency response as a Neumann U87 from 200hz upwards. The Neumann has more low end under 200hz but other than that the response is the same.

Ofcourse no one buys a Neumann because of it's frequency response but the overall character. Still the first tests that I did with it on my vocals were extremely nice. I already prefer the SM57 to my SM58 on vocals. I know they are essentially the same mic but the popper stopper is soooooo much better than the cup on the SM58.

Try it out if you can.

Do any of you guys use it on vocals?

 

[Mago]

nope, all the other mics I have sound better both on my and my GF's vocals...but they work quite good on some voices!
And freq responses don't really tell you a whole lot about how a mic sounds

 

[egan.]

I wanted to point out an interesting thing I noticed: The SM57 has almost an identical frequency response as a Neumann U87 from 200hz upwards. The Neumann has more low end under 200hz but other than that the response is the same.

Are you just comparing the manufacturer charts or actually listening? The response of those two mics in practice is dramatically different.
Manufacturers charts are useful to see roll offs and that's about all.

 

[JakeAC5253]

I hear everybody these days is recording vocals using an SM57, and then using Match EQ to get that U87 sound.

 

[Clark Kent]

Are you just comparing the manufacturer charts or actually listening? The response of those two mics in practice is dramatically different.
Manufacturers charts are useful to see roll offs and that's about all.

I actually found the similarities by using match EQ. I can give you the EQ curve and results... but there's no need to use match EQ... just +1dB of low end.

EDIT: Meh... did another match EQ test and realized that the way I was measuring it wasn't accurate (I used white noise but I used my speakers as a source so ofcourse it's not flat) Still the results were pretty close.

 

[egan.]

Fair enough. Your way is more scientific. IME they just don't sound close to each other in use (though they're obviously both great mics).

 

[JakeAC5253]

Condenser mics also have a by-definition 90º phase shift from a dynamic mic.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

Fair enough. Your way is more scientific. IME they just don't sound close to each other in use (though they're obviously both great mics).

You would be correct. Even if you have two different mics with identical frequency response, the way that they would pickup the source would be different because they are constructed differently. Pickup patterns affect the mic almost more than the frequency response.

 

[Clark Kent]

Yup... condenser mic vs dynamic mic. There's no contest for studio use. Still I like the "woolly" tone of the SM57... I'll record something soon so I can make a comparison.

 

[Terminus]

I use it for death metal vocals. Don't really use it for clean vocals though.

 

[LeSedna]

They can have the same math EQ curve but react totally differently ! There's a lot of non linearities in real life sounds that don't always translate well in the result of an EQ curve ! A bad example (but still) would be the frequency analysis of a synth tone. If you start from a basic tone and remove some frequencies, you'll have a very different tone while from a distance the overall curve in the freq analyser would look the same.

That said, I haven't been able to have a correct result from an sm57 or 58 with me, it's popping like hell, but with my NT1 it sounds great. How far are your recording from your sm57, how do you set it up (angle/distance/etc) ?

From 15cm (6 inches) with a pop filter on it (not a pop filter per se but a 3rd party "big" foam cup like the sm7b) it would still pop too much for me, even when I control my plosives as much as I can. I was very surprised.

 

[Ola Englund]

Latest Feared album is all SM57... just sayin..

 

[Ola Englund]

...AND of course not to mention Ermz skills on vocals helped out a LOT

 

[Clark Kent]

Okay if Ola and Ermz use it on vocals I don't really care what anyone else thinks!

What are these Ermz skills? Have they already been released or is it going to be in his book?

 

[Ermz]

I think Mario could use a Radio Shack mic and still sound great.

Doesn't mean I'm not gonna pester you to use an SM7B on him next time

 

[BrettT]

I love the way they sound on any type of harsh vocals.