The average person won't really be able to tell the difference, no but even the second one has more tonality and picks up notes the first one doesn't even hear.
@@DavidCase101Every mic has a different sound, just looking at the price doesn't make much sense tbh. You can get a good and fitting sound with a cheap t.bone and horrible, not fitting sounds with a 1000$ mic.
That’s not how it works. These are tools that will be able to bring an artist closer to their sonic visions. No people generally won’t be able to tell what equipment you used or the price of it. But that doesn’t matter. They are not making the choices, the artist are making the choices and they are presented with the result. Also, the OC818 has a lot more going for it in terms of features and versatility. The SM57 might sound better on this particular source, but try using either the SM57 or the OC818 as your only mic for recording everything. I’m pretty certain that you’ll be happy spending more on the OC818. No disrespect to the SM57, it’s certainly a useful mic, but it’s also very limited.
Beacause it's an way better mic in lots of applications and fidelity than an Shure SM57. It's an electro voice RE20 and it is another studio's standard
To dumb it down for brevity sake, it's because of something called proximity boost. The 57 boost lies somewhere in the low - mid frequency range which helps a lot of instruments punch through in a mix but sometimes leaves them sounding a bit muddy hence why the other 2 sound a bit clearer and articulate, as for why the 2nd sounds much clearer and articulate compared to 1 and 3 likely lies in polar pattern, iirc sm57 is cardioid, number 2 is omni or has 2 polar patterns (I did see a mic like that just not sure if it's this particular one) and number 3 figure of 8 - the polar pattern just determines where the mic is picking sound from
A lot of what "better" mics pick up will be buried in the mix by cymbals, vocals, keyboards and bass, while the mid focused voice of the 57 will punch through.
Sm57 sounds like modern rock from the outset, the EQ work was done for you by the mic. RE20 sounds like classic rock, or a blues record. The OC818 sounds very good, but doesn't make me think anything in particular.
It's been my experience that the biggest difference with cheaper mics like the 57 is how much less forgiving they are of bad placement or a bad sounding instrument. as I've collected more expensive mics, I've found that while I'm getting great sounds out of them, the time and experience spent acquiring them means I'm also able to go back to the 57 and get great sounds there too. interesting little paradox of GAS
Defo a tone difference but I think the best gear is the one you have access to. getting another mic for layering or just more options is sweet, but going from no mic and saving that extra $1000+... I'd rather be able to get the SM57 when I needed it right away and be able to record.
I haven't looked at the chart in a while but I believe the sm57 has a pretty flat frequency response on it. So basically what you put in is what you get out. It doesn't add a ton of color, thats why its used on everything. Swiss army knife.
I love the re20 on kick and bass cabs. Ive used it on guitar amps too, but usually have a 57 or e906 on those nowadays. It also works quite well for vocals with the right pre or an inline preamp booster (i have the tierra audio pepper booster). I know theyre great for horns, but i havent used it for that yet 😢. Hopefully soon. Great mic
RE20 has more body. 818 has lots of top and detail which is actually making that part seem sloppier, as you hear lots of string noise and harmonics caused by hand noise. The 57 kinda has some of that unwanted top end stuff too. Are they all the same performance, or did you rerecord the riff for each mic?
RE20 in this case. But it really depends on the tone you're looking for, and if you're looking for "accuracy" or want what's being picked up to be "colored" in any way!
There is a really cool video from Hardcore Music Studio comparing the Rode NT1 (~150 Euro/Dollars) to a Neumann U47 (~10,000 Dollars). They're almost the same. I also recommend Jim Lill's videos on microphones. Or any of his videos.
Good video, and fun experiment. 1 thing though. I think the mics being placed so close to the speaker cone kind of dampens this experiment. A lot of the low end is artificially added through the proximity effect. I reccomend trying this again with a little more difference.
The sm57 sounds good for sure ( sorry for the pun)but i prefer the Re20. More open sounds and a bit brighter. The OC808 is not that far off from the Re20 and you would wonder, in this example at least, why 700 bucks more...
Doesn’t really work like that. The SM57 is good at micing guitar amps, because guitar amps having a pretty focused mid-forward sound, that an SM57 is good at picking up that eq curve. The SM57 can mic a lot of sources pretty good, but when you get into more specialized sound sources, like cymbals, bass, or most importantly; vocals, it leaves quite a bit to be desired. Although, this is a pretty poor test as the RE20 and Austrian Audio mics are not mics that I’m particularly fond of or very popular for guitar.
The OC818 is really far from the RE20. The technology firstly, OC818 has 2 eletrostatic membranes, RE20 has one dynamic membrane. In this application you should hear differences in the high frequences and reflexions form the room.
@@hamardloic3621 oh yeah agree. There are differences of sound between the Re20 and the OC808 especially if you hear it on good headphones and I bet without the youtube codec it would be even more obvious. But if you listen to it on your phone's speaker which is what a lot of people do these days... the difference is quite subtle... as opposed to the difference with the sm 57
the difference in tone is due to the placement of the mike relative to the cone center. You can get them to sound the same if you put it on the right part of the cone.
The more expensive it gets, the more dynamic and clear the tone seems to me. I'm curious what tone you'd get if you ran 2 57s out the front, (one head on the speaker, and one angled 45°) and then also miced the back of the cab also, how that would compare to the $1200 mic. Sure, it requires more tracks, and more tracks means more mixing, but if it might get you a tone you're looking for, for 1/4 the cost why not give it a shot?
Ironic how the "CPI for All items" is lower than any of the things that actually matter The OC818 picks up top end that’s not needed here and the RE20 is too "quacky" in the mids for my taste. The 57 hast just the right amount of bite in the upper mids, a classic for a reason.
I think it depends on the tone your going for. The 500 and 1200 dollar moc sound much more clear and bright but for metal for example you want a darker harsher tone. So basicly all are great options. It depends on the stye of music and preference
The sm57 is so familiar. It's hard to not like it. Especially for the price. Also, probably going to eq that $$ mic to sound like the 57 for that very reason
I think doing this outside a mix doesnt do the 57 justice. I think the reason it’s so popular is because of the frequencies it cuts. You can hear even just in this solo track how well the guitar would sit in a mix, and you would probably have to eq out all the highs and lows on the expensive mics that the 57 naturally gets rid of.
Well we see why noone ever says throw an RE 20 on my Marshall cabinet 🤣🤣 it’s clearly not gonna be anyone’s favorite. The SM 57 sounds great so does the condenser mic. The SM 57 has hyped midrange that sounds like it excites those very frequencies in the guitar . The RE 20 is flat as the condenser in the mids but the bottom end sounds tighter probably why it’s used on bass cabinets. The condenser just has an open sound probably because not trying to color the sound .
There's definitely a jump between 100$ and 500$. How big/the quality of the jump depends. But it's there, imo. Between 500$ and 1200$, it's feels less of a vertical jump and more of a horizontal one. Still not bad, but it doesn't have the same impact for me.
Okay but you didn't give us any of the relevant information to actually make a comparison, what's the polar pattern for each are they all dynamic or are they condenser and/or ribbon, what proximity boost do you get from each of these - it would also be nice to hear in the full context of a mix as well as a solo channel and from different positionings in the room to hear the mics with and without the proximity boost - just a thought😅
Quality wise each one is the same. No drop in quality of rise. But tone is different. If u want something punchier for some reason I would go with trying something different
Re20. But would not mind receiving the 57 at all. Shure are good, if only they could be more honest with their marketing, especially the 7b, what a web of lies that’s turned into
I guess I have expensive tastes, but unless I get crazy money out of the blue I will be using the cheapest possible...heh the expensive mic does sound better but it doesn't matter that much!
it's no about the quality, is about the s o u n d, gibson, fender, prs, whatever, each of them have different sound , what industry says is just to buy the most common sound we have heard during all these years and that comes from professional equipment(mostl( but in reality is all about the sound, we are so used to hear the same sound so we come here to say yeah that one is a lot more better, yeah that sound is sick and that, that is just the sound you have heard the most.
Without hearing the context in which the guitar is going to sit, it's a little hard to evaluate which one is better. Any of them could be better depending on what else is playing around them.
I dont think you could say one is better or worse but theres definitely a tonal difference so it would really come down to preference.
And that tonal difference can be emulated with EQ to the point the vast majority of people couldn't A/B them apart consistently...so
@@_CRiT_hits_I agree. Except something like bass cab recording or drums, just get bunch of SM57s and call it a day.
the more expensive one 100% covers more dB than the $99 sm57 but the over all clarity is slim in comparison.
#2 sounded really good to me. I have a 57 and I love it. But it seems I’m going to save some money.
omg are you ME??? I also think #2 sounds amazing and I also have a 57 haha
yep prefere 2nd micro
Yeah always use a 57 myself but 2 sounded great.
Yeah there’s a noticeable difference to me. I like how #2 picks up the inflections more. But #3 sounds the worst to my ears. Great video btw.
Number 2 was louder
Sm57, it’s just how you want you guitar to sound. There’s a reason why it’s in every single studio ever and it’s not just the price.
For sure not an $1100 difference in terms of what the consumer will hear.
The average person won't really be able to tell the difference, no but even the second one has more tonality and picks up notes the first one doesn't even hear.
@@DavidCase101 agreed. It really can come down to what the creator values and what they do with it.
I try to impress my engineer friends. Guess I'm out of luck.
@@DavidCase101Every mic has a different sound, just looking at the price doesn't make much sense tbh.
You can get a good and fitting sound with a cheap t.bone and horrible, not fitting sounds with a 1000$ mic.
That’s not how it works. These are tools that will be able to bring an artist closer to their sonic visions. No people generally won’t be able to tell what equipment you used or the price of it. But that doesn’t matter. They are not making the choices, the artist are making the choices and they are presented with the result.
Also, the OC818 has a lot more going for it in terms of features and versatility. The SM57 might sound better on this particular source, but try using either the SM57 or the OC818 as your only mic for recording everything. I’m pretty certain that you’ll be happy spending more on the OC818.
No disrespect to the SM57, it’s certainly a useful mic, but it’s also very limited.
It's crazy how the sm57 has been so solid and reliable since its original release in 1957
Edit: *1965
Similar to a telecaster and stratocaster. Legendary and durable design.
The sm57 was Not released in 1957. 1965.
@@maxwilliams5874 my bad lol
@@bitboxtunes4918 it's okay. There are sooooo many people that think it came out that year. And the same for the sm58.
I got one but I think i got scammed. It has a very noisy static and low volume. Have no idea how to fix or sell it
In this specific situation I liked the sound of the re20 the best.
love the re20 sound personally
Why did I like the middle one the best
sounded most alive and articulate to me as well
Beacause it's an way better mic in lots of applications and fidelity than an Shure SM57.
It's an electro voice RE20 and it is another studio's standard
You mean the second one? Ya dummy
To dumb it down for brevity sake, it's because of something called proximity boost. The 57 boost lies somewhere in the low - mid frequency range which helps a lot of instruments punch through in a mix but sometimes leaves them sounding a bit muddy hence why the other 2 sound a bit clearer and articulate, as for why the 2nd sounds much clearer and articulate compared to 1 and 3 likely lies in polar pattern, iirc sm57 is cardioid, number 2 is omni or has 2 polar patterns (I did see a mic like that just not sure if it's this particular one) and number 3 figure of 8 - the polar pattern just determines where the mic is picking sound from
A lot of what "better" mics pick up will be buried in the mix by cymbals, vocals, keyboards and bass, while the mid focused voice of the 57 will punch through.
I like the crunch of the REC20. Maybe layer it with the sm57.
#2 - RE20, by far!
RE sounds the best
Sm57 sounds like modern rock from the outset, the EQ work was done for you by the mic. RE20 sounds like classic rock, or a blues record. The OC818 sounds very good, but doesn't make me think anything in particular.
It's been my experience that the biggest difference with cheaper mics like the 57 is how much less forgiving they are of bad placement or a bad sounding instrument. as I've collected more expensive mics, I've found that while I'm getting great sounds out of them, the time and experience spent acquiring them means I'm also able to go back to the 57 and get great sounds there too. interesting little paradox of GAS
Defo a tone difference but I think the best gear is the one you have access to.
getting another mic for layering or just more options is sweet, but going from no mic and saving that extra $1000+... I'd rather be able to get the SM57 when I needed it right away and be able to record.
I have always liked the RE20 a lot since the first time i recorded with one.
I haven't looked at the chart in a while but I believe the sm57 has a pretty flat frequency response on it. So basically what you put in is what you get out. It doesn't add a ton of color, thats why its used on everything. Swiss army knife.
The SM 57 mid EQ bump is great on guitar for helping it pop out in the mix. The others are fuller but run into frequencies I. Th drums and bass more.
I love the re20 on kick and bass cabs. Ive used it on guitar amps too, but usually have a 57 or e906 on those nowadays. It also works quite well for vocals with the right pre or an inline preamp booster (i have the tierra audio pepper booster). I know theyre great for horns, but i havent used it for that yet 😢. Hopefully soon. Great mic
2 sounded great!
RE20 has more body. 818 has lots of top and detail which is actually making that part seem sloppier, as you hear lots of string noise and harmonics caused by hand noise.
The 57 kinda has some of that unwanted top end stuff too.
Are they all the same performance, or did you rerecord the riff for each mic?
Just flavors. Love how that sm57 sounds doe
AudioHaze, awesome video keep up the great content
RE20 in this case. But it really depends on the tone you're looking for, and if you're looking for "accuracy" or want what's being picked up to be "colored" in any way!
There is a really cool video from Hardcore Music Studio comparing the Rode NT1 (~150 Euro/Dollars) to a Neumann U47 (~10,000 Dollars). They're almost the same.
I also recommend Jim Lill's videos on microphones. Or any of his videos.
Incredible and simple mic.
Good video, and fun experiment. 1 thing though.
I think the mics being placed so close to the speaker cone kind of dampens this experiment.
A lot of the low end is artificially added through the proximity effect.
I reccomend trying this again with a little more difference.
I have a couple mics and always end up using my sm57 with a fethead!
Sounds great! Is the amp a tonemaster?
Edit: nevermind just rewatched the killing in the name remake video, such a great amp!
The sm57 sounds good for sure ( sorry for the pun)but i prefer the Re20. More open sounds and a bit brighter. The OC808 is not that far off from the Re20 and you would wonder, in this example at least, why 700 bucks more...
Doesn’t really work like that. The SM57 is good at micing guitar amps, because guitar amps having a pretty focused mid-forward sound, that an SM57 is good at picking up that eq curve.
The SM57 can mic a lot of sources pretty good, but when you get into more specialized sound sources, like cymbals, bass, or most importantly; vocals, it leaves quite a bit to be desired.
Although, this is a pretty poor test as the RE20 and Austrian Audio mics are not mics that I’m particularly fond of or very popular for guitar.
The OC818 is really far from the RE20.
The technology firstly, OC818 has 2 eletrostatic membranes, RE20 has one dynamic membrane.
In this application you should hear differences in the high frequences and reflexions form the room.
@@hamardloic3621 oh yeah agree. There are differences of sound between the Re20 and the OC808 especially if you hear it on good headphones and I bet without the youtube codec it would be even more obvious. But if you listen to it on your phone's speaker which is what a lot of people do these days... the difference is quite subtle... as opposed to the difference with the sm 57
Love your video quality, whats the name of font your using?
Yes. The RE20 sounded best to me, it brought out something the SM57 did not in the high mids.
the difference in tone is due to the placement of the mike relative to the cone center. You can get them to sound the same if you put it on the right part of the cone.
Sm57 You like Arizona tea Always good and always cheap
omg the oc818... that low end
The more expensive it gets, the more dynamic and clear the tone seems to me. I'm curious what tone you'd get if you ran 2 57s out the front, (one head on the speaker, and one angled 45°) and then also miced the back of the cab also, how that would compare to the $1200 mic. Sure, it requires more tracks, and more tracks means more mixing, but if it might get you a tone you're looking for, for 1/4 the cost why not give it a shot?
Ironic how the "CPI for All items" is lower than any of the things that actually matter
The OC818 picks up top end that’s not needed here and the RE20 is too "quacky" in the mids for my taste.
The 57 hast just the right amount of bite in the upper mids, a classic for a reason.
2 sounds more clear with highs coming through👍
But 1 & 3 are weirdly similar.
Depends on overall mix, ability to take EQ/gain/compression, bro’s mood that day, etc
I think it depends on the tone your going for. The 500 and 1200 dollar moc sound much more clear and bright but for metal for example you want a darker harsher tone. So basicly all are great options. It depends on the stye of music and preference
The sm57 is so familiar. It's hard to not like it. Especially for the price. Also, probably going to eq that $$ mic to sound like the 57 for that very reason
I think if you want to do a fair microphone shootout, you should EQ all of them to have a flat response.
Why
I want to smoke what you're smoking
Second one sounds pretty good
Wow the re20 sounded fantastic.
I think doing this outside a mix doesnt do the 57 justice. I think the reason it’s so popular is because of the frequencies it cuts. You can hear even just in this solo track how well the guitar would sit in a mix, and you would probably have to eq out all the highs and lows on the expensive mics that the 57 naturally gets rid of.
Whats the backround music?
Well we see why noone ever says throw an RE 20 on my Marshall cabinet 🤣🤣 it’s clearly not gonna be anyone’s favorite. The SM 57 sounds great so does the condenser mic. The SM 57 has hyped midrange that sounds like it excites those very frequencies in the guitar . The RE 20 is flat as the condenser in the mids but the bottom end sounds tighter probably why it’s used on bass cabinets. The condenser just has an open sound probably because not trying to color the sound .
What I can hear is the Law of Diminishing Returns… In other words, the others have character but the SM is more than enough!!
pedalboard tour?
There's definitely a jump between 100$ and 500$. How big/the quality of the jump depends. But it's there, imo. Between 500$ and 1200$, it's feels less of a vertical jump and more of a horizontal one. Still not bad, but it doesn't have the same impact for me.
The second one had a lot more clarity in the high end, but really I would spent 5x the money for that
2 qas the ni nicest sounding 3 most detailed 1 was cool too
the RE20 kinda kills here
The more expensive ones have a richer mid range and the 57 much brighter, but that can just be compensated with EQ. 57 for the win!
Okay but you didn't give us any of the relevant information to actually make a comparison, what's the polar pattern for each are they all dynamic or are they condenser and/or ribbon, what proximity boost do you get from each of these - it would also be nice to hear in the full context of a mix as well as a solo channel and from different positionings in the room to hear the mics with and without the proximity boost - just a thought😅
Position changes can make more of a difference
Quality wise each one is the same. No drop in quality of rise. But tone is different. If u want something punchier for some reason I would go with trying something different
When I saw that Tom Petty live it was 57s for vocal mics all around
#1 is just the way how we expect the guitar to sound
Ace is the place for your friendly hardware folks....
I noticed a difference between the first and second but tbh the second and third sounded the same to me
agree
Re20. But would not mind receiving the 57 at all. Shure are good, if only they could be more honest with their marketing, especially the 7b, what a web of lies that’s turned into
Re20 🔥
I guess I have expensive tastes, but unless I get crazy money out of the blue I will be using the cheapest possible...heh the expensive mic does sound better but it doesn't matter that much!
The 57 diaphragm basically picks up a flat signal and great for EQ
it's no about the quality, is about the s o u n d, gibson, fender, prs, whatever, each of them have different sound , what industry says is just to buy the most common sound we have heard during all these years and that comes from professional equipment(mostl( but in reality is all about the sound, we are so used to hear the same sound so we come here to say yeah that one is a lot more better, yeah that sound is sick and that, that is just the sound you have heard the most.
Sm57 is best cause its cheap and it takes a beating and delivers every time
if the only thing on the recording is the guitar, give me the $1,200 Mic. for multitrack I think the sm57 is more than adequate
Re20 super fan here
Without hearing the context in which the guitar is going to sit, it's a little hard to evaluate which one is better. Any of them could be better depending on what else is playing around them.
Ah yes I will make this judgement based on my phones speaker
You get what you pay for 🤷♂️ on a budget, the SM57 is an amazing mic but if I was recording on a professional level I'd ignore its existent ngl
The 57 definitely tells on you a lot more
The middle one sounded the best to me but I am no expert.
There's a significant difference in the 57 to mic B. Heard no real difference between mic B and C
2,1,3 🎉🎉
Record vox or acoustic guitar
The other ones start to pick up too much
Don’t tell, they’ll raise the price
I think the sweet spot is the 500$ one
Anyone paying $100 for an sm57 is out their mind. These things come bundled with gear all the time I got mine for free
SM57: 1965, so it will be 60th anniversary next year (in 2025)
I prefer the $100 anyway, but even if it was worse, the price makes it worth it anyway
#2 sounds best
The 100 to 500 jump is nonexistent for what i can tell and the 1200 one is definitely better
And for like 15 bucks, you can swap the capsule and have a 58
Bro, are my eyes misleading me or did you put the shure so close that it touches the amp's safety net?😮
my microphone is mic on headphones for $10
Going up, you hear more... but I'll dare to say, it's missing the sounds you don't really want to hear.
The biggest comparison is the price
57
Idk if its me or my wallet speaking, but I much prefer the sure, its timeless.
SM57
2 is best, 3 is okie
i'll be damned, on macbook speakers thee 57 wins
you look like Anthony fantano
you look like simon pegg
the expensive ones didn't necessarily sound better, just different.
Damn
There is no $1,100 difference I noticed that a different EQ setting couldn't fix
Re sounds ..louder or that much better?