Great video, I have a PR30 as well, to me, it sounds like the mix of a good ribbon mic and a 57. I'm getting tones of compliment from sound guys when I'm using it live on my guitar amp, smooth tone that sits perfectly in the mix.
Came here because I was interested in the general comparison of these mics, and was happily surprised when I heard you say you were going to test them with banjo, and even more thrilled that it was actually CLAWHAMMER! I play clawhammer as well, and I just played a gig this past weekend where the sound engineer used a Heil PR31BW for my banjo. Of course I wasn’t out in the audience to know how it sounded exactly, but from the (professional quality) video taken of the performance, I think I’ll have to pick up one of these for use with my banjo (probably the more compact PR31) for home studio and possibly live use. Good review/comparison!
Thanks Jared! Glad to hear you’ve found something that works. Stay tuned - I’m getting a carbon microphone (like the old 1920’s mics), which I’ll also do some recording/comparisons with.
I have both set up for use with voice and the comparison matches my results, the upper mid-range 1.5kHz through the upper range is a bit brighter, almost gritty with the PR-30 which works for me, but they turned out to be surprisingly more similar than not.
Its evident by the comments, that sound can be discerning to the ears of the listener. The 57 has always been regarded as a legacy standard. And rightfully so. It has been on more records than any other mic in history. But I'm all for challenging the experts who say the 57 cannot be beaten. The HEIL was superior in every aspect to my ears, while the 57 was quite muddy in comparison. The Heil pr30/pr31bw also outperformed the sm57 in every tom shootout I've seen.... as well as overhead applications. The i5 also beat the 57 on every snare recording I've done. So since the Heil wins everytime, what are my final thoughts on the 57? Its still a great mic at only $99.... just don't expect it to be on par with a Heil ... or an i5...... or even a pg81. Yes, I said pg81. The pg81 is amazing on hi-hats. Why then, do I still use an sm57 on hats? Because it's what I have here... and it still works well.
These mics are quite different in the low end and thats why they sound so different on electric guitar. SM57 starts rolling off @100hz and PR30 actually has a bump from 70-90hz (which is not what you really need on EG). I’d be interested to see how they compare if you roll off Heil at 100hz with a hp shelf fairly aggressively.
Speaking of rolloff. The bass rolloff on the heil is so reduced that the cabinet's bass frequencies would be maintained at around 4-6 ft. It's a fantastic live mic for vocals because of this. Especially ensembles or choirs.
I just bought a PR30 and the low end on it does not need any shaving off. It sits really well in a mix. Thing is, it’s similar to a older 421 in how the low-mids and mids are. There’s a boutique quality to the midrange you would NEVER get on a 57 naturally
Came here because I was interested in the general comparison of these mics, and was happily surprised when I heard you say you were going to test them with banjo, and even more thrilled that it was actually CLAWHAMMER! I play clawhammer as well, and I just played a gig this past weekend where the sound engineer used a Heil PR31BW for my banjo. Of course I wasn’t out in the audience to know how it sounded exactly, but from how it sounded in the (professional quality) video taken of the performance, I think I’ll have to pick up one of these for use with my banjo (probably the more compact PR31) for home studio and possibly live use. Good review/comparison!
Great video, I have a PR30 as well, to me, it sounds like the mix of a good ribbon mic and a 57. I'm getting tones of compliment from sound guys when I'm using it live on my guitar amp, smooth tone that sits perfectly in the mix.
Came here because I was interested in the general comparison of these mics, and was happily surprised when I heard you say you were going to test them with banjo, and even more thrilled that it was actually CLAWHAMMER! I play clawhammer as well, and I just played a gig this past weekend where the sound engineer used a Heil PR31BW for my banjo. Of course I wasn’t out in the audience to know how it sounded exactly, but from the (professional quality) video taken of the performance, I think I’ll have to pick up one of these for use with my banjo (probably the more compact PR31) for home studio and possibly live use. Good review/comparison!
Thanks Jared! Glad to hear you’ve found something that works. Stay tuned - I’m getting a carbon microphone (like the old 1920’s mics), which I’ll also do some recording/comparisons with.
WOW!!! The Heil sounds so smooth! Like liquid sound! No harshness, yet rich and crisp!! And the low end is deep and encompassing!!
Sure is a nice mic. It took me a while to get used to it live - took a bit with the PA to get the banjo sounding like I wanted it to.
Interesting video. Thanks for uploading. I have a pair of 57s but I really don't like them in my grungy guitars
I have both set up for use with voice and the comparison matches my results, the upper mid-range 1.5kHz through the upper range is a bit brighter, almost gritty with the PR-30 which works for me, but they turned out to be surprisingly more similar than not.
Its evident by the comments, that sound can be discerning to the ears of the listener.
The 57 has always been regarded as a legacy standard. And rightfully so. It has been on more records than any other mic in history.
But I'm all for challenging the experts who say the 57 cannot be beaten.
The HEIL was superior in every aspect to my ears, while the 57 was quite muddy in comparison.
The Heil pr30/pr31bw also outperformed the sm57 in every tom shootout I've seen.... as well as overhead applications.
The i5 also beat the 57 on every snare recording I've done.
So since the Heil wins everytime, what are my final thoughts on the 57? Its still a great mic at only $99.... just don't expect it to be on par with a Heil ... or an i5...... or even a pg81. Yes, I said pg81. The pg81 is amazing on hi-hats. Why then, do I still use an sm57 on hats? Because it's what I have here... and it still works well.
These mics are quite different in the low end and thats why they sound so different on electric guitar. SM57 starts rolling off @100hz and PR30 actually has a bump from 70-90hz (which is not what you really need on EG). I’d be interested to see how they compare if you roll off Heil at 100hz with a hp shelf fairly aggressively.
Speaking of rolloff. The bass rolloff on the heil is so reduced that the cabinet's bass frequencies would be maintained at around 4-6 ft. It's a fantastic live mic for vocals because of this. Especially ensembles or choirs.
I just bought a PR30 and the low end on it does not need any shaving off. It sits really well in a mix. Thing is, it’s similar to a older 421 in how the low-mids and mids are. There’s a boutique quality to the midrange you would NEVER get on a 57 naturally
awesome mic
Yep. Just sold it as I wasn’t using it that much.
I thought the PR30 sounded superior for electric and acoustic but the Shure was as good for banjo. Just my 2 cents :-)
It actually sounds good having both on banjo - couldn't be bothered editing it in
Came here because I was interested in the general comparison of these mics, and was happily surprised when I heard you say you were going to test them with banjo, and even more thrilled that it was actually CLAWHAMMER! I play clawhammer as well, and I just played a gig this past weekend where the sound engineer used a Heil PR31BW for my banjo. Of course I wasn’t out in the audience to know how it sounded exactly, but from how it sounded in the (professional quality) video taken of the performance, I think I’ll have to pick up one of these for use with my banjo (probably the more compact PR31) for home studio and possibly live use. Good review/comparison!