$100 vs $1200 mic, is the price worth it? #musicproduction #microphone #guitar

The $100 microphone that beats anything :)

[Kevinmageddon]

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.

[elsargento]

#2 sounded really good to me. I have a 57 and I love it. But it seems I’m going to save some money.

[Emariess]

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.

[fivejedi]

For sure not an $1100 difference in terms of what the consumer will hear.

[bitboxtunes]

It's crazy how the sm57 has been so solid and reliable since its original release in 1957

Edit: *1965

[alancrapo]

In this specific situation I liked the sound of the re20 the best.

[skateify]

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

[mwm]

I like the crunch of the REC20. Maybe layer it with the sm57.

[personaignota]

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.

[mattwaymire]

Why did I like the middle one the best

[chrisperez]

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.

[MakeIndieFolkMusic]

Ah wow! Excellent comparison - I love them all - I really do like the OC818, it gave me shivers - but the 57 is Friggen stellar

[FragileCreatures]

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?

[LiquidInertia]

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.

[PukeyMcDork]

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.

[benisblunt]

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.

[DrGregWeisswasserND]

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.

[solisdruid]

I have always liked the RE20 a lot since the first time i recorded with one.

[boblincolninc.]

The second one had a lot more clarity in the high end, but really I would spent 5x the money for that

[CryOfTheLyrebird]

Depends on overall mix, ability to take EQ/gain/compression, bro’s mood that day, etc