Do used microphones sound worse?

[vontaxe]

It's very strange to hear one "yeah mate" monologue with good audio quality

[thecivilizedgamer]

"Can you recommend a good microphone to me?"
"Yeah, Shure"

[lunathecutest]

i am really enjoying the new relaxed video schedule.

[joeofloath]

I found an SM57 in a gutter once. Worked great. Left it at a gig and someone else took it home by accident, it's probably still out there gigging to this day.

[humanwaveform]

Mics are so important to music. Even a crappy mic has value if it can provide the right texture.

[AntVenom]

Glad you did this test, because I've legit been curious if my SM7B has had an issue for this very reason. Crazy how long these buggers last for! I could hear the difference between the old SM58 and the new SM58. There's a crispness to the new one that feels a noticeably softened on the old one, but it's subtle. The SM7B sounded exactly the same to me though.

[Enzotiso]

I don’t know why i was expecting the freakish ears on a stand for the comparison…

[hedgeearthridge]

True story: I'm a Quality Analyst at a small engine factory. One day the engines at the run-test station STANK, like we were gagging. One of the guys said it smelled like "burning roaches". After literally sniffing around for a while, I found the aluminum components smelled like sour ass, because the machining coolant had anaerobic bacteria growing in it, and the heat was cooking the bacteria and warming up the smell.

This was a quality issue, because the customers were going to open up those boxes and get punched in the face with that smell. So I had to write a report and explain as professionally as possible about how a "foul odor" described as "burning insects" was causing "strong involuntary physical reactions and distress" to personnel, and presented a customer service problem.

[BrianMcKee]

You should see my war battered EV 635a, lovingly referred to by my friends as the "Chernobyl Microphone". Still used for VO and instrument recording like a champ. Edit: Recorded a video of it on this channel for those who are curious

[venstoma]

It is honestly so refreshing to get a *"New thing actually good"* type of video as opposed to the depressing disappointment in the tech that let you down specials.

The fact that type of video had to be made more than once really speaks to the state of most modern tech

[ndeef]

I have an SM57 that I “rescued” from a fraternity basement in University. It looked like it had been through a war zone. No idea how long it had lived in beer, vomit and standing water. Cleaned it up and it sounds just as good as the one I bought new.

[chancellorcamel]

As a sound engineer, we love these things. I've had to improvise drum mics for bigger kits setups and slapping a sm57 onto a mount works wonders. I have a ton of these from the 80s and 90s working perfectly. They can also do pretty much whatever. Huge recommendation

[R.J._Lewis]

"How dare you make something smell THIS BAD..." that doesn't have four wheels and reside in your garage, Wade?

[wahoodotwav]

im so used to garbage mics during nugget episodes that hearing the quality of these ones threw me for a massive loop, mah gawd o_o

[BirdmanDeuce]

One of the beauties of old dynamic mic tech is that once you have them, *you have them* - no more fiddling/tweaking needed. A good portion of the time in my experience, "bad mic" was really closer to "bad cable" or "bad XLR connection/mixing board." People are _so much closer_ to pro audio on a budget than they think these days.

[datutturugang]

sound engineer here, although i’m more of a sennheiser guy, i have to say whenever people ask what mic for everything, it’s an sm58. used it for drums, used it for cabinets, works like a dream.

really neutral sound profile, despite being a dynamic mic

[HIDLad]

Hearing the microphone stories in actually decent quality is a jarring transition from the mics that nuggets have.

[cloudy]

Can’t wait for the microphone stories in this episode

[museum]

Fun little fact about the legendary SM58 - the round "pop shield" part is purposely *designed* to crumple easily. That's why you see so many dented ones, especially if you've ever played in bands/practise rooms. The design helps to stop impacts from affecting the rest of the mic by absorbing the force. Replacing them is super-easy, too.

[JDoawp]

Closed my eyes for the test and I swear I could hear a slight difference between the first two. But not any that'd be noticeable without A/B'ing them.