My Shure and Unidyne 57 sound very different from each other. The Shure is way brighter, modern and stiff/brittle sounding vs the Unidyne being more warm, rich, balanced and fatter and also has more gain, so I gotta set it lower if using the same preamp and it also blends very differently with my Royer than the Shure 57. Can’t say they’re much alike IME with them, but both have their place
Does real mean a Shure or Unidyne version? I have both. I’ve got an e906, but it seems to sound harsh no matter what I do with it
The 906 can be hit or miss. Have you noticed this on V30's by chance?
No, I actually haven’t tried it on V30’s yet surprisingly. I tried dark and flat mode, even the Burl pre to try to make it warmer, placed anywhere from way to the edge of the cone to right over the dust cap and I’m always getting this harsh quality that I don’t like. I’m a novice with recording, so it might just be user error on my end, but I haven’t liked it much so far
Shure haha. Sorry I'm used to just seeing a lot of 30 dollar knock offs of an already cheap mic so I was vague. The 906 is really harsh on v30s. I actually prefer the 421 for most uses when paired with the 57 on a v30. Or if I want smoother I move over to a ribbon (but thats excessive for most people).
Yeah it's a common complaint. The 906 has a lift around 2-4k which can get harsh on some speakers, especially V30's. I don't like them on their own but with a 57 can really work. Then again, many mics work with a 57, even another 57.
Yeah I’ve only used it on speakers that are even more aggressive than V30’s, so that makes sense. So far I love my Shure SM57 paired with my Royer 122V. My Unidyne doesn’t sound as good paired with the Royer for whatever reason, but I like more on its own vs the Shure on its own so far. Maybe the extra brightness of the Shure makes it work well with the Royer
Excellent taste. I used to use a Royer 121 with the Shure SM57 for most recordings for years. It was a monster combo and really handled every cab well because you could smooth out harshness with more Royer blended in. I was using Neve and API back then and now I just have Manley preamps and go ITB for everything else. I don't really record these days any more but that combo of mics is just hard to beat. The 421 with the 57 is my other favored pairing.
Yes that’s exactly where I hear the harshness. There is a crisp, precise German quality to the sound that I like, so I think there is some potential there, I just gotta figure it out. You did have a really good clip I remember of the 57 and 906 blended. I couldn’t get that combo to work for me so far, but I’m a newb still
Yes great combo. I used it with the Shure into my AMS 1073 and Royer 122V into a Shadow Hills, which is supposed to be based on an API I think, but I like it much better than my friend’s API. I heard good things about Manley, but more expensive iirc. What does ITB mean?
Ah sorry. In the box. Just meaning I'm doing everything inside my DAW as opposed to using outboard gear for things like compression and eq.
Absolutely hated the one I had
Yeah haven’t liked mine so far, but some guys get them to sound good somehow
I5 seemed good in some clips I heard. The V122 sounded noticeably better to me in comparison clips I heard of it for metal vs the 121, so I went with it, but haven’t had a 121 myself
57 and 906 are a nice blend. Sounds open, full in mids. I also have done a 57 or 906 with a cascade fathead and that was good too but I feel the cascade has to be right centered on cone just about so you need the 57 on an angle off to the side. M160 is a cool sounding mic to my ears too but I guess we are up the $$$ chain with that one.
Seems like you just don't like the sound of a 57. If you want to try something that's very commonly used on cabs but has quite a different voicing, the MD421 is worth looking at.
I had a pair of 160s when they came out and they fucking rocked.