MIC SHOOTOUT! EV RE20, SM57, U47 ~ ABC Test

[@blakealanfoster]

Guys. That RE20 is a golden. I got one and never looked back. Use it on bass cabs, vocals, guitar, snare, kick drum, horns. Literally everything.

[@TomHannay]

Yup, it’s a true beast! I looooove it.

[@andyfreeman3443]

Really helpful comparison of the huge differences between mics. Doesn't seem fair to the SM57 with no pop screen as the plosives really distract from the quality of the vocal response, also a little more gain would level the playing field a bit.

[@TomHannay]

Thanks for the in depth comment! You’re more than likely right about the gain, it’s hard to tick all the boxes but I’m trying my best 😅 I understand what you’re saying about the pop shield too and I did give it some thought, I ultimately decided against using the shield as this wasn’t used for the RE20, which is also a Dynamic mic. The effects of the shield may have been negated by how close I needed to get to the mic…. That being said, I might try next time in order to standardise the tests. Thanks for this feedback though, I very much appreciate it!

[@snakeTSR]

such a professional video, keep up the good work my guy

[@TomHannay]

Hey! Thanks a lot :)))) I’ll do my best

[@zadigmusic]

Cool video! Fade Out Of View is very good, the gtr solo : amazing

[@TomHannay]

Oh thanks!!! I really appreciate you saying so ☺️ I had a lot of fun playing that solo!

[@DiamondWoodStudios]

Amazing vid and amazing voice brotha ❤️

[@TomHannay]

Hey mate! Thanks a lot for saying so ☺️

[@patam-patam]

very well done ! Thanks a lot. I'm trying to find a second hand RE20 for my saxophone but there is not a lot, of course 😊

[@napkinshoplifta5163]

great video

[@TomHannay]

Thanks 🙏

[@MylesDobson]

great vid, mate!

[@TomHannay]

Thanks buddy ☺️

[@SenneVanLoock]

Thanks man! Really good and helpfull comparison on these mics! Though, it seems as if you altered the mic position on the guitar amp drastically between mics. For my ears, that was really confusing :) Nonetheless, a great comparison!

[@TomHannay]

Hey Senne! Thanks for the feedback :) I tried to position them as similarly as I could and both the RE20 and SM57 were on axis and close to the grill of the amp. The U47 sounded bad at the same distance so I brought it back about 6 inches until it was more pleasant to the ear. I think that’s about the biggest change, I tried to do my best but I’m sure that there are some slight differences.

[@DaveZula]

Great song!

[@TomHannay]

Thank you very much :)

[@simonbarth3181]

Interesting! Its cool how the distance changed the sound of them so much. I did like the sm57 super close, the re20 medium far and the u47 the most far away. But beeing so close the sm57 soundef the most neutral to me in a way. I didnt expected that!

[@TomHannay]

Yeah the proximity effect is really noticeable, it changes the sound so much and is something to take into consideration when figuring out mic placement. I would recommend working in a pair, have someone play the guitar and then the other person moves the mic around until you’re both happy with the sound. The difference an inch has on the sound is incredible!

[@theplowandfluteproject5269]

U47 across the board. Almost preffered the sm57 over re20 for vox.

[@TomHannay]

Haha right! The 57 is a desert island mic 🏝

[@Weonlyknewoneway]

U47 is a high end mic , the other 2 are dynamic mics... take the u47 into an untreated room and the results will be shockingly different. Re20 a big key 🗝

[@urbansnowtrax3733]

Pop filter and gain on the SM57 and it would be closer. Nice video though. Thanks!

[@TomHannay]

Hehe yeah I agree with you, it just seemed so strange to be putting a pop filter on an SM 57 that I didn’t bother 😆

[@Weonlyknewoneway]

Subbed . Hope all is well. Keep the dream alive ✌

[@natebemis]

For vox, the RE 20 sounded really good, it's clarity across the frequency range just about as pristine as the U47, though it sounded to me like there might be a slight accentuation of the mid range and a tad less sparkle. I'm glad you didn't use a pop screen on the SM 57, which was plosive heavy and muddy/indistinct/muted in comparison to the others for vocals. But, the 57 was just about my favorite for clean guitar-those attributes I just mentioned were good for a vintage jazz tone. The RE 20 was clearer to me, and a provided a better canvas for processing (eq, compression, effects, etc.). The U47 had way too much presence for the guitar tracks, and made the stuff sound trebly, hollow, and thin, to me. The RE 20 strikes me, from the evidence of your helpful video, to be the most versatile of the three, and it was handsome for both applications. It suited your voice just about as well as you U47, but was superior with plosives, so I'd go with that for aggressive or dynamic bits, as you suggested you might try. I had to choose between a condenser and the RE 20. I picked the latter! Thanks 👍

[@TomHannay]

Thanks for this Nate! These are great comments, and it’s interesting to hear which microphone you prefer. I agree that they each have areas where they excel but if I was to pick just one it would probably be the RE20, maybe the U47 if I could work out a better placement for the guitar. And yeah, I loooove the sm57 on guitar. It handles them so well! Thanks for saying so!

[@blakealanfoster]

You aren't wrong. We bump up the mid range a bit all the time in vocals on this mic, but honestly it's something that is done when recording vocals with a lot of mics.

[@SeemoreDunkan]

Great video! Any chance u can do another with the 57 and give us a closeup on it? What version is it? Also what U47 clone did u use? :)

[@alejandroma1]

Terminator RE20 is a killer even thow the shure does not sound to bad just ould not handle the plosives. Thanks for this video

[@TomHannay]

Thanks for the comment! I agree, if you’re making a podcast or VO you need something that you know will give you consistency and that can handle plosives

[@ironball84]

Good vid, u47 for me but all sounded decent tbf

[@ironball84]

That’s for the singing vocals. Talking voice not much in it for me think the sm57 isn’t great on vocals. Sm57 for guitar

[@MichaelW.1980]

I feel like the RE20‘s accessories make it too cumbersome to use, because I wouldn’t want a physically huge setup. And as such, with the official shock mount, it just is too clunky. But hat is just me looking for a rather small setup. Doesn’t make the RE20 a bad microphone. I could think about the Neumann BCM 104, which works by itself. But that’s Shooting above my paygrade. Oh well… good sounding microphones. I mean all of them. And that is surprising, with the RE20 not particularly meant for music production.

[@Steizem]

Hello Tom, greetings from Spain, I hope everything is fine. I wanted to ask you, do you think the re20 needs a signal preamplifier? There are people who use a cloudlifter for microphones like the sm7b but I don't know if the ev re20 needs it. What do you think? a greeting!

[@TomHannay]

Hi there! Thanks for getting in touch :) yes we use a cloudlifter for this mic and it makes all the difference! I would definitely recommend you use one of these otherwise it can be quite noisy having to turn the preamp all the way up :)

[@JohnDaniels]

RE20 all the way

[@TomHannay]

Yeah, it’s a beast of a mic. I just used it to record vocals for an entire album

[@stevenmcguire9368]

U-47 is the winner!

[@TomHannay]

Thanks for the input! You think it’s best for all three? :)

[@SorelleAmore]

Terminator 2 is better than terminator 1.

[@TomHannay]

Wrong

[@ryano8982]

I use an RE 20 for my podcast and love it. Also I don't think I have ever met someone that agrees with me that Terminator 1 is better than Terminator 2. We don't need any help from some stinking robot to win!

[@CleversonCristianoLopes]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🎉

[@teashea1]

Very good video - well done ----- RE2- eliminates the plosives - dramatic difference in this regard ----- SM57 requires very specific distance from the mic to sound good ---- I think that the U47 sounds even a bit better than the RE20 on your vocals ---- SM57 not great on the guitar ---- I very much like my RE20 ----

[@TomHannay]

Thanks for your insights! I tend to agree with most of your opinions except that I still love the SM 57 on the guitar, I can’t help but love it’s super close sound

[@TH-lo8mq]

The 57 is much better with a windscreen. Sorry if you mentioned it and I missed it.

[@TomHannay]

Yeah I should have used a pop shield for that too! Oops

[@hoggboyy]

Cap about Terminator 1.

[@alexsidney4796]

apples and oranges.

[@tsmcdonough3]

so bad I had to stop watching. first we get the standard begging for subs, then we are erroneously told that dynamic range refers to the frequency spectrum instead of loudness. what a clown.

[@eastwoofer]

It's not even a comparison. The condenser U47 copy doesn't work at all, and the sm57 is a fish out of water. The RE20 captures the soul of the vocal and performer. That's why it's a classic.

[@TomHannay]

Steve, I hate to say it but…. You’re dead wrong

[@eastwoofer]

@@TomHannay It's only wrong to you because you have no talent.