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dwarves88 · 12th September 2007

I bought some sm57's from an ebay shop in my home town and while i waited a suspiciously long time to get hold of them (2 weeks), all my suspicions were confirmed this morning as i now have 2 fake shure sm57's to go with my real one. Things are getting sorted for a full refund etc.. but i'm here to show you some pics i took of them side by side with my real sm57. Most of these pics are obvious when looking at them side by side but its not always easy to tell if you take away the real one

I couldnt do the ultimate test of trying the mics on instruments as i didn't have all my equipment here at home with me

I also didnt want to look inside the mic as i don't want to ruin my chance of getting a full refund. Also its handy to know that if your at a 2nd hand music store you can tell the difference easily and stay clear of them (Don't even get me started with the fake leather mic bags). I'm sure there are other variations of the fakes but these ones were from china. I also know this thread has been covered before but its my way of introducing myself to the forum which i have browsed passively for years

Nice to meet you all

*Update - the seller has now gotten rid of all the sm57 microphones they had listed on ebay. I added some pics to show several differences between the different mics including the weights and contents of the boxes. In my original sm57 box (the real one) there was a little note inside the plastic bag containing the mic saying that the mic had been properly checked by a shure associate. I did not receive this in the 2 mics i received this morning. The weight issue is a main factor of the differences as my original sm57 weighs nearly as much as the 2 fake ones i received today.

I can also confirm that the lead i received with the sm57 is fake, as on the shure website they do not sell sm57's included with a xlr-jack lead inside the box and any company that adds a bundled lead with the mic is purely the company's decision and not Shure's. (note. Shure do sell other mics with their own leads though). It looks like they replaced the shure stickers with a cheap flimsy cable... and oh yes, I'm still annoyed with the mic bags!!

Shure - Wired Microphones - SM57 Instrument Microphone

There's still no way of me checking the aural differences of the mics though. The search continues...

*2nd Update

Finally made some A/B comparisons for you all to hear along with a pic. I've done 2 tests (clean and distorted) where you can hear the differences and make up your own mind. I don't have the best setup for recording but i've tried to keep it as fair and balanced as i could. Here's the signal chain going into a fairly untreated room:-

Epiphone SG --> Boss GT-8 --> Marshall G215R --> M-Audio Projectmix

Clean sounds - breath by pink floyd/iceberg of mirrors by The Sound Of Superstring

Distorted sounds - first thing that popped into my head :p

Here's the website where i've hosted the files. (I must give a big shoutout to thoward for letting me use his webspace)

File Thingie 2.0.6

pic of the mics next to each other

12th September 2007	#1
dwarves88 Gear Head Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 40 Thread Starter	*FAKE SHURE SM57'S (now with A/B audio examples)** I bought some sm57's from an ebay shop in my home town and while i waited a suspiciously long time to get hold of them (2 weeks), all my suspicions were confirmed this morning as i now have 2 fake shure sm57's to go with my real one. Things are getting sorted for a full refund etc.. but i'm here to show you some pics i took of them side by side with my real sm57. Most of these pics are obvious when looking at them side by side but its not always easy to tell if you take away the real one I couldnt do the ultimate test of trying the mics on instruments as i didn't have all my equipment here at home with me I also didnt want to look inside the mic as i don't want to ruin my chance of getting a full refund. Also its handy to know that if your at a 2nd hand music store you can tell the difference easily and stay clear of them (Don't even get me started with the fake leather mic bags). I'm sure there are other variations of the fakes but these ones were from china. I also know this thread has been covered before but its my way of introducing myself to the forum which i have browsed passively for years Nice to meet you all Update - the seller has now gotten rid of all the sm57 microphones they had listed on ebay. I added some pics to show several differences between the different mics including the weights and contents of the boxes. In my original sm57 box (the real one) there was a little note inside the plastic bag containing the mic saying that the mic had been properly checked by a shure associate. I did not receive this in the 2 mics i received this morning. The weight issue is a main factor of the differences as my original sm57 weighs nearly as much as the 2 fake ones i received today. I can also confirm that the lead i received with the sm57 is fake, as on the shure website they do not sell sm57's included with a xlr-jack lead inside the box and any company that adds a bundled lead with the mic is purely the company's decision and not Shure's. (note. Shure do sell other mics with their own leads though). It looks like they replaced the shure stickers with a cheap flimsy cable... and oh yes, I'm still annoyed with the mic bags!! Shure - Wired Microphones - SM57 Instrument Microphone There's still no way of me checking the aural differences of the mics though. The search continues... 2nd Update Finally made some A/B comparisons for you all to hear along with a pic. I've done 2 tests (clean and distorted) where you can hear the differences and make up your own mind. I don't have the best setup for recording but i've tried to keep it as fair and balanced as i could. Here's the signal chain going into a fairly untreated room:- Epiphone SG --> Boss GT-8 --> Marshall G215R --> M-Audio Projectmix Clean sounds - breath by pink floyd/iceberg of mirrors by The Sound Of Superstring Distorted sounds - first thing that popped into my head :p Here's the website where i've hosted the files. (I must give a big shoutout to thoward for letting me use his webspace) File Thingie 2.0.6 pic of the mics next to each other Last edited by dwarves88; 17th September 2007 at 09:38 PM..