Good mic's gone bad? What happened to the 57's and the 87's?

[7 Hz]

Ok, so here i am reading threads that are saying that the OLD 57's and Neumann 87's sound better compared to the new ones!?!?

Is this just heresay? Or is it true?

Why would these manufactures **** up tried and tested designs for goodness sake? And if they have, we need to get to the bottom of it and TELL THEM in no uncertain terms.

-rant follows-

Also, why in gods name is everyone raving about the SE Gemini? This is gonna be "last years big thing" next year... sounds like someone put an Aural Exciter over a Rode NT-1 for **** sake! In fact, why do all cheap capacitor mics sound the same? Fizzzzzzzzz, urgh, nasty nasty... and we wonder why modern music sounds like shit?

I figure 98% of people buy what they are told is great by their dealers, which is in fact 'great' because the ****in dealer is making good mark-up on it. Hello? This is SOUND! You have to LISTEN to the shit and make your own mind up.

-rant over-

[7 Hz]

Sorry, got so carried away with my rant, I forgot to ask my main question:

So when did the 57's and 87's turn 'crap', if they did? What vintage should I be looking for to get a good tone? How will I know the difference? Serial #'s?

[everybody's x]

as far as Shure goes, my answer is NAFTA

mexican quality control isnt the best

[7 Hz]

Hey, my wife is Mexican!

Mexican strats are good, no?

The problem would lie with Shure, if anyone. its their damn product!

When did the manufacturing move there? Is all the Shure range now made down there? What about the SM7?

I NEED ANSWERS! If Shure have ****ed up their whole range by skimping on the quality control, they need a kick up the ass.

[grooveboxxx]

Dont know when 57's and 87's went bad, but a friend of mine has two 1969 U87's that are matched, and they sound way better than the new 87's. As far as we know there have been no mods.

[Ruudman]

I want a Shure custom shop!

ruudman

[jamesp]

Originally Posted by 7 Hz

In fact, why do all cheap capacitor mics sound the same? Fizzzzzzzzz, urgh, nasty nasty...

The secret is in the capsule tensioning in order to get rid of obnixious high frequency resonances. Neumann know how to do it consistently while the Chinese factories don't.

As far as the rest of your question is concerned - there was a redesign of the U87 in the mid 80's when they took out the battery option and changed some of the circuitry. The name changed from the U87-P48 to the U87ai. If you do a web search you'll find the full story.

Cheers.

James.