Signal to Noise Ratio on Mics

[Mr. June]

Go to the manufacturers' page for whatever mic you're interested in; S/N ratio will be listed in specs.
Questions 2&3; no.
Good luck!

[ciperlone]

Somebody else answered me that. But there is no S/N info.
Take these two, for example

Shure SM 57
http://www.shure.com/uploads/specifi..._specsheet.pdf

Rode K2
R

How can I know the S/N?

[Mr. June]

Google is your friend...except for the 57. Rode K2 S/N is >81 dB SPL (A - weighted per IEC651). I guess Shure knows the 57 is a staple that aint going anywhere soon so...no S/N readily available. For future reference, as long as you're using a quality preamp, the mic S/N ratio really doesn't come into play to a great degree. Good luck!

[Tinderwet]

Originally Posted by Mr. June

I guess Shure knows the 57 is a staple that aint going anywhere soon so...

I suspect that quality control (or the lack of it) has a lot to do with it as well. lol Sometimes you can find pretty different sounding 57s.

[x_25]

Dynamic mics generally wont have a signal to noise ratio since there are no actice electronics inside them. Hence, no rating on the 57.

Condencer microphones will always have some noise, they actually have a built in amp to raise the signal a bit for your mic pre.

[Tinderwet]

Originally Posted by x_25

Dynamic mics generally wont have a signal to noise ratio since there are no actice electronics inside them. Hence, no rating on the 57.

You're completely right. I deserve a

[ciperlone]

Originally Posted by Mr. June

Google is your friend...except for the 57. Rode K2 S/N is >81 dB SPL (A - weighted per IEC651). I guess Shure knows the 57 is a staple that aint going anywhere soon so...no S/N readily available. For future reference, as long as you're using a quality preamp, the mic S/N ratio really doesn't come into play to a great degree. Good luck!

I Googled a lot before posting here.

How did you calculate the <81 dB SPL value?
That info is not in the specs.

So, does SPL as anything to do with S/N ratio? You said "no" in the beginning (considering the relationship between S/N and SPL) and now you are saying "Rode K2 S/N is >81 dB SPL".
Please clarify. Thank you.

[Mr. June]

I just Googled Rode K2. 1st link was for Sweetwater. Clicked on link, scrolled down to bottom of page...all the specs for the mic. SPL is a reference point when calculating S/N. GIYF.

[ciperlone]

Originally Posted by Mr. June

I just Googled Rode K2. 1st link was for Sweetwater. Clicked on link, scrolled down to bottom of page...all the specs for the mic. SPL is a reference point when calculating S/N. GIYF.

Gosh, how did I miss that?
I didn't see that info on the official site, but after digging I've found it...
Thank you!

So, dinamic mics don't have S/N ratio?
Or shure hides that info just...because?

[Tinderwet]

Originally Posted by ciperlone

So, dinamic mics don't have S/N ratio?
Or shure hides that info just...because?

They don't have it, because they are passive (they don't have a built-in preamp circuit like condensers), so for dynamics, it's the mic preamp's S/N ratio that will determine how much noise you get.

[donsolo]

So, to put it another way,

Dynamic Microphones have no noise.

That being said, from experience, the preamp adds so much more noise than the mic.