[jakdedert]

Scott Dorsey wrote:
soundshaper wrote:
That's not quite true. The signal passes through a 'transformer' in the lower part of the mic before it hits the XLR. It changes the colour of the output signal. If you rewire an SM57 to bypass the transformer it makes quite a bit of difference to the output signal, but in my opinion it makes it sound worse.

Removing the transformer turns it into a lower impedance microphone. So your
noise floor goes up, and it rings more easily with a typical load. Back in
the seventies, this was a popular thing to do for drum microphones because
the ringing would brighten them up a little. Most studios had a couple
SM-57s that had been marked as being transformerless.

I wouldn't recommend disassembling an SM57 though, the internal signal wires in the head will almost certainly break & are just about impossible to fix (unless you're VERY experienced in soldering).

It's not bad at all. Now, soldering the voice coil wires, THAT is just about
impossible....
--scott
No kidding. I bought a dud 57, couple of years ago, figuring I could
take advantage of Shure's $45 flat-fee refurb. Opening it up, I could
see that the voice coil wire was broken at the solder joint to the
terminal strip that connects to the transformer leads.

Long, Long story short, it took me about two hours to splice little bits
of wire to the broken one, get it all reassembled without breaking it
again, and redoing it when that failed.

But I did get a working 57 out the effort for cheap, if you don't count
the time....

jak