Since getting into audio production years ago as a young student with next to no money, I’ve always had a soft spot for cheap but decent quality equipment. Over the years I’ve tried out a variety of different budget gear options within audio and video production, with mixed results. There’s actually quite a lot of fun in discovering something that provides surprisingly good performance for the price. The Pyle PDMIC78 falls into this category.
Build Quality/Appearance
The Pyle PDMIC78 doesn’t hide the fact that it’s a clone of the Shure SM57, the design and aesthetics are exactly the same. You probably wouldn’t notice the difference if these were thrown up on a stage or in a studio unless you really look closely.
Where it does differ (at least with the earlier version that I have) is inside of the microphone. A lot of these microphones are shipped with unbalanced wiring, whereas the SM57 is balanced. The issue with this is that it will potentially pickup unwanted interference compared to a microphone with balanced wiring. Rewiring this microphone to balanced is not hard to do however, so considering that the price is about 1/10th of the original, this isn’t too big of an issue. Apparently they have now changed this so the new orders ship with a balanced connection too.
Another issue that may affect the performance/longevity is the quality of wiring used. The Pyle uses very thin wire compared to the standard SM57, again this is not a hard or expensive thing to upgrade, but it is worth mentioning. Shure are known for the durability of their microphones, especially the SM57 and SM58. The thin wiring used in the Pyle may affect the way it can be used and abused compared to the original. Overall, the build quality is very good and after a few small upgrades it gets very close to the original.
Sound Quality
The upgrades mentioned previously will greatly improve the durability of this microphone, but is it even worth doing them to such a cheap microphone? When I first purchased this microphone, it was around £10 on Amazon, it looked the part but I didn’t expect much in terms of sound quality based on the price. When I got around to testing it I was quite amazed by the results.
The following sound clips are recordings of the same snare hit with the microphones taped together to ensure minimal difference in the result coming from positioning. Here’s some raw clips comparing the Pyle PMDMIC78 and the Shure SM57:
The Pyle is a little bit brighter than the SM57, but for the common purposes of this microphone being recording snare drums and guitar cabinets, this has never been an issue. I’ll usually boost some high end when using a SM57 anyway.
I thought I’d see how much it would take to EQ the Pyle to sound like the microphone that it’s a clone of. Both microphones actually sound quite nice on their own, so it definitely isn’t necessary to try and match them at all, but I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to achieve similar results:
This microphone offers a sound quality that is very close to the original for a very discounted price. I have also tested this microphone on guitars and have been pleased with how the recordings sounded. A/B between the above clips for yourself and let me know what you think.
Who/What is this for?
Personally, I think that this microphone is almost as versatile as the original. It’s perfect for producers who are just starting out or on a budget as you could get 7-8 of these for the cost of one SM57. They could also be very useful as cheap backup microphones for bigger studios that still deliver good sound quality.
Another example of use would be in risky recording environment. We opted to use the Pyle microphones on the recent Layover session that was recorded outside during winter. We used them on the top/bottom snare and one on the guitar amp. It may seem backwards at first to reach for these microphones over a more expensive option, but when thinking about the risk of the weather turning on us, this seemed like the option with least risk. If one of these microphones was to get damaged, it wouldn’t be an expensive replacement.
The recent Layover session using the Pyle PDMIC78 on the snare top/bottom and guitar amp.
Summary
Overall, the Pyle PDMIC78 is a very good choice if you need a super cheap alternative to the Shure SM57. I was very pleasantly surprised when I first found this microphone and thought it would be too good to be true price-wise. With a couple of simple upgrades, you can get quite close to the original in terms of build quality and sound quality. They both have a slightly different sound to them, but can be matched with EQ fairly easily. That being said, the raw sound from the Pyle isn’t necessarily different in a bad way, it picks up more high end which may actually be more desirable on sound sources such as snare drums or guitar amps.
Take a look at the Pyle PDMIC78 for yourself here: Pyle PDMIC78