GLS Audio ES57 and ES58

I'm an amateur sound engineer and studio producer. Been at it for over 10 years. Although no expert I have learned to trust my ears and stay grounded in the reality that I am not making multi million dollar music and that albums have been recorded with cheaper gear than I actually own or many years ago when gear was way more archaic. I record on Yamaha aw4416, Use Sony mdr 7509 headphones Line6 gear, real marshalls, boogies , fenders and vox amps and about 55 guitars and bases from pretty much every price range. Fender gretsch,rickenbacher, epiphones, Ibanez, PRS, and generally monitor through several cheap home systems to get an idea of realworld results versus high end monitoring people dont all have. In the end its about what you put down versus sound quality. How many times have I listened to albums that sound like crap but the songs rock. Particularly old Deep Purple Recordings and bootlegs. You get the idea.

Ok so I recently was in the market for micing drums and got the Samson 8kit. I was looking for bargains on mic wiring bundles and came across speakerrepair.com on ebay. I checked out their site and they were offering these dynamic mics who are supposedly better or equivalent to shure sm 57 and 58. I am posting this review because after I did my research I couldnt find much useful info on these mics. So I took a chance.

Being relatively cheap i decided on getting a 10 pack of each mic along with cables (who are also very decent for the price compared to the 25 bucks i paid for shorter yet equivalent ones). If they were bad i would unload them on a pawnshop or something. The people at orange county speaker really give above par service if you are looking for advice.

So I got these mics and proceeded to side by side compare them to my shure mics. The Es series mics are actually higher output than my Shures and sound just as good. Keep in mind I am not crazy about sm58 mics for vocals. Some vocalists can sound good through anything whereas others need a good condenser to help.

The ES57 sound and are built as solidly as the shure mics, metal case nice grille work. I took off the windscreens and checked out the ES versus the Shure capsules. The Es capsule is taller compared to the Shure which is more stout.This is purely esthetic ofcourse but just in case you wanted to know. The ES58 actually sound livelier than the shure for vocals. They come in an attractive box with mic clip but no documentation or pouch. But for 20 bucks can you really complain? Theres nothing cheap about these mics but the price.

When Recording amps The ES 57 sounded much like the Shure 57 as I recorded them to 2 tracks pointed in the same place on my Boogie rocket440 speakers. Switching between tracks revealed the ES57 to sound less muddy and more clarity in the high end. The Shure seem to have a better bottom response in frequency but not by much.I actually prefer the ES mics.

Keep in mind the pricing is not so outrageous compared to a shure when you compare certain facts. A dynamic mic is not expensive to produce in bulk especially the SM series that have been around since the 60's. Shures distribution (as well as other manufacturers)allows the manufacturer to take a cut, then the importer distributor (I'm in canada mind you) and lastly the retailer takes a markup as well. Thats without counting the endorsements you indirectly pay for and advertising costs factored into the mic price. Think about it.

Lastly the GLS audio mics have neodimium magnets compared to the Shures SM series ceramic magnets which have different performance rating. So it would be fair to actually compare them to the Shure Beta series which feature neodimium magnets in their capsules.

Overall these mics are outstanding at any price. Considering you can get 10 GlS Audio mics for the price of 2 Shure Sm series and get equivalent results its a no brainer. Don't be a price snob. Don't pay for stuff you don't need. Expensive doesn't mean good. Take it from someone who has gotten ripped off for sub quality gear just because it said made in the USA. Quality products are out there at bargain prices. Try 1 and make up your own mind.