DM-57 Dynamic Instrument Microphone - Studio Mic

Surprising

By: Chris on 20 August 2019

I have purchased 3 of the ISK dm57 microphones so far and plan on buying another 3. When I first got them home my son took them into the studio and done a side by side recording comparison with the industry standard sm57 recording a snare, toms and a vocal track. To my surprise I couldn't pick the difference on the vocals but the snare was a different story, he never told me which was which but on all tracks the ISK mic was the stand out with much more clarity, the bottom end was punchy but crystal clear with a crisp and detailed mid and top unlike the sm57 which is strong in the mids only. I can highly recommend the ISK dm57 mic and at a third of the price it's a no brainer.

5 (5)

Excellent alternative to the SM57

By: Clint on 3 June 2019

I love this mic. I mic up my 1x12 cabinet for recording and it sounds fantastic. Captures my tones perfectly. It's basically are more affordable SM-57. Very happy.

5 (5)

By: Mr. Mathew O'Dwyer on 18 February 2016

When I received this microphone, I was a little upset with how the cable was wrapped inside the box, the other issue I had was once I held the microphone the first thing I did was go to spin the grill around in circles, as you can do with a SM57 but was disappointed as I couldn't do this, obviously this doesn't affect the sound quality but I really messed up some of the paint trying to do so. I thought that I was sucked in by the price of this microphone, that was, until I plugged it into my mixer. I turned up the gain a little, and couldn't hear to much in my headphones, however this is to be expected with dynamic microphones. I turned up the gain to 12 o'clock and spoke into the microphone, it sounded average. BUT! Instruments is really were this microphone shines, I hooked it up to a bass amp and it sounded flawless, I almost sold my DI because of it. Honestly, if you can't scrape up the extra $100 for a real 57, this should be your go to mic.

5 (5)

By: David J. Mason on 18 December 2015

Very affordable and very nice mic for my instruments. Suit well in my studio too, thank you.

5 (5)

By: hellvin on 13 May 2014

I have compared this with an actual 57 and to my suprise I like it better, not as harsh and bit more rounded and full

5 (5)

By: Ben Mullen on 17 April 2013

Budget price - yes. Budget performance - no. I do not have an SM57 to compare this to, I am not a professional musician or sound engineer but know I have a good ear. I have used this mic to close mic drums/percussion, acoustic guitars, 5watt amps, 100watt amps and it absolutely shined on my dobro. Even used it on vocals, but a room mic it is not. Not a huge output on it but a resonable preamp is more than capable of boosting the signal and given that it is nearly silent in terms of self noise, a lot of gain can be added to the mic signal. Seems well made and feels very sturdy in the hand, time will tell on the overall build quality.

5 (5)

By: Atilla Kandemir - 17-11-2010 on

I recently purchased an ISK DM-57 from Swamp industries. I have found this microphone to be a reliable, capable workhorse dynamic much like the industry standard it is based on. As a drummer I was mostly interested to see how this mic would perform on the snare drum when compared to the industry standard. I found that when directly compared to the SM57, the DM57 had less proximity effect issues when placed very close to the drumhead, did not have as nearly as much mid-range hype as the SM57 has and it rendered a slightly more detailed sound than the SM57 on every source that I have used it on. Overall I am very happy with my purchase and consider it a very good dynamic microphone in general.

5 (5)

By: Michael Tamp (michael.tamp@yahoo.com) http:// on

I bought this whilst on a quest for a whole range of different mics for my studio. The other reviews influenced me, so I thought Id give it a go. Like my other iSK purchases I havent been disappointed, especially for the price. I prefer the original 57 on a snare, but I love this for guitar amps. I think its my favourite for electric guitar. Have a listen to the grab on the mic page. Fine product..thanks Tom!

5 (5)

By: Aidan Hogg on

I bought this microphone off Swamp's eBay store a while ago, and I was surprised with the quality for such a low price. Recording and playing live with this microphone sounds great, and does not lose any expression or depth while recording with an acoustic guitar. Though it is great in most other ways, it's not ideal for recording drums, so you'll have to invest into something a bit better if that's what you're looking for.

5 (5)

By: barry davy (hoadlies29@bigpond.com) on

HI ALL ,I can highly recomend the DM57 , As a pensioner home guitarist-recorder ,I have not been ble to get an authentic sound in my recordings using the 2x different mikes I have here ,1 being a shure prologue-14l & 1 is a LA grange , both quality mikes & OK on vocals .. I came across Swamp whilst looking for a SM57 on ebay ,so I liked the price 7 the comparison was OK .. I now have tested the DM57 & I am most pleased with the authentic clean-soung I now get from my Amp.. I am a shadow;s amature player @ 71Y/old & have good-ears for sound & of course I play very Clean & this mike delivers that sound.. A happy Bloke ,,,,Barry from SA..

5 (5)

By: Peter Harris - Musician and Educational Consu on

Capturing the look of the venerable SM57, the iSK DM-57 is presented as a general instrument mic that can also handle vocals. It is comfortable to hold, and reasonably quiet to handle. Live, IӶe used it to good effect on acoustic guitar, flute and mandolin. It has a nice clean tone and presence with a little bit of kick in the midrange. For live vocals a foam wind shield kept the pletives in check. The uni-directional characteristics are tight enough for live work, inhibiting feedback. IӶe found it to be a good all round budget mic for instruments. Actually, I couldnӴ really hear much difference between the DM-57 and the DM-58, however the smaller profile of the DM-57 allows it to be brought in closer to an instrument without getting in the way.

5 (5)