greetings earthlings today I'm back with another edition of the vs. series so today we're comparing
two different versions of the classic studio microphone the s m7 and the sm7b the sm7 that
we're using today is one of the first 1000s m7 you FAC shirred in America in 1973 and the sm7b
I purchased brand new in 2015 but it's the exact same model and exact same makeup that is being
sold today in 2020 but before we get to any of the tests let's go ahead and talk about the build
quality differences in these two microphones when we place the microphones directly next to each
other you can see that they are nearly identical except for the yoke which is the mounting system
for each of the mics on the older sm7 the XLR port was on the rear of the yoke and on the newer sm7b
the XLR port is on the front of the yoke also the way that they attach the thumb screw to the yoke
changed from the sm7 to the sm7b the original sm7 just used a regular Phillips head screw to mount
this to the yoke and I actually purchased a newer mexican-made sm7 at an auction and when I went to
mount it to my microphone stand this screw failed and now I need to get some kind of screw extractor
to fix it so the upgrade to the yoke from the SM 7 to the sm7b is a welcome upgrade in my opinion
when we look at the filter switches on the rear of the microphones they are the same they both have
high-pass filters as well as presence boosts and the metal grille under the foam changed a
little bit to add more holes as well as make them circular and smaller lastly and most importantly
they added a humbucking coil which is used to reduce the noise picked up from monitors used
around the microphone now let's go ahead and jump into the tests first up I'm speaking into the new
shure sm7b which costs around $400 this has a frequency response of 50 Hertz to 20 kilohertz
cardioid polar pattern a sensitivity of around negative 59 decibels and an impedance of 150 ohms
next up I am speaking into the 1973 sure sm7 which will cost you I don't want to talk about it this
has a frequency response listed of 40 Hertz to 16 kilohertz it also has a cardioid polar pattern it
lists its sensitivity at around negative 57 DB and it also has an impedance of 150 ohms now I
am spinning around the sm7b to 90 degrees to show you the off-axis coloration and rejection will
continue around the microphone to 180 degrees show you what it sounds like from the rear continuing
around the microphone to the second 90 degree angle and then we will rotate and end at the front
of the microphone and now I am spinning around the SM 7 to 90 degrees to show you the off-axis
rejection and coloration will continue around the microphone to 180 degrees here's how it sounds
continuing around the microphone to the second 90 degree angle and then rotating and ending at the
front of the mic now I'm speaking into the sm7b while I type on a keyboard with cherry MX blues
to see how much of my voice versus how much of the keyboard it picks up and now I am typing into the
older SM 7 while typing on a keyboard with cherry MX blues and for you leet gamers I'm typing on the
sad W keys while speaking into the sm7b and the elite gamers will appreciate the sad W keys while
speaking into the shure sm7b sm7b and here is how it sounds now I'm right on top of the s m7 and
here is how it compares one foot away from the 7b one foot away from the SM seven two feet away from
the 7b two feet away from the SM seven now I am speaking into the sm7b without any of the filters
engaged here is how the SM seven sounds with out any of the switches engaged now I'm speaking into
the sm7b with the high pass filter engaged here is how the SM seven sounds with the high pass
filter engaged now I'm speaking into the sm7b with the high pass filter disengaged and the presence
boost engaged and here is how it sounds here we are back on the SM seven with the high pass filter
disengaged and the presence boost engaged and here is how it sounds and speaking into the sm7b
with the high pass filter and the presence boost engaged and lastly I am speaking into the SM seven
with the high pass filter engaged and the presence boost engaged and here is how it sounds and lastly
I wanted to include a very quick bonus comparison between the American made SM seven and the Mexican
made SM seven so for this portion I will just switch back and forth quickly between the SM
seven and the SM seven so you can verify and make sure that the American made is in fact working
because it is a forty plus year old microphone so chances are something may have gone wrong it may
have gotten dropped one too many times but this is just to verify that the microphone is in fact
working and to make sure that the tone of the microphone closely matches the mexican-made SM
7 to make sure we're actually getting a good comparison between the SM seven and the sm7b
I just want them all so I can record I'll take all the mics in the whole world I need to make it jump
or something I mean I don't know it's like a weird problem I have work I kind of need them
all because it's a crappy super expensive version of Pokemon and it's so much better than Pokemon
because you can't speak into Pokemon can you would that be a Pokemon abuse I don't even know what I'm
saying anymore and the winner of this vs. series is the updated shure sm7b and of course i will
explain the original sm7 has quite a bit more top end to it which becomes very apparent when
you compare the frequency response graphs the sm7 doesn't have a dip between 7 and 10 kilohertz and
the sm7b doesn't have a huge treble peak at around 10 kilohertz so when you see that it
becomes very apparent why the original is so much brighter and I will admit that when I first put
my voice through the SM 7 I was quite impressed and smitten with it I liked the added detail and
clarity that the upper-end added but upon further listening and much more critical listening I came
to not really liked it because I found it to be a little bit piercing and a little bit unnatural and
unpleasant but what about the performance for the instruments in my opinion on the electric guitar
the 7b was the clear winner because it had a much punchy or mid section and the top end was so much
smoother and pleasing to listen to but when you compare that to the original the original
just sounded sharp and piercing and a little bit grating to listen to then on the acoustic guitar
it was a very close race but I think the original was the winner for that application that's because
one of my main complaints about the 7b is that on acoustic guitar it sounds a bit dead and a
lifeless and dole the additional treble on the original just brought a little bit of life back
to that instrument and I found to be pretty flattering compared to the sm7b and then for
singing I was tempted to go with the original SM 7 because I was smitten with the additional
treble that it added to my voice but in the end I landed on the sm7b ultimately because it was
they're less piercing and more pleasant to listen to so in conclusion to this video the sm7b is one
of my all-time favorite microphones and it likely will continue to be and I found it so fascinating
to go back to where it all started and hear what the original idea was and after comparing the
original to the upgraded model I think they made some really nice improvements to the sound which
smoothed out the upper frequencies and ultimately made it a much more pleasing mic to listen to and
in my opinion that's what helps solidify the sm7b as a legendary studio microphone but I want to
hear from you in the comments down below do you agree with me that the sm7b was the winner or do
you prefer the microphone that was used to record thriller the original sm7 let me know down below
and if that is it so if you found this video fun interesting or helpful go ahead and give
me a thumbs up if you hated it give me a big ol thumbs down if you want more videos you can
subscribe down below and don't forget to hit that Bell icon and if you want to support the channel
and become one of these amazing people over here you can do so by clicking that join button and
joining it the $5 tier or higher it really does help me continue to bring you these videos until
next time thank you so much for watching thank you so much for listening I'll talk to you later bye