High profile podcasts made the Shure SM7B hot.

It's regarded as the professional standard for youtube/twitch but while it is a great mic for this purpose it is overpriced because of its status.
If you are starting in entertainment content on the internet you don't "need "that mic, there are other options with the same quality at a lower price.

I you want a mic in this price range for tracking vocals get an Audio Technica AT4033 ASM and you'll have a mic worth 2 time what you paid for.

SM7B would still be a good investment because of its versatility so if you are planning on doing voice/instrument recording and podcasting you should go for it. just music, I'll get an AT.

That being said, back to your topic : you will have to pay full price for your SM7B at a reputable retailer as it's never on sale and the internet is flooded with cheap Chinese copies.

The only way you will get a good deal on a SM7B is if a friend or a trusted acquaintance wants to get rid of it to finance a pricier mic and even so you would have to ask for the invoice because that person might have bought a fake one unwillingly.

Tags/boxes and S/N can be very easily altered/copied to appear authentic, it happened to the resseling sneakers market and killed it.

(just in, the comment above me have a friend working at Shure wich is great, but you don't and neither do I)

I don't know of a trusted second hand platform that can assure the authenticity of an SM7B, it is targeted by scammers because so much people wants it. I can't think of another mic/instrument being counterfeit like that (no fake CS-80 floating around)

I assume that if you want to buy a SM7B at a lower price you don't have (yet) financial success with your project, therefore you don't need a mic
above your needs and should be buying a cheaper mic.

If money isn't an issue or you can afford to bite the bullet even if it hurts a little, go for it, it's a great investment.

And NO, Michael Jackson didn't record thriller on a SM7B, it was a SM7, it sounded very different and is worth about $1,400 nowadays.

I wish you good fortune on your project,
Take care and don't get scammed.

 

Aren't the shockmounts on the Audio Technica AT4033 expensive? Or have you found a cheaper solution that does the trick?

 

No.
What I find strange is that he is not selling the old mic but the supposedly new one in the supposedly original sealed box, which is in a badly battered box. Which has obviously been around for years. That's not what a Christmas present would look like for me. At least not from this year.

My daughter bought a second-hand phone a few years ago. It turned out to be stolen, thanks to a friendly visit from the police @home. Fortunately, my daughter was able to provide full proof of who had sold her the phone and when.
However, the phone was still gone. Where I live, the principle "You can't acquire ownership of stolen goods" applies.

 

Last edited: Jan 1, 2024

@Bits'nBytes

My AT 4033A came with AT 8449a shockmount and a dust cover in a box that is ok for light transport.

I use it with a Power Studio - SOUNDBALL on a K&M 2109b mic stand

I'm happy with it

https://www.thomann.de/fr/audio_technica_at4033_asm.htm
https://www.sonovente.com/power-stu...olia&queryID=790277a7151795684b14e4c4e90b2c51
https://www.stars-music.fr/k-and-m-2109-b-pied-micro_82964.html

Sorry for off topic.

 

Cheers buddy. Good to know this

 

Ebay is full of fake SM7B at the moment, they are made in China. If you are worried get one from Thomann for £339.

 

Last edited: Jan 1, 2024

So consider it " of dubious origin ". But let's use an example that you even pay £200 for it. Brand new they are £379, but used are £300 from a big retailer with an actual return policy. It's a true/false situation, (fake, or not). So would I be gambling £200 to save £100 ? On eBay, with a tall tale to go with it? no.

 

If you ever decide to make a transaction, make sure you do it someplace public, like at a police station.

 

I'd never buy an SM7B or an SM57/58 (edit) from anybody other than a reputable dealer, not even from my mom.

 

Last edited: Jan 2, 2024

I'm curious about these counterfeit Shures. I had never heard of it until two weeks ago when a friend knowingly bought one from eBay or something. I don't know what he paid for it, it's an SM57 that sells legit at Guitar Center $99 USD all day long. His counterfeit one weighs about 1/3 of the real deal. Why would you counterfeit a $99 mic?

 

Completely agree. SM7B would be the #1 mic id never think about going away from an official source. I'd stay clear of Amazon too, who get counterfeit goods commingled with official products.

 

so I ended up buying that SM7B that was just down the road from me. I checked it over at the sellers house and it seemed alright, but now I have gotten back home I’m not so sure so just wanted to swing this by you guys

My first thing I noticed is the packaging inside. Now on unboxing videos of these mics that I’ve seen they come in styrofoam not cardboard. I don’t know if Shure have changed to this to hit recycling targets with cardboard or what…

The next thing is that yes all the documents are there in the box including the shure sticker but there is another document that is all in Chinese and I don’t know what it is

Also on the microphones I have seen, there isn’t the sticker all round the mic, it is only one side…now I did see someone mention the same as me on another forum about this, and someone did mention that Shure changed it to an all round sticker (can someone confirm this)

I have taken photos of the mic and packaging for you to make up your own minds.

 

Why do you say this about these specific mics? Is there something about them which makes them especially attractive to counterfeit?

Do you have a barcode scanner app on your phone or something? The 2d barcodes on the stickers are created by concatenation of the data on the labels. So when you scan it, you can see if the concatenated data matches the sticker. I do not think they would bother to do this if they were fake. They will often put the same barcode on all of them, sometimes even the serial numbers do not change from one to the next.

 

Last edited: Jan 1, 2024

word in the streets is, the capsule should be a little further back in an original SM7, like the yellow thingy should be at level with the body of the mic.

Also check the rubber thingy that seals the cable entrance at the top of the mic, if it's loose and easy to move, that's bad news.

Source: Various youtube videos, so don't take my word for it.

 

Last edited: Jan 1, 2024

if you tighten the thumbscrews on the sides, it should't move. first wiring you come across should be green and yellow. the one YT guy I watched video of said he ended up sending them pictures and they got back to him very quickly.

 

I googled the serial number "shure 2CE08108728" from your photo and found this from a dutch marketplace site.

Seeing as the angles of the top two stickers are different to the ones in your photo, it seems obvious that you've been duped and have bought one of a batch of counterfeits.

Due to the high proliferation of SM7B counterfeits, multiple people in this thread warned you against buying from non-official retailers, so I'm baffled why you went ahead with this?

 

Last edited: Jan 1, 2024

Because I did my research, this wasn’t the one off eBay.

 

I’d be interested to see this ‘Dutch marketplace’ you found it on

 

Eh, do you think I'm trying to dupe you for some inexplicable reason? Google "Shure 2CE08108728" and go to Images. It's the second one, from marktplaats.nl

I'd argue that your research wasn't overly thorough - in your own words, "It seemed alright".
Despite asking for guidance in buying an SM7B, you chose to ignore the advice given to you. Chalk this one down to a loss, my friend.

 

Last edited: Jan 1, 2024

Everything looks legit. Seriously no need to have a go at me about it. Not only that, but I’ve just gone into Shure and successfully registered it. So don’t know what is going on. I’m going to open it up tomorrow and see what is going on inside, that is a definite way to find out