We've been having a different drummer every week for the Tuesday night college&singles service I run and this week we had acoustic drums instead of the church's electric kit. Anyway, the worship leader lent his personal SM57 to snare drum duty. I needed more snare in the house, but when I turned it all the way up, there was no more snare in the house than there was before. I made sure it was routed to the stereo buss, and that plenty of lights were flashing on the meter. Then I cued it in my headphones, and while the high-hat came through fine, every time the he hit the snare, there was only a quiet crackle. I'm wondering if the mic is damaged or if it is a knockoff that can't handle the SPL coming from the snare drum. What are ways to tell if it's a real Shure or a knockoff?
-By the way, pretty much everyone liked the acoustic drums better than the electric. Just wish I could've put more snare in the house!