SM57 vs SM58 for vocals....

[farace]

View attachment 4108080 I recently picked up the early 60s EV664 for $20 locally stand cord and cool cloth cover included! Gearslutz will tell you all about this legendary precursor to the Shure 58. It helps with vocals for certain voice types like mine (midboost) and is a great inside the kick mic and guitar mic. Think blues and garage rock sound

I have a pair of the slightly older version of the 664 (slotted side vents rather than one big window). One of the neat things about this mic is that depending on how the connector is wired, it can be either high- or low-impedance (I have cables wired for each, with either an XLR or a 1/4” plug at the other end). One of the unfortunate things, though, is that the connector was somewhat proprietary and is difficult to find.

 

[farace]

View attachment 4108132
When I was younger the EV664 was referred to as the hammer.

It was referred to as the Buchanan Hammer because the president of EV during a presentation would unplug the mic, hammer some nails into a board with it, demonstrating its durability, and then plug it back in and continue his presentation.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

I used to run a theater that did school concerts and what not. The SM58 sounded so good through the house PA. When I used Beta58s, it was noticeably darker.

I really think the mic needs to fit the PA and the typical voices.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

I used to run a theater that did school concerts and what not. The SM58 sounded so good through the house PA. When I used Beta58s, it was noticeably darker.

I really think the mic needs to fit the PA and the typical voices.

I didn’t care for the Beta 58.

 

[LBS-bass]

I didn’t care for the Beta 58.

We have about a dozen of them lying around our studio. My husband bought them. I wasn't sure I'd like them, after being nearly wedded to my standard 58's since about 1979, but they're fine; I don't notice any appreciable difference in the sound, and they have better feedback rejection. In this thread, when I say "58" I'm not distinguishing between the two. Either one works fine for me.

 

[KevInDaBassment]

Same capsule but differences in the head produce variances in the frequency response. Also as others have mentioned, SM57 does not have any pop filtering.

SM58
View attachment 4107989
SM57
View attachment 4107990

I own three SM58s but prefer to use other mics. I have felt this way since 1993, so carrots for me!

Carrot

There you go, took some digging but I found it

 

[LBS-bass]

It does have some "mojo". Maybe I can sell it on ebay for a profit.

Never know, you might get lucky.

Frank Sinatra Jr's Performance Mic AKG C535EB | Los Angeles Gear Bazaar | Reverb

 

[Bermuda Ron]

A bit of advice, try to avoid mics with an on/ off switch. One, those switches are prone to failure, and two, I`ve seen too many disasters with switches - even by seasoned professionals.
I was in a group that opened for Henry Mancini at an event for about 3,000 people. He used two mics on booms, one seated at the piano and the other downstage of the piano where he would stand to chat to the audience.
(BTW, Mancini didn't show for sound check).
After our set, I went out front to watch his show, and the first time he stood to talk he awkwardly fiddled with the twisty bits on the Atlas boom with his left hand. He introduced the next song, and then bent down to give a final twist with his left hand while hanging on to the mounted mic with his right. I HEARD THE TELLTALE CLICK. He played his next tune, then crossed to the mic which he quickly discovered wasn't working. He blew on it, and gave it a few taps as he glared up at the lighting booth. (?). He crossed back to the piano bench, and tersely introduced the next song. After the applause and bow, he moves to same dead mic and again tries to speak. This time he really bangs on the mic while glaring at the lighting booth and yells "I'm gonna need THIS THING before the end of the show YOU KNOW!" with a head shake and an incredulous hand gesture and shrug. (Nervous laughter from the audience). He sits and BANGS out the next tune.
I'm seated in the back near the sound board, and I can see that those guys are getting pissed! Next interlude Mancini stands, waves at the lighting booth, gestures to the mic, (to which the followspot hits with his Super Trooper) as Mancini slowly walks into the spot with his hand raised palm upwards as if to say "whatch gonna do dumbasses?" At the same moment the sound tech is walking down the aisle, bounds up three steps to the stage, reaches over to the mic, and CLICK at high volume with a little reverb thrown in!
"HULLO" Mancini's voice booms out of the loudspeakers! (The audience gasps and is somewhat startled).
"Oh . . . Oh my . . . Oh God . . . I . . . I am SO SORRY! (Stunned silence from well-heeled audience in tuxedos and evening gowns).
The rest of his show was by the numbers, but I had never seen a performing artist so embarrassed and publicly humiliated, so much so that it is a vivid memory some forty years later.
I guess the moral of this story is, don't use a switched microphone unless you wanna end up flushing pink like . . . (wait for it) . . . THE PINK PANTHER!

 

[mmbass21]

beta 57a is an incredible mic for vocals and micing instruments. Been my #1 for over 20 years.

 

[LBS-bass]

That sounds like a nightmarish story for him. But, in his defense, I've almost never seen high-quality stage mics with built-in switches and I would probably also never think to look for one in that situation.

I have a switching mic cable in my studio. I have it as insurance against accidentally opening up a channel to a live mic while my monitors are still on. So there's a little checklist that I go through before I open up any mic inputs which involves double checking the monitors, double checking that all my other channels are inactive, and then switching the mic cable on. It's always switched off after use.

A switch is fine if it's user installed and user controlled and the user knows it's there, what it does, and how to use it. I'd never put a mic with a switch in front of a singer unless it was their own mic and they use it frequently. It's just asking for trouble.

 

[farace]

A bit of advice, try to avoid mics with an on/ off switch. One, those switches are prone to failure, and two, I`ve seen too many disasters with switches - even by seasoned professionals.
I was in a group that opened for Henry Mancini at an event for about 3,000 people. He used two mics on booms, one seated at the piano and the other downstage of the piano where he would stand to chat to the audience.
(BTW, Mancini didn't show for sound check).
After our set, I went out front to watch his show, and the first time he stood to talk he awkwardly fiddled with the twisty bits on the Atlas boom with his left hand. He introduced the next song, and then bent down to give a final twist with his left hand while hanging on to the mounted mic with his right. I HEARD THE TELLTALE CLICK. He played his next tune, then crossed to the mic which he quickly discovered wasn't working. He blew on it, and gave it a few taps as he glared up at the lighting booth. (?). He crossed back to the piano bench, and tersely introduced the next song. After the applause and bow, he moves to same dead mic and again tries to speak. This time he really bangs on the mic while glaring at the lighting booth and yells "I'm gonna need THIS THING before the end of the show YOU KNOW!" with a head shake and an incredulous hand gesture and shrug. (Nervous laughter from the audience). He sits and BANGS out the next tune.
I'm seated in the back near the sound board, and I can see that those guys are getting pissed! Next interlude Mancini stands, waves at the lighting booth, gestures to the mic, (to which the followspot hits with his Super Trooper) as Mancini slowly walks into the spot with his hand raised palm upwards as if to say "whatch gonna do dumbasses?" At the same moment the sound tech is walking down the aisle, bounds up three steps to the stage, reaches over to the mic, and CLICK at high volume with a little reverb thrown in!
"HULLO" Mancini's voice booms out of the loudspeakers! (The audience gasps and is somewhat startled).
"Oh . . . Oh my . . . Oh God . . . I . . . I am SO SORRY! (Stunned silence from well-heeled audience in tuxedos and evening gowns).
The rest of his show was by the numbers, but I had never seen a performing artist so embarrassed and publicly humiliated, so much so that it is a vivid memory some forty years later.
I guess the moral of this story is, don't use a switched microphone unless you wanna end up flushing pink like . . . (wait for it) . . . THE PINK PANTHER!

I will note that some switched mics have a bit of plastic that can be loosened, rotated, and screwed down again in order to block the switch out from the “off” position. I think we have a switched mic of unknown origin (neither of us bought it, or know how we acquired it), and I immediately blocked it from being turned off.

 

[Wasnex]

There is also the grill array and differences in proximity effect. If you're trying to say they are the same mic that performs the same, sorry, after 40 years of experimenting with vocal mics, we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Smart singers would be wise to audition them both and decide for themselves. They most likely will hear and feel a difference, and a 57 with a wind screen might just sound better to them. Many major label heavy hitter singers have specifically requested the 57 over the decades.

In my previous post I showed the frequency response of each mic which is far from identical...so no I am not saying they are the same mic or that they perform the same.

However, the polar response at the tested frequencies appears to be essentially identical. If there is significant variation in the polar response between these two mics, it is at frequencies that were not tested.

I make no other claims, and if you prefer to sing into an SM57 with a windscreen I have no argument with your choice. Hopefully your choice is based on the mic's performance on a bandstand working with an actual band, rather than singing by yourself through headphones, which is how many vocalists choose a mic.

I don't own any SM57s, and I don't plan to use my SM58s unless somebody really special comes along and throws a tantrum. I have several vocal mics that I consider way better, but I totally understand that someone who has been singing on a SM57 or SM58 for decades will struggle with a modern hyper-card or super-card mic, because it's necessary to drastically modify your mic technique...and that's exactly why I keep SM58s on hand.

 

[Droopy_TX]

P bass with flats!
Wait...

Does that work well for metal?

 

[Rip Van Dan]

I'll look more into this mic.

The e935 is the more recent version and IMHO better option than the e835. I was the lone hold out in our 5-pc. group using the SM58 until about 2-years ago. Others used either the Sennheiser e835 and e935. I looked at the e945, but it doesn't have as good rear rejection in its cardioid pattern as the e935. That means it needs to be at a bit of an angle to your monitor instead of straight in front of it for optimum feedback rejection whereas a monitor placed directly behind the e935 is fine.

I bought the e935 and am very pleased with it. The e-835 is ~$100, same as the SM58 and the e935 goes for $179 unless you find it on sale somewhere. I've been using the e935 for a couple of years now and highly recommend it. Besides being a hotter mic than the SM58 it picks up the subtleties of my voice much better than the SM58, or as @Killed_by_Death said, it is "more transparent".

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I’ve worked with a guy who would sing up close to a 57 and damn near blow up the PA every time he pronounced the letter P.
Until human beings evolve to be intelligent enough to stop doing that, I vote 58.

It's called a Pop Filter. Using one catches the pop. Vocal mics have it built in. That's one of the main reasons that a 57 is an instrument microphone. Regardless of its frequency range, and being able to record good vocals. It has no pop filter, and it's range is a narrow cone. It's not meant to be a handheld vocal mic.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Does that work well for metal?

Yes it does

 

[Pings Bass]

So what do you eat with carrots then?

Scooped em up with a wedge of tort

 

[lokikallas]

I use the 57 beta. The grill is similar to a regular mic.

I’ve had multiple unsolicited comments from house sound guys who liked it.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

There’s nothing wrong with an SM58, but the Senn 935 is a whole different ballgame. Relegated my SM58 to bring-it-along-as-a-spare status.

You know the problem I have with SM58's is that folks who don't know how to run a sound board don't want to turn up the gain on them. They think the gain knob and the volume slider should automatically be set the same for every mic. I walked over to our soundboard at rehearsal and the fellow running it said, "there's not much room to move the slider and everyone else is loud enough."

Now, I do not have a soft voice and I am classically trained vocalist, so I know how to use breath support. I went over to the board and sure enough everyone was set basically the same. All the others were using Sennheiser e835 and e935 mics which are much hotter mics than the SM58. I looked up at the gain knob at the top of my channel and it was at 12 o'clock as was everyone else's gain. I moved the gain on my channel up to 1 o'clock and all was right with the world again.

With my voice, I generally want to avoid proximity effect as long as I can get the volume I need. I don't need that extra bass/mid boost in my voice that you get by "kissing the mic". I get a much better and more realistic sound when I can sing 2" away from the mic, which is what I prefer to do. I can do that with an SM58 if the gain is set correctly, or I can do that with a Sennheiser e935 if you just leave the gain straight up on the board. Plus the e935 just sounds better all around with my voice.

 

[Droopy_TX]

As I mentioned, I use the SM57 with its foam filter for my live mic all the time. I sing really close to the mic (like, touching the filter). I have to say, I don't really any issues with plosives. I know all dynamic mics have the proximity effect. I don't know if I subconsciously back-off, or if the filter is fairly effective in dispersing the pressure.