The missing piece here, that I think is chronically overlooked in general, is the off-axis frequency response.
The vast majority of vocal mics in common use have horrendously colored off-axis response. It's a big reason why it's necessary to hack the snot out of the monitor EQ to get acceptable monitor levels without feedback.
I used 58s for ages. They work ok. Then I switched to Beyers - an M88TG and an older model as well. I got loads more headroom before feedback and better sound for my voice. I would always ask the engineer if they were cool with me using my mic, and they would always be appreciative, even in situations where we only had one monitor mix and everyone else was using SM58. Mine didn't require any significant work to get it plenty loud, even in really challenging rooms or half baked systems.
I recently bought an Earthworks SR314 and it is BOMBS loud on stage with no feedback issues for me at all. It's exceptionally flat on axis response is part of it, but so is the behavior off axis.
This is the SR314:
Contrast this with the benchmark SM58, and notice the greater than 10dB sensitivity difference at the rear between 1kHz and and 8kHz:
at 180, it has a sharply rising response - is that what you want to do with the sound coming from your wedges? Then hack up the EQ to try to fix it, which hampers the singers' ability to hear themselves clearly, because you're dumping high end and adding massive phase shift?
I'd rather use better mics when possible, and off-axis behavior is an important spec to consider.
Look at the polar patterns across multiple frequencies - the more it varies on the spec sheet, the more colored the off-axis response will be. It's an issue not only for feedback prevention, but overall sound quality too.
To be fair, money fixes a lot of technical issues, and working with a budget of $400-700 opens a lot of doors - but there's also a lot of bad choices for this application in that price range.
The vast majority of vocal mics in common use have horrendously colored off-axis response. It's a big reason why it's necessary to hack the snot out of the monitor EQ to get acceptable monitor levels without feedback.
I used 58s for ages. They work ok. Then I switched to Beyers - an M88TG and an older model as well. I got loads more headroom before feedback and better sound for my voice. I would always ask the engineer if they were cool with me using my mic, and they would always be appreciative, even in situations where we only had one monitor mix and everyone else was using SM58. Mine didn't require any significant work to get it plenty loud, even in really challenging rooms or half baked systems.
I recently bought an Earthworks SR314 and it is BOMBS loud on stage with no feedback issues for me at all. It's exceptionally flat on axis response is part of it, but so is the behavior off axis.
This is the SR314:
Contrast this with the benchmark SM58, and notice the greater than 10dB sensitivity difference at the rear between 1kHz and and 8kHz:
at 180, it has a sharply rising response - is that what you want to do with the sound coming from your wedges? Then hack up the EQ to try to fix it, which hampers the singers' ability to hear themselves clearly, because you're dumping high end and adding massive phase shift?
I'd rather use better mics when possible, and off-axis behavior is an important spec to consider.
Look at the polar patterns across multiple frequencies - the more it varies on the spec sheet, the more colored the off-axis response will be. It's an issue not only for feedback prevention, but overall sound quality too.
To be fair, money fixes a lot of technical issues, and working with a budget of $400-700 opens a lot of doors - but there's also a lot of bad choices for this application in that price range.
