Obviously he can’t read without glasses - happens to all of us sooner or later. So maybe he only half wants to admit to himself that he’s getting older?
My first thought when i started playing this video is "wow this guy has a nice british accent, he sounds really intelligent" Then he puts on a monocle and I almost spit out my coffee
Came for the comparison. Subbed as soon as the monocle went in!. Nice to see someone keeping the solo glass alive. Good comparison too. What I've learnt is, I need to find out more about mics before I buy one. Cheers. Chris
This guy is so relaxing to listen to. Definitely subscribing (also sorry I have nothing to comment on. I'm watching this late at night without earphones lol)
I used an SM57 for 80's metal vocals, it works nicely when doing renditions or recreations of that very dry (mids) album sound. SM58 was used for years afterwards, people who attended liked the SM57 better for the tribute concerts. I didn't use pop filters on either. Excellent video, thank you.
Absolutely the best man on the internet. For testing Mic's ,does says, in Acts, exactly what we need to hear for a great demo of a microphone.. kudos to you sir.. I've done bought several based on your analysis, these companies definitely need to pay you!! You're expert level in your field, hats off to you brilliantly done..
There was a British band called The Pentangle (lead singer Jacqui McShee, guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, double bass player Danny Thompson, drums Terry Cox). I love their music very much, especially the traditional numbers like Willie O’Winsbury and Cruel Sister. On RU-vid there are several songs performed on Swedish television 1972, and you see SM57s all over the place. I didn’t give it much thought until a few days ago when I stumbled over a comparison between five or six microphones all around the same price level, and the SM57 and SM58 were among them. The man was just testing them on his acoustic steel string guitar, and he didn’t play particularly well. But there was just something about that SM57 that I loved. I don’t think it’s objectively better, so I have to put it down to nostalgia. So I ordered another one to add to the one I bought 4 days before this video was posted. I had never imagined that the sound of a particular microphone would even be a thing for me. I never understood how anyone can possibly prefer the sound of a vinyl record over the sound of a CD, but now I think I get it: that too must be for nostalgic reasons. (I’ve seen countless attempts to logically prove vinyl is better, but none of them seem convincing. What my own ears tell me is a lot more compelling). So why don’t I love the vinyl sound for similar nostalgic reasons? I don’t know, but the pickup noise is probably to blame.
Thank you for this video I've been researching the reason behind my madness of why my sm57 has been my studio workhorse for the 30 years, I'm bought all kinds of crazy but hands down the frequency response, on the sm57 or the sm58 makes me have to do a heck of a lot less work in post-production
My voice sounds a bit like David Gilmour’s voice, yup lol. And I’ve always liked using the 57 for live performance. I do not use a pop screen on the sm57 when I use it for vocals. The fact that you can get closer to the diagram allows you to work the mic and attain a deeper sound when you get close to it. You have to be a bit more careful to avoid getting “pops” but it’s not a big problem. I do prefer the 57 over the 58 for vocals but it’s a completely subjective opinion and they are similar. On McCartney 3, Paul’s Vocal on the hit song “Find my Way” was recorded with a sm57 through a vintage preamp and to the daw.
just found this channel im glad to see its doing so well keep up the good work. i own an sm57 that im intending to use for both vocals and instrument i do hope thats ok.
10:39 I can understand that. When I bought my first mic, the SM58, I had joined a working band. The band leader told me I’d have to buy my own mic for singing background. Coming from FM radio (as a DJ), I had no idea what kind of mic I’d need for live stage performances. He told me to get a Shure SM58. So I did. It’s been a solid go-to mic for many vocalists since the 1960’s.
Really useful video. I've already got a 57 I use for micing guitars and was looking to get a 58 for occasional vocal use. I think I'll just use a pop filter on the 57 for now and get a SE condenser for added versatility.
I use both but after this demo I can’t tell much between then .In a mix I would never hear the diff . Have tried others but for vocals I always com back to the 58
But to answer your question it’s a very good clean mic. That’s why you would use the SM57 so as to best capture the sound that you’ve acquired. It’s a very clean clear mic that sounds as good as a condenser mic.
@@thisissonotafakeaccount I would be plugging the guitar into an audio unit, which is linked to the computer by a USB cable. This unit amplifies the signal and allows you to adjust levels. Take a took at the Roland Quad Capture. Then software on the computer is told too listen to the guitar and then record if you want.
A very excellent (and incredibly relaxing) review! It doesn't seem to make sense to you because you are performer. And as a performer, it makes sense for you to use whatever microphone you think would be best suited for your voice! But if you're one of the people who actively works behind the scenes, the engineers and the technician that makes the performance happen, it makes perfect sense to use something like the SM58/57. Not because its the best nor is it the most prolific microphone. But because every person who works on the nitty gritty details knows it, how it sounds, how to work with it, and more. It makes working together much easier because almost everyone knows it, how it sounds, how to work with it, and more. It makes finding pesky resonant frequencies much easier since almost everyone knows it, how it sounds, how to work with it, and more. I could go on! And since everyone's on the same page, it makes collaborating to make the sound for your audience much more pleasing. Its the same deal witht he MDR7506 headphone. I don't like how it sounds but I still use it because its the standard default headphone for monitoring. Because if I use this headphone for monitoring, and other people use it for monitoring, then they would be able to pick up the same things I'm picking up which makes communication MUCH easier. So, really, if you truly want the best for your mic, I personally wouldn't go for the shiny new fancy ones. I'd go with the tried and true. The old reliable workhorse that's sure to the job done and do more after.
Thank you. Each to his own but I figure this is kind-of 'art' as is music making in some aspects. I'm too slow/detailed/considered and sometimes just wrong for some. I try to be thorough because folk can skip or stop. I'm glad you enjoy my offerings.
Can u tell me which one is better for echoey room?? If not one of these mics can u recommend me another mic? Bc i have rode nt1a and it picks up the echo
Hi Anton, the SM57, combined with a Royer121, indeed remained the number one guitar cab mic till today: For 12' or 10' guitar speakers the somehow limited top end frequency response of the SM57 is still by far exceeding the speaker frequency response range: There is no 'air' band (12kHz and above) transmitted by guitar cab speakers anyway. But the SM57 has this nice bite which helps to maintain a clear, open guitar sound. When close-micing a guitar cab it's getting loud, thus the rather low sensitivity of the SM57 is no issue either. To add some warmth you can combine it with a ribbon (e.g. Royer 121) and mix these together to your taste - this way you retain some flexibility for post-production, too. Tim Pierce released a very nice video on that topic: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-vHc6DEA9PHE.html
Great video my friend! The mics are so close, if you can only afford to get one, get the one you would use the most as vocal or instrument. The remaining tracks will still work... and by the time you EQ, mix and release a song for someone to hear... no one in the normal world will know the difference anyway. Just make your art and move on...
@@bagikertas1028 not without foam or pop filter. Many singers used SM57 for recording and as you can hear in this great comparison differences between SM57 and SM58 are very subtle (at least to my ears). Therefore I will be not buying SM58 as I already have SM57. What I will probably get though is genuine Shure foam designed for SM57 coded as A2WS.
It's an interesting and thoughtful video. Thank you for putting it up. I found it because I'm looking to buy a mic to record banjo. I'm really not a good enough player to sweat the details though and deficiencies in my technique will matter way more than the mic I choose. Maybe I'm just a dinosaur but I keep imagining all the old guys laughing their heads off at our obsession with detail nowadays. I learned guitar playing Gary Davis, Bill Broonzy, and John Hurt and all these guys. I bet they never gave a thought to what they used. I might be wrong of course. Times change and music styles move to wherever they go and equipment uses change with them. I saw a video recently of some guy tuning his guitar solo using Melodyne. I preferred the pre-tuned version so what do I know ;-) By the way, I tried a monocle recently but couldn't get on with it. I really fancied not having to carry reading glasses and having a varifocal effect with ease and comfort. I might have just bought one too cheaply. You've put me in the mood again.
It really depends on what you want and enjoy. I really enjoy the detail many times, but it doesn't suit my blues stuff so well - you can always degrade a sound later, but you can't upgrade it later. I too shun auto-tune (for better or worse) along with compression, most eq, and other processing, apart from reverb, but I'm used to playing live and try as best to get stuff right as I play/sing it. Regarding the monocle, you need to get the right size or it's a pain. Even with the right size, I find it best for reading menus, wine lists, my phone, watch, camera dials, bus and train timetables etc. in other words fairly brief stuff. I recently had my eyes tested and took advantage of an offer on varifocals. I understand how they work and have practiced but I find them never quite right for anything and I don't like wearing them when out and about, they make things a bit unreal so... Out and about I use my eyes as they are and I feel comfortable, I have the monocle with me for uses above. I have some weak Pound Shop readers in the van for driving and some stronger ones at home for reading. So far, so good!
@@AntonBrowne Fair comment re the detail. Maybe I'm just trying to excuse my own sloppiness. I'm pretty much past it anyway . Arthritic hands mean I can't use my pinkie so a lot of the guitar playing I used to do is out. I know about Django, but I'm no Django, so I do what I can and any sound I can make is a bonus Also, I bet few knew youtube was a good place to discuss monocles ! I'm googling tonight and might end up giving one another go
I'm planning ot buy some stuff for my home studio soon and i was definetly considering the shure sm57 for both vocals and instruments. Since i'm a beginner and not planning to do anything professional, but just to record my riffs and vocal lines, it seemedbersatile enough to me but now i'm a bit confused. Do you recommend the sm57 in this case? Or should i look for something else?
I’m new to recording- been playing for years and now getting into singing (badly😅) but what would people recommend for an all round recording mic that leans more toward the guitar cab recording that’ll do well for vocals for a few years? Cheers!
Shure Beta 57A mate, coz they can be used on vocals, just look at early David Grey, Liam Gallagher shows and they are ace for guitar cabinets, drums, ect
57 feels more open and airy, but not necessarily in a good way. It doesn't seem keen at recordning multiple notes at once, it makes it sound a bit muddy.
So I’m looking for a dynamic mic that I can use for both vocals and instruments that’s not super expensive would a 57 be a good option (in combination with a pop filter for vocals)?
Coming round to the side, coming round to the side, you can hear the rejection coming, nice rejection going on there!... sounds like a football match commentary 😂
Can someone help me what to choose I want to use one of this microphones for recording audio from instruments and also sing outside Which one is better ?
Hi, I would go for the SM58. When recording instruments that don't have wind blasts, you could try unscrewing the SM58 grille, for a slightly clearer sound. All the best, Anton
Haha, “why would you use this?” Thanks, I just bought the SM57 and received it four days ago. Perfect timing! LOL But I won’t return it. I think it deserves a chance. And over in America their presidents have been using it since Lyndon Johnson. I know that doesn’t prove anything, other than that it’s ar least usable, but they probably don’t know.
Short of searching on ebay for a pre-1985 SM57/58, you can mod your post-1985 model by either removing entirely or swapping the stock audio transformer with a replacement T-58 from AMI TAB Funkenwerks for ~$90 USD. If you go without the transformer, be aware it drops your gain by 10dB (decibels). You can compensate by adding in-line a Cloudlifter CL-1 (~$150 USD), but only if the sound you're picking up is quiet. If it's drums or guitar amps, go without. The Shure SM7b is in fact a transformerless SM57...on stereroids, according to Shure, Inc.
Hi Anton, love your videos. I'm a male singer. I already own a Shure 58. Question. From a purely subjective viewpoint, which mic would actually make my voice sound BETTER , in your opinion? Or are they virtually identical in this regard??
@@AntonBrowne Thanks! I only wish somebody would talk about the Shure 85 with the ON/OFF switch, which I have. It is so incredible handy in terms of instantly silencing any feedback issues (a major problem with ANY mic), and so incredibly robust, that I have never had a malfunction with them in over 50-years. But nobody on the entire internet even talks about it. Weird.
I've been thinking the same thing, $2500 guitar rig into a $99 Mic...hum... Everytime my amp gets miced I feel like I lose my beloved chime. I've been thinking of investing in a good mic for amp micing, but I don't know which one is good but still affordable. I've been thinking about the sennhieser e906
These mics are a solid budget choice if you have an untreated, noisy room. The isolation is good, and a condenser will never sound good in a noisy room. In a perfect world, you have a nice recording environment and some solid condensers.
@@ecedorsay 7b is a higher quality mic than the sm57 ot 58. I just haven't ever used it. I would assume it's good. Basically, I'm just saying dynamic over compressor in untreatd room. I don't need a cloud filter for my mics, but they do push the limits of the Behringer interface. I do get away with enough headroom/noisefloor for sure though. A cloudfilter I bet would make them sound even better though. I cant speak to the 7b. From audio tests on RU-vid the 7b doesnt sound better really, just different. I don't think it justifies the price increase, but that's a matter of opinion and most consider it the better mic.
Dustin Mulligan So maybe a sm57 n 58 would be enough to record my acoustic guitar and vocals in an untreated room. Not a demo but for an album. i also have rode condenser stage mic. hand held type. confused about what to get for my untreated room.
@@ecedorsay I don't even bother with condensers in my untreated room. Here hold on. I just wrote a massive reply to someone else. I will paste it here, I go into detail. He basically wanted to know if he should get condesnser or dynamics for his untreated room, and my answer is insnaely releveant to your question: "Here is my experience. 4 or 5 years ago I bought a condenser. I have an untreated room. The highs were out of control, and so I had to cut off a lot of top end, resulting in muddy mixes. Or roll off the bottom end because it didn't handle lows well either. My mixes came out very mid heavy, and bland in hindsight. I got another condenser after, but didn't help much. Granted, the condenser was a Blue Nessie USB mic ($100 CAD) and aren't known to be very good quality. Still I was disappointed at how much I had to process the signals to get them sounding bearable. Super harsh otherwise. PIcked up traffic, creaks and fret noise, fans etc. I record vocals and acoustic btw. I didn't do much research at the time, and the general consensus is, use condenser for acoustic/vocal. That's ideal, but doesn't take into account untreated rooms. About a year ago I got an sm57 and a low cost interface (umc204hd) and was instantly sooo much happier with the quality. So much more dynamic range to play with, which just occured to me is why they call them dynamic I guess. Not long after I got the 58. They isolate really well, so one pointed down at my guitar, one upwards for vocals and I can get really good isolated mono tracks for vox and guitar, with the benefit of a live performance.... My mixes sound great, like passable for a live mainstream album, ALMOST. haha. They also pair well for stereo guitar tracks. The sm57 sounds quite rich to me. Maybe not as rich as the RE20, but it has a nice warm almost fuzzy quality to it. It suits my singing really well, and my tuned down guitar. Sm 58 is nearly the same, and little brighter. If recording music, maybe consider two mics if you can afford it. Also dynamics are tough, which is great actually if you are moving them around a lot. Condensers would not survive the way I'm able to handle the sm mics. The thing I noticed with condensers, is when you have to start cutting away frequencies to make up for an untreated room, you lose dynamic frequency range and that kills a mix. You are left with no room to alter the signal how you really want it. Also background hiss is a huge problem leaving you with either a super quiet clean mix, or adequate volume but with background hiss. The hiss sounds bad and makes mixing a drag. One thing I noticed, these clean dynamic signals are much more responsive to plugins and you can easily make mixes sound rich and full with some good EQ, compression, reverb, tape saturation, the whole nine yards if you want. The FAB plugins are solid... Anyhow I hope this helps a bit. I am not against condensers and don't know what your using them for, but for my situation, dynamics all the way, hands down."
There is a noticeable hum or noise in the SM57 compared to sM58. In my copies I found the SM58 to have less noise and the voice just came through nice and clear with gain set at 60%. The SM57 had some hum or noise at 40-50% gain. I still wonder what the humming is. I also notice a slight hiss in SM57.
Hi Peter, I'm no guitar recording expert but I probably wouldn't choose a dynamic - too sluggish and coloured for an acoustic. I would look at a ribbon or condenser. Beyer have some vintage ribbons worth trying or maybe try any modern condenser that isn't hyped to death. I'm sure the SV33 would be great but it's pricey. All the best, Anton
Unless you have isolated and sound proofed your recording environment I would go for the dynamic personally a 57 or a 58 are both excellent on acoustic guitars as they have the same capsule or a similar cost would be an Audix i5 a very nice dynamic with a slightly wider frequency response than the 57/8. My main problem with the shures is the amount of fakes out there I have just been on eBay and spotted a few and as for Amazon stay well clear. If your recording environment is good a pencil condenser like a Rode M5 is around the same price point. Lots of vids on RU-vid of 57s in front of acoustic guitars a little eq and your away.