Spot on Paul. It's what you put into your effort that counts. Having said that, the SM58 isn't the workhorse it has been for the past 60 years if it wasn't any good.
Thank's, I was also looking for a guitar amplifier and initially had Focusrite Scarlett Solo in my shortlist... but then I decided on Lekato, this is not an advertisement but to be fair: you plug the thing into the guitar, plug in the headphones or the PC audio input and can choose between rich sounds all the way to rock/metal .. 🙂💥
True. The quality of the SM-58, and the interface you show, and even software, such as LogicPro, is way beyond what most people are even capable of doing. On the other hand, don’t make the mistake of buying a cheap, made-in-China acoustic guitar for $99. You need to spend at least $400 to $600 for a decent guitar with good acting, real spruce top, to play well.
The better advice is "don't pay for an upgrade unless you can tell the difference". But you will be able to once your ears are more experienced. For example, the noise floor on a more expensive condenser mic is much lower. So the expensive mic picks up on tiny details that make it feel more real...and don't stomp this out with the mic's internal noise. These differences, and other subtleties, are hard to detect in solo, but over several tracks they add up to a better mix.
I think it really depends on the level you're doing things at. I have two mix engineer friends (both are definitely well respected and worked and top of the country) who can hear the slightest transient difference between a Prism Lyra and an Audient id44 mk2. Granted, they're listening on high-end monitors with well trained ears. I can't hear the same difference but I can definitely hear the difference between a Behringer interface and my Audient. Since I'm a good guitar player, the difference in tone between a Gibson and an Epiphone Les Paul is immediately apparent to me. But I can imagine that a guitar player who's just starting out wouldn't hear the difference to be as striking because their ears aren't trained yet.
Now also go off brand. You can find better mics that are cheaper if you give up the Shure label. Shure is making great mics, but in the cheap section there are more competitive players.
Yes, you're a minimalist. Many of us have played longer than you & can afford to buy whatever the hell we want, just from playing guitar on the side. Plus we hold down jobs, raise families, etc. Exampke: What the hell would I buy a laurel fingerboard far, rather than rosewood? In the '80s you could buy a YUGO car for under 5K. Did you own that fine piece of automotive machinery? BTW, where can we buy your new record or cd?
If you go compare the scarlett series to clarett or another high end interface you can clearly hear a difference. No I'm not justifying a purchase as I don't even use high end interfaces. However, a better sounding interface isn't going to make you a better producer
