SM58 = Good studio mic. or not?

[J FRANK]

Opinions please ( for recording vocals)

, peace

[where02190]

It'll work, and for live use it has been the staple, but it's far from being a high quality studio mic.

[xeetstreet]

I would say it's probably a good mic to have for odd situations in the studio. However, as far as a vocal mic, probably not a good studio mic. (But, just to save my ass. You can you use whatever ever it is that makes you happy.)

[Aussie169]

It'll work fine on a screamer, as long as you are running it through a top-end pre. Bono from U2 is famous for recording with one, but I think that was a one-off situation.
Otherwise, mic a guitar cab with it.

[SSRJazz]

SM57's and SM58's have seen plenty of studio work. Both for vocals and instruments.

Obviously, for vocals, they're not -as- good as perhaps a Neumann U87 or other high dollar mic, but they perform Just Fine(tm) if you use them properly and are aware of their limitations.

[ESR]

Regarding to mics my approach is different. Of course I know that any Neumann or Sennheisser or AKG mic should be an excelent mic, but deciding wich type of mic (condenser or dynamic) is best for vocals deppends on the voice of the singer and his style. It is ideal to arrange different mics routed to his own track each, and have the singer sing a short take or the whole song, then you can listen wich one is the best sounding. You could be amazed to find that the cheapest Shure mic is best suited for the voice of your singer than the Neumann or AKG you rented for the session.

According to my experience, wich is not vast at all, Dynamic mics work better for rock and heavy screaming singers and for rap singers. For breathy vocals with lots of air or whispers, condensers are the best choice.

Hope it helps.

Ed.

[3JDamon]

Of course I know that any Neumann or Sennheisser or AKG mic should be an excelent mic

Nonesense. Every mic company makes at least one dud. In AKG's case they make several, namely any one ending in '000'.

Myself, I've never found a dynamic that works better for any vocal then even a budget large diaphram condenser, except where a lo-fi sound is desired, then an old ceramic dynamic is generally the way to go.

[Anthonygallo]

I think we can all agree its all taste and preference. Everything can have a purpose for some use. It depends on the engineer or who your making the reocrd for, whatever they want they get. Sound wise.

Right?

[ESR]

Well in my case I've found the SM58 best for the vocals of a balad singer that had a very "nasal" voice and he could not control his vocal resonators. Because of the better and faster transient response of the large diaphragm mic I tested with him, the voice was very "graspy", bright and with more than desired edge in the hi mids. I was trying to find a more smooth and soft kind of voice and the SM 58 was the mic that worked better. Why? because the dynamics have less detail and kind of filtered the anoying vocal frequencies.

[xeetstreet]

Hey SSRJazz, tune to 93.5 FM on Sunday morning at 11am. The Xeet Street Band interview will air in the second segment.

(I am pretty sure 93.5 KRMS reaches Columbia... Am I right?)