SM58 as a vocal mic

[vbalian]

Hi everyone,
I read somewhere that some artists are using SM58 as main vocal studio mics since they are so unidirectional and aren't as sensitive. Any thoughts? I believe the mic went through a focusrite compressor then directly into Digi.

[IOP Drummer]

58's are great for vocals. They will always work. There are way better mics for vocals, but when in doubt grab a 58!

[s.d. finley]

slick R&B bands are not, pops bands and boy bands, hell no.......however, aggresive hard rock, rock and metal and the like....HELL yes! even dance/industrial....it just depends how SLICK you want the vox.

rock
sdf

[Fishman]

I once saw a survey of top recording engineers who were asked if stranded on an island with the choice of only two mics what would they be. Most answered SM57 and SM58.

These are the workhorses of audio. While there are many better mics out there, these two are a known quantity and good quality for overall uses. You can hammer nails with a 57 and turn around and get great snare, vox, or guitar sounds. Plus you can't beat it for the $$.

[dabu2012]

I read (I think on this site) that bjork sometimes uses a 58 with one of her mobile rig.

dave

[Kickin.da.speaker]

I use a SM58 for my industrial rock song because that's all I have. I find it to lack presence, but maybe that's just my voice?


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David.

6am eternal

[sidereal]

The voice should determine the mic choice.

Björk used a 58 through a Focusrite ISA 430. If your singer can sing like Björk go for it. But I don't know anyone who can. Most voices benefit from a quality condenser.

[ReniuR]

Sorry... I wandered over from the PC side of the DUC... We use both SM57 and SM58 in recording. I prefer the 57 for industrial, and most other vocals, myself. All vocals, and most of the live instruments on NIN's album The Downward Spiral were recorded with an SM57, and the vocals on RHCP's Blood Sugar Sex Magic were also done with a 57.

[mattfell]

I think one great thing about using a 57/58 is that most singers feel comfortable with them. They use them on stage and it feels right. I've gotten amazing results with singers using a 58, monitors on and no headphones. I probably won't win a grammy for sound quality but the vibe and the feeling of the performance comes through and after all that's why we're doing this...isn't it?

[onemanband]

With digi for recording vocals I prefer the 57 over the 58 by a wide margin. For live work I prefer the 58.

Both of them are cheap and versatile and durable, but neither of them are the best in their categories either for studio or live work. A good singer can make a good recording with either. I heard Bonnie Rait had a scratch track with a 57 that ended up on one of fer CD's. So Bonnie sang that cut really well into a 57. The credit here goes to the singer.

I'm not trying to trash Shure - they've been making good mics for us for a long time. Everyone has 57's and 58's because they're cheap and good. But for a little more $$$ you can get an improvement in many cases.