Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

[MikeS]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

Not much to add other than what's been said. I have both the SM57 and the e609 Silver. TBH, I prefer the 609 in my rig, but there's no denying the staying power of the SM57. The 609 seems to have a little more warmth but isn't quite as transparent as the SM57. I had a heck of a time finding the sweet spot with the SM57. It's a lot more sensitive to minor angle and distance changes than the 609 seemed to be. I'm not convinced I ever got the SM57 exactly where I wanted it. The 609 sweet spot I hit with ease, and the first track I ever recorded with it is probably my favorite recorded tone of mine. If only I documented every last setting, as I haven't been able to recreate it since. Anyway, I definitely do not share the sentiments of the other forum dudes. IMO, the 609 is worth consideration. It's one of those things I guess you just have to try. That said, the nice thing about the SM57 is that you know exactly what you're going to get with it.

I have a SM58, too, but for some reason have never been tempted to record the cab with it.

 

[kevlar3000]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

Yeah, I'd appreciate if you guys could dig a bit deeper comparing the Shure SM58 with the SM57.

You could say I'm mostly a high gain player, but I'd also appreciate if my tone wasn't always, all the time "in your face" which I think it's what the SM57 does best. I'd like to record thicker, bigger and more open tones. Will the 58 do that? Or I should just settle with the 57 till the wallet gets a bit thicker?

I think for bigger and more open sounds, using the room vs close mic-ing is where you will get your most dramatic results. A close mic only gets that small space of sound, for me music is not heard that way, it is when it breaths where ambiance and depth lies. Old jazz albums are a great example of the room doing the work.

 

[doveman]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

I've got a 57, 58 and two e609s. I like them all. The sweet spot is much easier to find with the e609 ... the 57 is a work horse and you can get lots of variety out of it very versatile. The 57 and 58 are identical I think accept for the design of the wind screen ... I may be wrong ... but I think that's correct.

 

[weisserj]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

Everyone uses these live:

Keith Richard's rig:

 

[xerxes]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

i got a 57 on ebay for 50 bucks...it was used and still worked great.

that mic has taken a beating as well and i still love it and it still sounds good.
anthony ketiss (red hot chili pepers) actually records his vocals with one because he likes to "jump around" a lot while singing

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

I've never broken one.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

Yeah, I'd appreciate if you guys could dig a bit deeper comparing the Shure SM58 with the SM57.

You could say I'm mostly a high gain player, but I'd also appreciate if my tone wasn't always, all the time "in your face" which I think it's what the SM57 does best. I'd like to record thicker, bigger and more open tones. Will the 58 do that? Or I should just settle with the 57 till the wallet gets a bit thicker?

The 58 is essentially a 57 with a different pickup pattern. They sound virtually identical.

 

[vinterland]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

thats not true. i have two of them and they are good mics but they arent the best. record the same track with a sm57 then a md421 and the 421 sounds more open and alive. in a dense mix a 57 is punchy and cuts thru really well, especially if you use lots of gain. in a smaller band situation where there is more sonic space a better mic is very noticable.

i recorded an album in the fall and the engineer used a 57, the tracks came out ok but i can tell he used a 57 which doesnt really make me smile.

for $100 its a gotta have mic, but its not the best. im gonna pickup a heil pr30 for $250, its what wahwah uses and from the people ive talked to they love it. a friend of mine has one that he is gonna let me borrow, if its as good as i think. it will be my new guitar mic.

I'm not saying the thing is the be all to end all in mics. There's a million different types for a million different applications. I'm just saying the thing is a good mic and no one can really refute that.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

Just a silly question Jeremy, but why not record with just the MD421? Is it because of the cost? I, too, prefer the sound of the 421, but it really mixes well with a SM57 if you play around with it.

cause i dont own one any more :disappoin
the md421 that i had was stolen a while ago and i havent replaced it. when i did the record i only brought guitars and amps, no mic's. i used to mix a 57 and the 421, its a pretty common thing to do but when i was using two amps it was a real pain in the ass to borrow a second 421 and setup four mics.

id like to be able to just use one mic and keep things simple. i have access to a few old ribbon mics and they are fantastic but you need to be really careful that you dont kill them as they dont handle spl's well. the heil seems like it is just what im looking for so for $250 ill pick one of those up and if it doesnt suit me, ill go find another 421.

 

[The Owl]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

As an owner of said mic:

PRO: Excellent for guitar amp and snare drums if what you want is a nice throaty tone with a cool mid peak. I happen to like what this mic does with my amp for tracking. Very durable.

CON: Not the most versatile or accurate if you want to use it for other things. better to have a condenser or two in addition to cover that ground.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

I've got a 57, 58 and two e609s. I like them all. The sweet spot is much easier to find with the e609 ... the 57 is a work horse and you can get lots of variety out of it very versatile. The 57 and 58 are identical I think accept for the design of the wind screen ... I may be wrong ... but I think that's correct.

I'm looking at the 609 for our cab mics at church. I have a 57 but as you say placement with the 57 is critical. Every thing I hear says the 609 is more forgiving and with an inexperianced sound man and multiple guitarist using different rigs it would seem to be more user friendly. Does the 609 not also reject off axcess noise better than the 57?

 

[Animal]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

Yeah, those Heil PR30 mics sure are interesting.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

The 58 is essentially a 57 with a different pickup pattern. They sound virtually identical.

see, im not sure about that. teh 57 seems to have an upper mid thing going on which tends to be why its such a good guitar mic, its very punchy. the 58 seems to be less focused and a little warmer. i have two 57's and four or five 58's along with some other stuff and i do notice a difference between them.

 

[Brow]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

When I was doing Studio work about 9 times out of 10 I'd use either an SM57 or a Sennheiser MD421 paired with a Condensor mic (usually an AKG 535, 414 or Rhodes NT1) on a guitar cab/amp.

For my own home recordings I only have 2 mics; an SM58 and a Blue Baby bottle. I tend to use both mics on guitar cabs (I take the windshield off the 58), and the Baby Bottle on Acoustic guitars and pretty much everything else.

 

[lex666]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

Here's an update...

Just by coincidence this thread started shortly after my Senn e609 arrived. Now that I've spent some time with it and recorded a few tracks I can say the e609 is a very good sounding mic. I first started iwht the mic off-axis (to the right of the cone) and the tone was very mid-rangey with some fizz on the hi end and not much lows. Placing the mic towards the center of the cone corrected this and it now sounds very accurate. Recordings sound just the way should, an accurate reproduction of the sound coming from my amp.

So far I'm very pleased with the e609. Recordings sound great and accurate. There is no additional noise or distortion as far as I can tell. Ambient noise is not easily picked up by the mic. It hangs neatly over the amp and is almost not visible and no mic stand is needed. Very easy to use, just place over the center of the cone.

 

[Hellion]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

SM57s are the industry standard and no studio should be without one. They'll faithfully capture anything you put in front of them and will handle the high sound pressure levels of everything from a bass drum to a screaming Marshall.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

I suppose I could add a con to this lovefest. :laugh2: SM57's absolutely have both a tonal footprint and a dynamic footprint. That's good and bad. My instinct is to stay away from them until I want that footprint for something. Because once it's on there, it's never coming off. It leaves an indellible mark on any track it's used on. That's why I like blending them with another mic, too.

Live is different. Anything you mic with a 57 is in competition with other items also miked with 57's. If you're not careful the footprint is "stacked" or compounded. By the time you mic everything with 57's and 58's, you basically have the sound of a bar band, on whatever scale you're PA is pumping. You can do a lot with EQ and positioning, and most live setups do perform optimally with a 57/58 blend, but I prefer it when live tone is more emulative of a hot analog recording, rather than a dank bar with 3-4khz shredding slits into my eardrums. 57's are great, but in today's world they are a tool among what should be a huge arsenal of mics. Sure it's $100, but so are lots of other mics, many that can not take the beating an SM57 can, but would offer different flavors.

It's kind of like a Duncan 59. They're fantastic standards by which to gauge anything else. But put 59's in all 10 guitars you own, and you might be missing out on some flavors that could suit each guitar a little better. Sure you'll still hear all the subtle differences from one guitar to the next, but maybe you could be doing more if you tried matching different pickups to different guitars. Mics are the same way.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

that mic has taken a beating as well and i still love it and it still sounds good.
anthony ketiss (red hot chili pepers) actually records his vocals with one because he likes to "jump around" a lot while singing

That's an SM7

Not SM57.

SM7 is a whole other mic.

Used in the broadcast world & voiceovers a lot...

Pretty usable on other random things...

I like 'em on brass.

Trumpets, bones...

 

[xerxes]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

That's an SM7

Not SM57.

SM7 is a whole other mic.

Used in the broadcast world & voiceovers a lot...

Pretty usable on other random things...

I like 'em on brass.

Trumpets, bones...

ah my bad....must misread it......

 

[James Rock]

Re: Shure SM57: Pro and Cons?

Radio Shack PZMs

Interestingly I don't really like them on guitars they are ok I suppose. I got better results using one at a medium distance mixed with an SM58 close micing the cab but I feel they don't have enough low punch in either of those mics. Alot of that could be going straight into the ROLAND VS1200 though rather then with a nice preamp.