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Author Topic: Back to SM58's  (Read 10047 times)

Geert Friedhof

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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #20 on: October 02, 2019, 07:40:26 AM »

IMO, SM58s are clearly out-performed by other mics these days

Which $100 mics would that be?
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Steve M Smith

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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #21 on: October 02, 2019, 07:57:08 AM »

Which $100 mics would that be?

SE Electronics V7 is one.


Steve.
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Bob Faulkner

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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #22 on: October 02, 2019, 08:13:44 AM »

We used to use some 58s (years ago); since then, we use Senn. e835 for all vocals.  The 58 did well with screaming male voices, but not so well with everything else.
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Mike Monte

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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #23 on: October 02, 2019, 08:14:27 AM »

After working with various manufacturer (Audix (OM2, OM5), Sennheiser (835, 935/945), Shure (beta 58, ksm 8)), I've found myself circling back to the good old SM58.

The majority of my work is combat audio. Festivals in different environments, with multiple acts and quick changeovers.  While each of the vocal mics I've worked with have their purpose (I love the Senny 900 series), the 58's just work, and sound decent on the majority of voices. In working with multiple acts, you can never be certain of how talent will interact with the microphone. You could have a mic set at the perfect location with regard to the monitor, only for the talent to move it. Also, because of the different environments (large/small stages, etc) certain mic's can be more challenging to tame. I find for the most part, unless someone does something dumb, the SM58 is basically set it and forget it. That's important because with quick changeovers, there are a lot of considerations, and not having to worry about ringing a wedge because someone is wearing a hat or decided to move the mic stand can be the difference between starting on time or not. I've never had anyone complain about using a SM58 either.

The other advantage is that parts for grills, etc, are easy to get and relatively cheap.  There isn't much worse than seeing a mic stand holding your $200 + microphone go down.

Outside of the festival environment, if it's talent I've worked with before, I'll certainly use different mics.  But in the end, if there are going to be any variables, or any uncertainty, I'll grab the 58 first.

When I started getting called to do sound for bands I had a smattering of different mics.  I eventually tried a Senn e835 and found that it worked well (in its price-range) for my vocals on club dates.
After working with them a bit I found a way to make them work for most of my applications and, at their price-point at that time (3-pack for $149.00) I decided to add a bunch to my box.

Today, my mic inventory includes five sm58's as well as some sm57's plus a pile of Senn's.

When doing local multi-band shows (where no riders have been presented) I will put up a row of 835's for vocals, and, if asked if I have anything else, I offer sm58's.

In my local world, I have never had anyone turn up their nose at a 58.


« Last Edit: October 02, 2019, 08:38:57 AM by Mike Monte »
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John Halliburton

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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #24 on: October 02, 2019, 08:49:50 AM »

SM58 is predictable, fairly benign, ubiquitous, and relatively inexpensive.

Dave Natale uses *only* SM58s and SM57s with the Rolling Stones, and we've all seen SM58s on vocals for international superstars more than any other mic.

I do love me the e935, and I have a handful of the V7 MC1 capsules for my ULXD stuff, but it's tough to beat the SM58. They work, and they work well.

Performers who don't know how to play into an SM58 are few.  They are the standard for many reasons.  Are there better sounding mics? Shure. ;>)

A long time ago a former marketing person for Shure told me "Sales doesn't ask customers what they want, they ask them how many SM58 do they want this order", and "The SM58 outsells all other mics...combined".

'Nuff said.

Best regards,

John
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #25 on: October 02, 2019, 10:07:35 AM »

We used to use some 58s (years ago); since then, we use Senn. e835 for all vocals.  The 58 did well with screaming male voices, but not so well with everything else.

I'm generally a Sennheiser fan but the 835 is not one of their prouder moments...  I had the unfortunate experience of using them on female *announcers* and it was "ice pick in the forehead" if the ladies got more than 1cm from the grilles.  Whatever presence peak is built into the 835 could not be tamed without it sounding like a blanket was thrown over the mic, but without some EQ chopping the icepick was painful.
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Scott Olewiler

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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #26 on: October 02, 2019, 10:18:37 AM »



When doing local multi-band shows (where no riders have been presented) I will put up a row of 835's for vocals, and, if asked if I have anything else, I offer sm58's.



I switched from 58s to 835s years ago for bands  because I got a lot less feedback on stage with the 835s with a lot less EQing. Now, of course, my choice in monitors may have influenced that.

That said, whenever I do a speech only event, the 58 comes back out. I find the 835s suck if the person talking is not within 6-8" of the mic, where as the 58 work better when the source is off the mic, and handle leveling compression much better w/o feedback. 

 
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John L Nobile

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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #27 on: October 02, 2019, 10:32:03 AM »

I may be in the minority here, but I really like Beta 58's on vocals. The only times I wasn't happy with the sound was the 3 or 4 times I used a JBL line array. That's when the presence boost turned into the ice pick.
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Mal Brown

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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #28 on: October 02, 2019, 12:00:00 PM »

I keep a few 58’s and 57’s with the shure socks.  I prefer Om5’s and 6’s a lot. They simply sound better and if a performer can use a 58, they’ll have no issues with the Om’s.
I like the I-5 as well though the Shure 57 windsock can’t be beat and Audix’s flimsy thing is nigh onto worthless.  Given I am in the wind at least 90% of the time, that is not inconsequential.

My band mates and I sing on VX-5’s and love ‘em.  We manage our stage volume carefully so GBF is not an issue for us.
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Tim Weaver

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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #29 on: October 02, 2019, 12:07:52 PM »

I BELIEVE that the Beta 58 is temperature sensitive. 
We do a sound check in the hot afternoon and they sound great. Showtime rolls around, the temp drops (Montana) and the high frequencies are all over the place.
Anyone else have these issues?
Again...  SM58 is the most common choice.


Thats just physics working against you. HF travels through cold air better. It's why the old BSS Omnidrive had a temperature probe that almost nobody bought.
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Re: Back to SM58's
« Reply #29 on: October 02, 2019, 12:07:52 PM »


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