Clearly you're right, since most performers (and their soundmen) seem to love these mics. I doubt anyone in charge of live sound was ever fired for having bought SM58s.
The music I'm involved with is usually more at the singer-songwriter / song-circle end of things. Often it's one acoustic guitar and one singer; sometimes a couple of electric guitars and a few vocal harmonies mixed in, maybe a few electro-acoustic guitars plugged in, etc. The singer is always prominent in the mix.
I'm a tenor. My wife is a soprano. To my ears, the SM58 ruins both our voices. The Nady doesn't.
Another interesting factor here is that you can sing several inches from the Nady because it's quite a sensitive mic. That means you avoid the worst of the proximity effect, so no boomy bass.
There is an interesting observation I've made about human psychology, thanks to the Nady mic. Singers who are completely non-technical, who couldn't tell an SM58 from a U47, and don't care a jot about either one, usually love the Nady once they've used it a few times. They tell me they like the way they sound through it, they like the fact that they don't have to sing right up against the mic, and so on.
But the experienced guys and gals, the ones who know the SM58 is the bees knees because famous musicians have been using it since the 1960s - those people prefer their SM58s. My Nady is a cheap toy to them. Some even tell me how to EQ their nasty-sounding SM58s to make them acceptable: "When I was in a band, my soundman would cut the bass by 15 dB, put in a treble shelf at 2 KHz to cut the treble by 6 dB, twiddle this, wiggle that, and I would sound great through my wonderful SM58".
If I point out that my Nady sounds better, with little or no EQ, while their SM58 has to have really heavy corrective EQ to make it sound okay, they simply can't see that as a flaw of the SM58. Heck, if I was as much of a professional as they are, I would just know the proper way to EQ an SM58, wouldn't I? What kind of half-wit expects an SM58 to work without ten or fifteen dB of EQ, anyway?
I do notice a few of today's bands - usually ones with a sound closer to the sort of music I'm involved with - are moving away from the SM58s, and toward much better mics. The Milk Carton Kids, for instance. Listen to how good they sound live, and look at the mics they're using: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL8eBrhVTJ4
Wondering what those mics are? Here you go: MILK CARTON KIDS BLOWN AWAY BY EAR TRUMPET MICS | Mixonline
-Gnobuddy
violent agreement! It's popular because everyone uses it. No other parameters considered in general (other than doubling as a hammer).
This isn't my kind of music, but it is a bunch of talented musicians with some lovely voices among them. If you can take your eyes off all the lovely ladies, notice the mic's that Della Mae use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS2OP-oH5zY
I should probably make it quite clear that I am in no way associated with those microphones. It just turns out that a few vocally-oriented bands with good ears have, in fact, noticed that using condenser mic's for live performances is not only possible, but also makes them sound a lot better than using dynamic mics designed over fifty years ago, when the state of the art in audio was pretty primitive compared to today.
-Gnobuddy
I should probably make it quite clear that I am in no way associated with those microphones. It just turns out that a few vocally-oriented bands with good ears have, in fact, noticed that using condenser mic's for live performances is not only possible, but also makes them sound a lot better than using dynamic mics designed over fifty years ago, when the state of the art in audio was pretty primitive compared to today.
-Gnobuddy
I actually had to Google the Shure SM57/58 series to get a better handle on the discussion, but when I did - boy did the memories flood in. In the mid-1980s several radio stations I worked for used them extensively for live remote broadcasts. I can attest that they do in fact sound terrible. And I have in fact seen them used as makeshift hammers to drive thumbtacks for supporting banners.
Those Ear Trumpet mics look rather nice. Those heads do look suspiciously like reworked Astatic D104 heads. I'm not saying that's a bad thing though, as the proof's obviously in the pudding!
Those Ear Trumpet mics look rather nice. Those heads do look suspiciously like reworked Astatic D104 heads. I'm not saying that's a bad thing though, as the proof's obviously in the pudding!
About the only thing going for SM58s is their relatively low sensitivity....when the bass player keeps turning up, then the drummer hits harder to match, and then the guitarist wants to be center of attention, stage sound levels get loud....add a screamer vocalist and an SM58 works fine for ignoring instruments and capturing/compressing only the close up lead vocal.
Dan.
Dan.
It is not common but also not uncommon to use an SM58 for recording.
Suits some voices and all of U2s records have Bono singing through either an SM58 or a Beta58.
Suits some voices and all of U2s records have Bono singing through either an SM58 or a Beta58.
Are you kidding? Absolutely no apologies necessary; that link made my day. Thanks!
This one caught my attention as well: Dueling Sitars
😀
But not absurd for the charlatans profiting from them, or for the willfully ignorant idiots that buy them, and therein lies the problem.
Mike
Fantastic text message addition:
Hey -----, I have started on a new speaker project. New design. Bought the drivers already - Tang Band 5". Need to borrow an amp (tube is preferred) for
Hey -----, I have a pioneer integrated that you can run testing with. Feel free to stop by anytime. Id love to see what your project specs are.
HRm...
Hey -----, I have started on a new speaker project. New design. Bought the drivers already - Tang Band 5". Need to borrow an amp (tube is preferred) for
Hey -----, I have a pioneer integrated that you can run testing with. Feel free to stop by anytime. Id love to see what your project specs are.
HRm...
There was a company in the 80's selling packets of listening environment improvement aids.
The product itself was little more than triangular coloured foil "post it" type stickers that when attached to various locations in your room claimed a massive improvement in sound quality.
Tested and endorsed by a certain well known Hi-Fi mag of the day and only £100 for 9 .
The same company also advised replacing all the feet on your equipment with 3 specially selected ones made from some obscure wood found only in a Russian forest. Everything had to be done in groups of 3 as 3 was the "magic" number and electronics sensed this and upgraded themselves to give previously unmatched levels of listening pleasure ,cost? only another £200 per set 🙂
The sad thing is a much younger me almost bought into the green foil hype no wonder my wife divorced me :/
The product itself was little more than triangular coloured foil "post it" type stickers that when attached to various locations in your room claimed a massive improvement in sound quality.
Tested and endorsed by a certain well known Hi-Fi mag of the day and only £100 for 9 .
The same company also advised replacing all the feet on your equipment with 3 specially selected ones made from some obscure wood found only in a Russian forest. Everything had to be done in groups of 3 as 3 was the "magic" number and electronics sensed this and upgraded themselves to give previously unmatched levels of listening pleasure ,cost? only another £200 per set 🙂
The sad thing is a much younger me almost bought into the green foil hype no wonder my wife divorced me :/
As for cables i emailed a certain well known manufacturer, whose name begins with the first letter of the alphabet ,asking why their £125,000 per ten metre pair unterminated , yep thats 3 zeros,cables made no discernible improvement to my vintage Amstrad stack system. I'm still waiting a reply 🙂
Except that the vast majority of a mpingo tree when harvested is wasted as small branches or gnarly bits. perfect to use as sham mook and very cheap for the manufacturer, without increasing number of trees cut. But we wouldn't want people to think magic disks were effectively waste material...
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