Botch. Posted June 27, 2002 Share Posted June 27, 2002 Last week's newsletter from Sweetwater had the following statement: Many users don't know that the venerable SM-58 actually uses the same capsule as the 57. The only difference is the windscreen, which on a 58 is a metal ball shaped grill, as opposed to the plastic housing on the 57. The mics do sound slightly different because of this, but you may find it workable - the 58 is much, much more durable. This was a big surprise to me, I've known for years that a 58 is great for vocals (despite their unacceptable 19+ year lifespan! :D ) and a 57 was good for micing guitar cabs and snares, but I never realized they used the same capsule. I'm certainly not in a hurry anymore to add a 57 to my hobby studio. Anyone on these forums play with the two with regards to swappability? Botch "Eccentric language often is symptomatic of peculiar thinking" - George Will www.puddlestone.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted June 27, 2002 Share Posted June 27, 2002 Botch, If you look at the frequency response charts, there's enough differenc to suggest the capsules are different. Wiring make up may make the difference but I doubt it, as could the screen material. Go to the Shure site & you'll see. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duhduh Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 Here's the low down: The SM-58 and SM-57 are exactly the same except for 3 things: 1) The SM-58 has a ball-end windscreen. 2) The SM-58 has a bass attenuator to keep P's and S's to a minimum. 3) The SM-58 has a presence boost. I discovered something interesting with these 2 mic's. I put one of each on different speakers on my 4x12 cab. One top left and the other bottom right. I sent them to separate tracks and blended. HUGE sound! "Meat is the only thing you need beside beer! Big hunks of meat and BEER!!...Lots of freakin' BEER." "Hey, I'm not Jesus Christ, I can't turn water into wine. The best I can do is turn beer into urine." Zakk Wylde http://www.hepcnet.net/bbssmilies/super.gif http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/15_1_109.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 [quote]Originally posted by Duhduh: [b]Here's the low down: The SM-58 and SM-57 are exactly the same except for 3 things: 1) The SM-58 has a ball-end windscreen. 2) The SM-58 has a bass attenuator to keep P's and S's to a minimum. 3) The SM-58 has a presence boost. [/b][/quote]Sorry to burst your bubble Duhduh, but they are not the same. There are specific, albiet small, differences. Not only are the frequency response's different, the frequency range is different. The Actual impedence is different. There is a slight difference in sensitivity also. Will they handle sound differently? Yes. Will they sound different to a normal person? No, probably not. The differences are slight but enough to be discernable by a very good ear. There are other mics out there that have similar specs that don't sound as good & some that sound better. It all boils down to preference. I'd probably just stay with a 58unless someone could show me specifically on a project the 57 was better. 'Course, sometime you can buy the 57 cheaper. In that case, I'd buy the 57 & use it for vocals unless someone could show me the difference again. Now, with all that said. I personally don't use either of them. I have different preferences but I'm leaning to acquiring a couple of 57's. Late... Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 Yep, I've heard they have the same capsules. That capsule is also used for the SM-7. Apparently they grade the capsules and use the best one's for the SM-7 and the one's that didn't come out quite so good for the 57 and 58. The differing responses could also be attributed to the fact that on the 57 you can get right next to the capsule, where on the 58, the ball keeps you at least an inch away even if you eat it. They all sound pretty darn good to have been around for so long. -David http://www.garageband.com/artist/MichaelangelosMuse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultravibe Posted June 28, 2002 Share Posted June 28, 2002 I heard this years ago before I assembled my present mic collection, and after years of doing live sound, I had a pretty good number of 58s lying around. So I took off the windscreens and recorded with them and the two 57s I had. I noticed definite differences in the sound. Not sure if I could qualify what those differences were now, since it has been so dang long. But to my ear, they definitely sounded different. (And this was through an old KMD mixer recorded to a Tascam 8-track. Not the most pristine signal quality in the world...) Andrew Mazzocchi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticsound Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 Just because two mics use the same capsule doesn't mean they are identical in every other way. Sure, physical proximity due to the differing grilles can alter the sound, but there are other factors that make more profound differences. It is my understanding that Shure is altering the freq. repsonse characteristics of the 58 to produce the rise around 1 - 2.5 kHz which is not present on the 57. I'm unaware of the connection with the SM7, but for corroboration, Audio-Technica's lead live sound mixer/ product specialist indicated the 4055 and 4054 handheld mics share the same capsule as the 4050 studio condenser. The only difference between the two handheld mics is freq. response. Clair Bros. (whose input was instrumental in the production of two separate mics) requested a bass rolloff version without a switch that could fail from the rough and tumble world of touring. Why then, is it difficult for anyone to understand that Shure has produced a single capsule which can be mated to varying electronics to yield several different pickup characteristics? It's easiest to find me on Facebook. Neil Bergman Soundclick fntstcsnd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duhduh Posted June 29, 2002 Share Posted June 29, 2002 Taken from [url=http://www.shure.com]www.shure.com[/url] : "It is true the SM57 and SM58 microphones are based on the same cartridge design. The main difference between them is in the grille design. The SM58 was designed for vocal application and it uses a separate grille with a very effective pop filter. The SM57 was designed as an instrument microphone where smaller grille size is preferred. In this application the pop and wind are not usually a concern. The SM57 uses an integral resonator/grille assembly, where grille is actually a part of the cartridge. These two grille designs place the diaphragm of the microphones in a different acoustical environment. First of all, the distance from the top of the grille to the diaphragm is significantly shorter on the SM57 compared to that of the SM58. This allows for closer sound pickup with even more pronounced proximity effect. Secondly, a different resonator/grille assembly design of the SM57 is responsible for its slightly higher output above 5 kHz." SM-57:Frequency response: 50 to 15,000 Hz [img]http://www.shure.com/images/response/fsm57_large.gif[/img] SM-58:Frequency response: 40 to 15,000 Hz [img]http://www.shure.com/images/response/fsm58_large.gif[/img] "Meat is the only thing you need beside beer! Big hunks of meat and BEER!!...Lots of freakin' BEER." "Hey, I'm not Jesus Christ, I can't turn water into wine. The best I can do is turn beer into urine." Zakk Wylde http://www.hepcnet.net/bbssmilies/super.gif http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/15_1_109.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howler Monkey Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 Can the 57 handle my 140 decibel howl? Hey.......where's my avatar? http://princemakaha.homestead.com/files/bewbies.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
where02190 Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 FWIW, the Shure Beta series 58A, 57A, 56 and 52 also all use the same capsule... Hope this is helpful. NP Recording Studios Analog approach to digital recording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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