First home recording with Shure SM58

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blonic

New member
Hello, I've just bougth an SM58 with the aim to record voice overs made by me (male, quite deep voice).
The mic has a XLR exit, and it came with a XLR to jack 6.3mm cable. To plug in it I bought a cheap jack reducer (6.3mm to 3.5mm), I did some tests and, well, quality sucks.
It cames the reasons are lack of preamplification, random sound card, and I guess the adapter added a lot of noise too.
So, after some researches I've found out the most logical answer to solve my problems is the Shure XLR-to-USB signal adapter that will provide both connection, preamplification, and cleaning of the sound as far as I understood.

Since it costs as much as the mic itself, and since I'm not a professional but I'm going to do this just for hobby, is that a good solution?
Is there anyone with similar backgrounds who can give my his testimony?

Thanks by advice.
 
Welcome blonic. :)

Your internal soundcard mic input does not have enough gain or quality of preamp to give you good results with an SM58.

I would give a solid no to purchasing the product. You will still be dealing with your internal soundcard which is not ideal at all for recording. Plus I have read some reviews that state that it is noisy on some systems. Better to start with a product that actually takes over the whole AD/DA conversion as well as preamp and phantom power in case you decide to use a condenser microphone in the future.

You would be much better off investing another $50 for a decent external interface. Steinberg UR22 comes to mind right off. I have 2 UR824's and the preamps are the same on all UR series interfaces. This will give you two inputs with clean preamps with enough gain to make the most of your 58.
 
+1 for a proper interface and not a USB adaptor. For what it's worth, the ¼" to 3.5mm adaptor adds no extra noise at all, and the mic is a known and trusted tool, so it's just your computer audio system - and most are pretty awful things really.
 
Thanks for the welcome and for the quick and efficient answers.
I still have some doubts. If I plug the mic via USB why is the soundcard anyhow involved in signal quality?
Also, I find somehow unfair that to use a microphone I have to spend the same amount of money just to plug in it (I'm ignorant and cheap ass sometimes).
Also does this interface have jack inputs or XLR's?

And lastly and important question: Considering I will always need one input (just one mic), Is there any cheaper solution, with only one input, but with similar quality?
 
The audio interface will have XLR input(s), preamp, and AD/DA converters, and takes the place of your computer's internal soundcard (whicd is typically made with about $0.69 worth of components and is designed to reproduce the beeps and boops and internet [crap] sounds).
The interface will also give you the ability to direct monitor your input sound (mic) along with the tracks previously recorded (using headphones, ideally) - something a USB adapter will not allow you to do.

Some people spend a lot of money on gear that doesn't serve their needs because they didnt' ask questions and read first. Suggest you look over these threads: FAQs Computer multitracking
 
mjbphotos said:
The audio interface will have XLR input(s), preamp, and AD/DA converters, and takes the place of your computer's internal soundcard (whicd is typically made with about $0.69 worth of components and is designed to reproduce the beeps and boops and internet [crap] sounds).
The interface will also give you the ability to direct monitor your input sound (mic) along with the tracks previously recorded (using headphones, ideally) - something a USB adapter will not allow you to do.

Some people spend a lot of money on gear that doesn't serve their needs because they didnt' ask questions and read first. Suggest you look over these threads: FAQs Computer multitracking
Click to expand...
Is it just me or your file sounds ...weird? I can't explain but it totally doesn't sound to me like it was recorded by a semi/professional device. Maybe it was bad filtered in frequency? Or maybe is just because of my headphones?

Anyway, back to my issue: I think the better way to explain myself is to upload some tests files, recorded with Audacity: Test with shure SM58; Test with random cheap mic.
As you can hear the sm58 one is barely listenable, and full of noise.

What's your opinion? Should I go for audio interface?

EDIT: Broken links, I'm fixing them
EDIT2: Links fixed
 
Last edited:
He can already do that? XLR from the mic to a 3.5mm jack, and he's discovered the quality is poor. That's the computer's faultYour cable won't be better or worse than he has already - which doesn't cut the mustard.

In regard to mics - price ranges part so much, but the manufacturers assume you have the rest of the kit. Like monitors, amps, stands etc. You sadly don't have a good enough mic preamp built into the computer. My Macbook is better than my old Dell PC laptop, but the mac doesn't have the gain to record quieter sources. I've got a small XLR to USB preamp that I was given, it's even worse than the dell. Some sound cards can have the gain turned up without increasing the noise much, and some just can't. The Dell, for example cannot have the gain more than about 70%, because when you turn it up, you get hiss, plus loads of digital bus noise. It's just how it is.
 
rob aylestone said:
He can already do that? XLR from the mic to a 3.5mm jack, and he's discovered the quality is poor. That's the computer's faultYour cable won't be better or worse than he has already - which doesn't cut the mustard.
Click to expand...
Actually I said the provided cable is a XLR-to-jack 1/4", only THEN I use a very cheap reducer to 1/8". This one could add a lot of noise I think.

Anyway I'm getting lost... XLR-to-USB or External sound interface? You have different opinions...
If you listen to my samples you can hear the kind of "suckness" of my recording then talk consequently.
Test with shure SM58; Test with random cheap mic.
 
blonic said:
Actually I said the provided cable is a XLR-to-jack 1/4", only THEN I use a very cheap reducer to 1/8". This one could add a lot of noise I think.

Anyway I'm getting lost... XLR-to-USB or External sound interface? You have different opinions...
If you listen to my samples you can hear the kind of "suckness" of my recording then talk consequently.
Test with shure SM58; Test with random cheap mic.
Click to expand...

Don't get lost man. An external interface removes your internal soundcard from the equation. That internal soundcard you are using is likely the biggest issue you have with the quality of your recording. The adapter is not likely causing noise. What your mic is inputting to likely is.

I can't listen to your samples as it requires Quicktime. That will not ever again be installed on my PC. Can you just upload the file via Advanced panel here please? :)
 
arcaxis said:
Jimmy, right click the wav files to download.
Click to expand...

I can't even get to the wav files without Quicktime installed.

Long story but I just will not have Quicktime on my PC system. It caused me too many issues in the past.
 

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I don't have Quicktime installed. Try with this rar archive. If you can't play wavs at all I don't know what to tell (I'm not the expert here...:eatpopcorn:)
Anyway, as far as I understood I should buy the interface shown in the firsts replies, because the mic really needs preamp.
What's your opinion? I have the money (just not the will to spend them :D). Should I go for the Steinberg UR22?
 
Do go for an interface, computer soundcards aren't built for your purpose. And remember: omly salmons swimm upstream.
 
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