PG57 Mic - Vocal?

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tradosaurus

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I think I made a mistake when I purchased the PG57. The literature says that the PG58 is recommended for vocals.

Will the PG57 work also? Has anyone tried singing with this mic?

Thanks

Tradosaurus
 
actaully the PG 57 is a budget SM 57. It is used mainly for guitars and snare drums but can be used for vox. Kiss used SM 57 for vox in the 70s and so does Motorhead. They were also on deicide's tour rider for the main vox. . Its just a preferance
 
Actually latley I've seen alot of bands using the SM57 for vox
 
I've heard from many a reliable source that the SM57 and SM58 have the same capsule (the electronic component that captures sound). I would imagine that likewise the PG57 and PG58 have the same capsule.

Therefore any difference in sound you may hear between the two mics would be a result only of the actual physical shape of the mic and the windscreen.

My guess as to why the 58 would be recommended as a vocal mic would be that the windscreen is more substantial, and thus would better reduce plosives (pops from singing/saying "B" or "P"-like sounds). Because of this, it would be better suited in front of a singer's mouth than a 57.

Of course, there really isn't any electronic difference, and the physical difference is pretty negligible. I wouldn't think, then, that you made a mistake in buying the 57.
 
If the PG57 is anything like the SM57 (which im guessing it is as it is just a budget version) then it will probably give u 'brighter' vocals than the 58, i used a 57 for vocals until i got a 58 and my main suggestion would be to use a pop filter for vocal use as it tends to pick up 'pop' more, presumably due to the windscreen shape as mentioned above. I would also suggest turning up the gain on ur pre as vocal signal seems to be picked up less with a 57 in my opinion. I have also heard that the 57 and 58 are internally identical.

Hope this helps!
 
The only mistake you made is buying a PG57 instead of an SM57. Your mic is a copy (by the same company) of the most popular mic in the world. (not *best*, most *popular*)

Why do people use SM57? It's hard to break, works with a wide variety of PA's and preamps, and usually doesn't totally suck on anything. It is a standard low budget band vocal and instrument mic. The SM58 is almost exactly the same mic with an internal wind screen. Put a thin foam windscreen over your PG57 and you'll get a very similar sound. The other reason folks love the 57- It never goes away. On middle level soundstages (community TV stations. etc., it gets a lot of use on sax, horns, and percussion, as well as guitar cabs and even piano.
At the high-end, big bucks recording studio, it often sees duty, but now it's mostly narrowed down to snare and guitar cabs, depending on the preference of the engineer and producer. Go find me a big name studio that doesn't own a pair, at least, of SM57's.

What's not to love? Sometimes a cheap mic is the right mic, and over the years, the SM57 has been right a surprising percentage of the time. Will the mic you have work for you? Who the hell knows? Plug it in, and see if you like what you hear. One warning with cheap knock-off mics, which goes for most other gear as well. Quality control is not as good as on the higher end models. This means they vary a lot. It's up to you to get your hands on a good one. The best PG's are probably about as good as an average SM. Good luck.-Richie
 
My two cents...

Spend the extra $50 or whatever to get an SM instead of PG. In my experience, the PG58's are complete garbage.
 
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