Shure SM57 or SM58 for micing cabs?

[gtds]

Hi

1.) Which is "better" (if you can say better) for micing electric guitar amps for home recording?
2.) What is the difference between them?

Thanks
gtds

 

[LooneyTunez]

I believe both mics use the same capsule, but because the the 58 has the ball on top it sounds a bit different than the 57. Not by much though. Generally, the 57 is preferred for micing cabinets and instruments, while the 58 is more suited to vocals.

 

[gtds]

Thanks. I thought they both had a round top.

gtds

 

[dogmatic]

They are not the same at all

go look at the manufactures specs. they are very diff. 57 is kewl for micing up cabs and the 58 is kewl for vocals. but the diff is deffenitly not just the ball on top. they are very (quite) different.

 

[LooneyTunez]

A couple quotes sfrom the Shure Knowledge base.

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.

At a distance, the difference is probably not noticable. But at extremely close distances, the difference is noticeable. Due to the grill, a person's mouth can get closer to the diaphragm of an SM57, thus causing more proximity effect and increased bass when compared to the SM58.