Shure SM57

BillC15

BillC15

New member
Hey everyone. I have a question about this mic. Now I'm really just getting into recording and this looks like the mic for me. I was just wondering if it would work well with an XLR connector on one end and 1/4 in. stereo jack on the other, with which I would put on an adapter so I can plug it into the line in on the sound card of my computer. I'm looking to use this mic for all instruments (guitar and bass amps, drums), and again I'm not looking for the best, because I'm no veteran, but I do want a decent sound and I don't want it to sound like one of those cheap mics that you get with a crappy karaoke set. Can anyone predict what this mic will sound like with the setup I described?
 
What kind of soundcard is this that has 1/4" inputs?

If it is a stock soundcard (which actually has 1/8" inputs), this setup will not work. You need a microphone preamp with most professional or pro-sumer grade microphones to amplify the very low-level output of the microphone to line-level, which is the level at which a line-input on your standard soundcard accepts audio at a nominal level.

As for recommendations on preamps vs. interfaces, perhaps I'm not the one to get into this, but I would think it better to go with an inexpensive USB or firewire interface that has a mic pre built-in, simply because the quality of the audio conversion on a consumer PC soundcard is poor at best. Even if you were to invest, say, another 100 or so dollars on the interface, you would be doing yourself a favor.

As for the quality of the SM57, it is functional in plenty of situations - for close-mic'ing of drums, mic'ing guitar cabs, etc.

You aren't going to get any sort of passable results micing an entire drumset with one 57, but that's just my opinion. Read on, and good luck!
 
cusebassman said:
What kind of soundcard is this that has 1/4" inputs?
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He said he would use an adapter to plug the 1/4" into his soundcard.

That aside, cuse is right - you need a better soundcard (aka audio interface). Otherwise you will not get results anything close to good.
 
Do you mean a 1/4" to 1/8" jack adapter so you can plug it into the soundcard that came with your computer? If yes then the answer is no that will not work. The signal from the microphone needs to be boosted to line level to be loud enough.

To do this you need a microphone preamp. You could use the preamp that's built into your soundcard by plugging into the 'mic in' socket. BUT it'll sound crap so don't bother.

Unfortunately you're going to need a preamp and and soundcard (or an audio interface) and a mic to get going at a basic above karaoke level.

Some audio interfaces have built in preamps so that could save you some money.

Welcome. Now get your wallet out and keep it handy.
 
cusebassman said:
What kind of soundcard is this that has 1/4" inputs?
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andyhix said:
He said he would use an adapter to plug the 1/4" into his soundcard.
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I was just asking because he said he was going to convert the XLR output to 1/4", and the majority of soundcards don't have 1/4" inputs, they 1/8" inputs. Seems the wording confused me :p

Aside from that, anyway, its a moot point, as I'm sure you know he can't run the SM57s output right into his soundcard's line input, regardless of how many Radio Shack adapters he uses :)
 
Thanks for the help guys. I was wondering if most usb audio interfaces will work good if I wanted to run the mic into them (would that be just the 1/4" jack without the 1/8" adapter?) and run a regular 1/4" instrument cable from the line out of my amp into the interface as well.
 
Most interfaces will have some combination of line inputs and mic inputs. The microphone will plug using a standard XLR female -> XLR male cable. You would not plug the mic in via a 1/4" jack.
 
BillC15 said:
Thanks for the help guys. I was wondering if most usb audio interfaces will work good if I wanted to run the mic into them (would that be just the 1/4" jack without the 1/8" adapter?) and run a regular 1/4" instrument cable from the line out of my amp into the interface as well.
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You'll get on better buying the cable to fit the audio interface rather than the audio interface to fit the cable.
 
mikeyp62 said:
If you're trying to keep it cheap, why not just got for a USB mic? You'll get satisfactory results, and you'll be able to save money for when the gear purchasing addiction hits you.

Try this one out. Cheaper than a sm57, and you don't need any more cables or an interface. Simple and effective. Have fun.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/C03usb/reviews/#anchor
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But you can't monitor what you're playing while you record can you? That's what I thought anyway.
 
Barn Owl said:
But you can't monitor what you're playing while you record can you? That's what I thought anyway.
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I don't know. I just saw these and thought, wow, I wish this was around back in the days when I was running a tascam 414 into my computer's stock soundcard via y-cable adapter.

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to monitor your takes though. Is there a latency issue?

Even if you can't monitor your playing, do you really need to when you're only recording one thing at a time? After all, you can hear what your playing in the room.

For $100 or so you gotta give up something. You don't *need* to hear yourself in the headphones. Hell, you don't *need* headphones if you don't mind a little bleed.
 
mikeyp62 said:
I don't know. I just saw these and thought, wow, I wish this was around back in the days when I was running a tascam 414 into my computer's stock soundcard via y-cable adapter.

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to monitor your takes though. Is there a latency issue?

Even if you can't monitor your playing, do you really need to when you're only recording one thing at a time? After all, you can hear what your playing in the room.

For $100 or so you gotta give up something. You don't *need* to hear yourself in the headphones. Hell, you don't *need* headphones if you don't mind a little bleed.
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Yes monitoring will be a problem and hearing yourself in the headphones will as well unless you only record one track. If that's the case skip all of this and get a soundblaster mic. If you have latency and you monitor in the room you could nudge your track back to hopeful alignment using bleed as a guide....but it aint worth the trouble.

The samson is ok but nowhere as versatile as a simple 57.
 
Spill is a bad idea. It'll build op over tracks and be horrible. You need headphones on and unfortunately once you have headphones on you can't hear what you're playing if it's not coming through them. For this reason I'd stay clear of the samson usb mic.

I'd also recommend an msh-1 over a sm57 to begin with. They're only £25 so the rest of the money that was going on a sm57 could be spent on an audio interface off ebay that has a preamp built in. Might end up being slightly more expensive but not far off.

And Bill, I think you'll get on better micing your guitar amp rather than running a cable.
 
Barn Owl said:
Spill is a bad idea. It'll build op over tracks and be horrible. You need headphones on and unfortunately once you have headphones on you can't hear what you're playing if it's not coming through them. For this reason I'd stay clear of the samson usb mic.

I'd also recommend an msh-1 over a sm57 to begin with. They're only £25 so the rest of the money that was going on a sm57 could be spent on an audio interface off ebay that has a preamp built in. Might end up being slightly more expensive but not far off.

And Bill, I think you'll get on better micing your guitar amp rather than running a cable.
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Cool, I think I'll give it a try. I looked up the msh-1 and it seems very versatile- and that's what I'm looking for. Do you think it will work as a single drum overhead as well as it does for micing amps? I know only using a single overhead mic for a drumset it not going to sound all that great because it will probably pick up the snare and cymbals more than anything but what do you think?
 
BillC15 said:
Cool, I think I'll give it a try. I looked up the msh-1 and it seems very versatile- and that's what I'm looking for. Do you think it will work as a single drum overhead as well as it does for micing amps? I know only using a single overhead mic for a drumset it not going to sound all that great because it will probably pick up the snare and cymbals more than anything but what do you think?
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An omni will probably actually work better for a lone overhead than a 57, simply because a 57 has a much tighter pickup pattern.
 
It will work... Not necessarily ideal... but it will work. The only thing to be wary of is the SPL being too much as the the MSH1 tops out at like 122db... so don't get too nuts.
 
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