Shure SM58 or Beta 58 for recording of vocals

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fova

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I have a large condenser mic for recording of vocals in my home studio. Like another alternative for vocals I plan to buy a dynamic mike.
First I wanted to buy Shure SM58 but now think also about Beta 58. I have a lot of experiences with both mikes from live performances where our band played but never had an opportunity to record vocals thru them in my studio. Some people think that Beta can be worse for such recording since it has more heights and the overall sound is thinner.
Is anybody here who recorded vocals thru both of them and can suggest which of them would be better? Is there any other dynamic mike in the same price range that would be more suitable? (e.g. Beyedynamic Opus, etc.).
Thanks.
 
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I have the BETA and SM58 and prefer doing vocals on the 58 because it gives a more bassy depth sound and the BETA sounds a little too.. thin ?

SM58 imo.
 
beta 58 thin wtf???

the beta series totally owns the sm series

beta 58 is so much clearer then the sm58, sm's are so muddy
 
ndycus1 said:
Have you looked at all into the Shure SM7?
Click to expand...

Nope. I believe this would be a great choice but its price is 4x times higher than Beta. I am not sure I want to spend so much money.
 
$a1Ty said:
beta 58 thin wtf???

the beta series totally owns the sm series

beta 58 is so much clearer then the sm58, sm's are so muddy
Click to expand...

Gema is not a first user who reports it. I know 2-3 other guys with the same problem. This is a reason why I doubt about Beta.
For a records with clear heights I have large diaph. condenser. Dynamic mike should bring me a dynamic/agressive vocals where heights does not need to be.
 
gema said:
I have the BETA and SM58 and prefer doing vocals on the 58 because it gives a more bassy depth sound and the BETA sounds a little too.. thin ?

SM58 imo.
Click to expand...

This is true of all the beta mics, as well as the EV N-Dym mics. "Beta" is just another way of saying "neodymium."

All of them are harsher and edgier than the regular mics. I've done side by side for years with Beta and N-Dym mics and I ended up selling all my Beta and N-Dym mics for that reason. Give me the regular mic every time.

But the large D dynamics are better than any of the regular small D mics. If you have money to burn, then get an RE20, an SM7, maybe an MD421 (Sennheiser stuff is too bright for me), maybe a PR40, and skip the so-called industry standard SM57/58 completely......
 
fova said:
Nope. I believe this would be a great choice but its price is 4x times higher than Beta. I am not sure I want to spend so much money.
Click to expand...

ummmm....The Beta 58 typically sales for about $160, and at bswusa.com the SM7B is selling for $318. Now, I'm not math wiz, but, it looks to me like the price of the SM7 is actually just under 2x the price of the Beta.
 
ndycus1 said:
ummmm....The Beta 58 typically sales for about $160, and at bswusa.com the SM7B is selling for $318. Now, I'm not math wiz, but, it looks to me like the price of the SM7 is actually just under 2x the price of the Beta.
Click to expand...

In Europe we have price of SM7B around $680
 
fova said:
Gema is not a first user who reports it. I know 2-3 other guys with the same problem. This is a reason why I doubt about Beta.
For a records with clear heights I have large diaph. condenser. Dynamic mike should bring me a dynamic/agressive vocals where heights does not need to be.
Click to expand...
I prefer the 58 to the 58 beta on my own vocals, not because the 58 sounds more aggressive on my voice, though. I'm quite happy to have a bit of top end rolled off my voice.

Depends on the voice, the material, etc. etc.
 
My experience from live performances is that SM 58 lacks heights and I have to sing louder not to disappear between other instruments. Beta gave to my voice more heights and it sounded clearly above instruments.
This advantage of Beta on the platform can be a disadvantage in studio.
How about fitting of Beta records in mix?
 
soundchaser59 said:
This is true of all the beta mics, as well as the EV N-Dym mics. "Beta" is just another way of saying "neodymium."

All of them are harsher and edgier than the regular mics. I've done side by side for years with Beta and N-Dym mics and I ended up selling all my Beta and N-Dym mics for that reason. Give me the regular mic every time.

But the large D dynamics are better than any of the regular small D mics. If you have money to burn, then get an RE20, an SM7, maybe an MD421 (Sennheiser stuff is too bright for me), maybe a PR40, and skip the so-called industry standard SM57/58 completely......
Click to expand...

As I stated above SM7 is in Europe very expensive but MD421 has a good price. Do you have a personal experience?
 
fova said:
I have a large condenser mic for recording of vocals in my home studio. Like another alternative for vocals I plan to buy a dynamic mike.
First I wanted to buy Shure SM58 but now think also about Beta 58. I have a lot of experiences with both mikes from live performances where our band played but never had an opportunity to record vocals thru them in my studio. Some people think that Beta can be worse for such recording since it has more heights and the overall sound is thinner.
Is anybody here who recorded vocals thru both of them and can suggest which of them would be better? Is there any other dynamic mike in the same price range that would be more suitable? (e.g. Beyedynamic Opus, etc.).
Thanks.
Click to expand...

From a live sound and recording perspective, the SM57s and 58s rule. I also prefer the Sennheiser e835 over any of the beta mics, since they are smooth on the top end and work well on a wide-variety of sound sources, like the 57/58s.

I only use the beta58 if an act requests it, since it is not my go to mic. But some people like it.
 
Not too many people I know would look for a dynamic for vocals in the studio. Having said that, the world's all time best selling album had its vocals tracked with a dynamic microphone.
The album: Michael Jackson - Thriller
The mic: Shure SM 7

You can get a used SM 7 for around €400 if you look around. Good luck.

Carlos
 
sound125 said:
From a live sound and recording perspective, the SM57s and 58s rule. I also prefer the Sennheiser e835 over any of the beta mics, since they are smooth on the top end and work well on a wide-variety of sound sources, like the 57/58s.

I only use the beta58 if an act requests it, since it is not my go to mic. But some people like it.
Click to expand...

OK, what is then Beta good for? It is more expensive than SM58 so till now I took it like a higher level mike. It does not look like that from your replies.
 
fova said:
My experience from live performances is that SM 58 lacks heights and I have to sing louder not to disappear between other instruments. Beta gave to my voice more heights and it sounded clearly above instruments.
Click to expand...

It seems you have just decided which one you prefer. If it works for you, then go with it.
 
But this is absolutely different situation. The fact that it worked well on the platform does not mean it will fit well to mix in studio.

When I read replies of the users here I am more and more afraid of Beta.

It looks like the best solution would be Shure SM7 or Sennheiser MD421. In case I will not have enough money the way to go is SM58 or Sennheiser E835.

OK, Thanks all for replies.
 
carlosguardia said:
Not too many people I know would look for a dynamic for vocals in the studio. Having said that, the world's all time best selling album had its vocals tracked with a dynamic microphone.
The album: Michael Jackson - Thriller
The mic: Shure SM 7

You can get a used SM 7 for around €400 if you look around. Good luck.

Carlos
Click to expand...
You are mistaken...it was Led Zeppelin 4 and it was done with an SM57...funny coincidence huh...Thrillers CD sales stunk...but everyone wanted a new Zoso...picked it up from 3 to one...LOL
 
You are mistaken...it was Led Zeppelin 4 and it was done with an SM57...funny coincidence huh...Thrillers CD sales stunk...but everyone wanted a new Zoso...picked it up from 3 to one...LOL
Click to expand...

Album sales: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums_worldwide

Thriller mic: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=82436&highlight=thriller+mic
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=84223&highlight=thriller+mic

soundscan info: http://www.soundscan.com/about.html

Top album sales: http://www.riaa.com/gp/bestsellers/topalbums.asp
 
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