sm57/58 or the BETA 57/58 ?

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earworm

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...can a moderator or admin move this post to the Mic section? my mistake!

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hi guys,
i just bought four mics,

shure
57 beta
58 beta
57
58

i find that the 57 beta has more bottom end and a little more high end than my regular 57's, and this 57beta sounds a little bit thinner than the 58beta,
both are just great mics for vocals

but now i wonder, what are the general thoughts of the people:
do you prefer the BETAS over the normal versions?

biggest difference between both versions is that the Beta's are supercardioid, do u consider this an advantage or not?

i'm going to sell 2 of them since i need the money,
but haven't deceided yet which ones i'll keep...
 
the Beta 58 is more expensive than the original version,
according to the specs it might give less feedback..
but i havent tested the difference onstage yet

so most people have no preference between the two versions?
 
I use the Betas on stage, exclusively, much nicer than the SM58. I don't use them in the studio as I prefer my Beyer M88 and M201s.
 
Jake's right,
58 beta(Good on me live, replaced with a beyer m88)
58 (never sounds great, never sounds bad)
57 (got a couple hanging around, don't get used much - beyer 201, senn 421 better choices)
57 beta (too bright and scooped sounding for me)
 
I dont understand, I've always been told that the super cards are more prone to feedback on stage......because of the extra sensitivity that pattern has to the rear where the monitors usually are.....???
 
soundchaser59 said:
I dont understand, I've always been told that the super cards are more prone to feedback on stage......because of the extra sensitivity that pattern has to the rear where the monitors usually are.....???

Supers have off-axis null points, at somewhere around 30 degrees (?) from the back.

The idea is that supercards work great if they are placed horizontally. The wedges shoot into the null. The rear lobe doesn't point at the monitor.
 
That explains why some monitors are placed to the right and left of the singer, while others might be directly in front of the singer......
The cardioid pattern does not pickup directly behind the mic......
 
soundchaser59 said:
That explains why some monitors are placed to the right and left of the singer, while others might be direclty in front of the singer......

The cardioid pattern does not pickup direclty behind the mic......

That's for more volume/coverage. Yes, a super should work better than a card in this scenario. But the monitoring comes first. By that I mean that a supercard works better than a card in a two-wedge scenario, they didn't go with two wedges because they were using a supercard mic.

A single wedge in front of someone shooting up at an angle still shoots into the null of a supercard, if it is horizontal. So in theory, it should have more gain before feedback than a cardioid in the same position.

Shure sends out this little diagram with the Betas, showing monitor wedges off to the side, and this little angle calculator. It seems to me they skipped over the fact that a super can work better than a card even with a single wedge in front.

Thankfully with some practice you can get enough GBF out of just about anything in any room. The extra GBF you can get out of a supercard doesn't matter if the singer drifts a few inches off the thing and gets out of the tight pickup zone it has.

"I can't hear myself."
"Try singing into the mic. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that will work better."

:p
 
As far as choosing two, I'd have a hard time. To me, they are different enough that I use them all for different things.

If forced, I'd go with Kenny and jkokura, the regular 57 and Beta 58.
 
true that the beta57 sounds more bright, at first its like "nice",
cause i never ever boost highs, thats just me, i prefer mics with color,
so i'm keeping the beta57 and the beta58

true that if u put two monitors on the floor in an axis of 120° , then it hits the nullpoint of the mic (sorry for my bad english here)

and yes, it all depends on the singer, i've had people sing NEXT to the mic,
or jezus christ man, i had a singer who pointed his mic TO THE CEILING !!!

TO THE CEILING and he couldnt hear himself ! well i couldn't hear him either !

what strikes me is that the Beta's seem to be less heavy than the original versions, feels cheaper, and the little blue plastic thing on them looks disgusting (took it off) and the silver/gray color is ugly i think

so i'll just attach a lava-lamp to my mics with some ducktape and they'll look and sound good :D

anyway, thanks for the info, the Beta's are all new to me,
next week i got my first rehearsal with my new band (im a screamer/singer now) so i'll test all my mics exesifly

and i agree that the md421 (or441) is better on vocals (better on everything i think), but i dont know about the 201, i like this one on snare.... but...
personal i guess..
 
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