What's a step up from the SM58?

  • Thread starter Thread starter warlock110
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Warlock-
My preferences over a SM58 are the Heil PR20, and Sennheiser E845, both of which are around your price range. The Heil has a much flatter frequency response than the characteristic SM58 presence boost. I've also used the Sennheiser E865 condenser for studio and live work and loved it (this is Sting's live vocal mic of choice), but it clocks in around 250. Good luck.

Ian
 
Izzy Pop said:
Warlock-
My preferences over a SM58 are the Heil PR20, and Sennheiser E845, both of which are around your price range. The Heil has a much flatter frequency response than the characteristic SM58 presence boost. I've also used the Sennheiser E865 condenser for studio and live work and loved it (this is Sting's live vocal mic of choice), but it clocks in around 250. Good luck.

Ian
Click to expand...


I've used the SM58 and the Sennheiser 835, to be honest i think the Sennheiser 835 sounds slightly better. the Sure SM58 gives off that "normal" sounding that's slightly darker, that's probably just me. I'm doing this as a hobby rather than anything else, and when i have a little money i'll use it, as poor as i am, it'll probably kill me to spend 300+ on a mic (lol for sure).

I guess the 1st thing now is to look for a good mic pre, then try the SM58 to see if there's any noticable difference, then pop my MXL 990 in and see if it sounds better, if it is then i'll probably sell my arm to get a good mic. thanks guys it's been very helpful, it truely suck balls to have this as a hobby, everything is so expensive :(
 
You never really stated if this was for live or recording use. Live, the Sennheiser e835s are a great mic as are the Audix OM5s. I use both a lot. Recording wise, pretty much anything mentioned above works. The Heil, SM7, the Studio Project offerings, CAD, etc.
 
A few weeks ago I picked up a CAD M177 for around $90.
I compared quite favorably to my AT4040. I guess you could
pickup a VTB1 pre and the CAD for $200. For a cheap pre
I don't think you can beat the VTB1.
 
What kind of preamp are you using?

Generally, dynamic mics are more affected by the preamp because they usually require more gain. Using my SM58 between a cheap mixer pre and my Sytek (or even my VTB1) are night and day.

In studio use, I typically prefer a condenser mic on vocals. I have had success with an Oktava MC012 on vocals and for some voice-over projects. For live recording, an SM58 through a good preamp is great. An SM58 through a cheap preamp is usually just ok.

I would either get the Oktava condenser or a VTB-1 preamp for the SM58 depending on your preference. Either one would offer a cheap improvement (assuming you are using cheap mixer preamps now).
 
I recently started doing the vocal portion of a project for my own band. It's a singer I've not worked with in the studio before so we tried out just about every mic in my cabinet which inlcuded: Rode NTK, Rode NT1 (early), Studio Projects C3 and an ADK that a friend of mine has. In the end, none of the mics sounded as good as the scratch track had with a SM57...

Guess what we're using on the vocals:)
 
Nate74 said:
I recently started doing the vocal portion of a project for my own band. It's a singer I've not worked with in the studio before so we tried out just about every mic in my cabinet which inlcuded: Rode NTK, Rode NT1 (early), Studio Projects C3 and an ADK that a friend of mine has. In the end, none of the mics sounded as good as the scratch track had with a SM57...

Guess what we're using on the vocals:)
Click to expand...

what i have noticed is that the dynamic gives off a thicker sound that people might like, however the clarity is no match for condenser, putting that aside, i'm looking for the clarity + that thicker sound from condenser, if i get one that's gold for me.
 
RandyW said:
A few weeks ago I picked up a CAD M177 for around $90.
I compared quite favorably to my AT4040. I guess you could
pickup a VTB1 pre and the CAD for $200. For a cheap pre
I don't think you can beat the VTB1.
Click to expand...

i've check out some one did a comparision, CAD was my favorite sounding mic, they're usually out of my budget though, i'm looking for a sale or something to pick one up.
 
got an audio buddy to replace my pre from the mixer, it's alot cleaner now, i like it :). i got the audio buddy @ guitar center for 50, not a bad deal at all.
 
yeah, alright.. a preamp. that'll work too, there's nothing wrong with a good SM58. congrats!
 
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