Shure SM58

25 years of recording
Played local TV and radio
Mackie Onxy into PC w/ Cubase

Dynamic Card
I bought a new one of these because they are the industry standard.
I perfer to use my own mic while giging because club house mics are like professional ladies and I sing without protection.
I gives the sound man something he can relate to and it smells like the last beer I drank (not somebody else).
You could drive nails with this mic.
Proximity effest is a bit strong.

Been singing professionally for about 6 years, playing music for 10.

I think SM-58's are the worst mics in history. The proximity effect mixed with the lack of clarity just make these things crap IMO. The one place I liked them was at a Karaoke bar because the sound was so muffled nobody could hear how off pitch everyone was. Every gig I play somebody has one of these beat-up piece of sh!its in the corner or on an old mic stand. For any professional that has an inkling vocal quality, get a real microphone and throw this thing in the trash. By the way, I do like shure products, like most of the beta series microphones. I don't even mind a good old 57 on a snare. But the sm58 for vocals is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

Since 1992, I've been a bass player/backup vocalist with occasional leadsfor jazz ensambles, blues bands, rock bands, metal bands, and am currently working with a pop-punk band. I usually instigate most of the onstage witty retort on stage.

This is the industry standard dynamic cordial mic of the ages. I bought mine in 1993, and it looks like it just needs a new grille. I mainly have only used this for my vocals, but have used it for recording rough demos. It floors me when anyone says anything negative about this mic. Even if you don't like it, if you're gonna play a show where there's a seperate sound system from your own, it's probably gonna be set with SM58's for vocals. I always figured I should be use to these at practice, because 95% of the shows I've played, I ended up using one of these.

I had lost it for a short time and bought a higher end AKG vocal mic (can't remember what kind, but it's been discontinued). Sound was there, but just not the same. This is the best professional grade mic in its price range. I've considered getting the Beta58, but just can't justify it.

I have been performing professionally for 32 years
I have done studio work and run live sound, I have a small home studio
Digital recorsing with Cakewalk software
I prefer Beyer/Sennheiser headphones

I'm not going into much detail as it has been covered over 50 times here.
I own over 20 microphones in my locker, Electro Voice, Sennheiser
Neuman, Cascade Ribbon, MXL studio condenser (my personal favorite for studio vocal tracks.
First of all everybody seems to be wanting to compaire these to studio mics!! The important thing here is LIVE VOCAL, where a smaller dynamic range is generally better. I run sound so I know how to get the correct sound out of these.
A few important rules... if you are useing SM58 use it for everybody, dont mix mic types
If they sound muffled or muddy or more often piercing, the guy running sound doesn't know beans about it...period...

There are other mics out there that have a fuller dynamic range,
but these were designed to get the most out of the human voice,
Try pulling some high mids out of the graphic EQ on the board,
usually the next to last or 2nd next to last slider, Push up the last (high)eq up a bit, if needed you can also pull a bit of low eq out or boost the volume and have the singer back off the mic another inch or so.
I always carry 3 or 4 of these with me, WHY?? because no matter what
the conditions are, I KNOW I can depend on them!. They are virtually bullet proof, and set properly they sound great, I have never had a complaint about their sond and have many come up to me and state the fact they have never heard a 58 sound so good!!!
In live situations you can make them as clean or bassy or "punch through piercing middy" as you want. experiment with the EQ's and make sure everybody uses them, this is really a point I cannot stress enough.
This will also help avoid cross talk feedback. other mics with the high frequency ou to 20k they usually have to have a HYPERCARDOID
pattern so tight the performer needs to be glued exactly in the center, look slightly off to the side and your vocals drop off quicker than Granny falling down the basement steps.
I'v NEVER seen any Professional studio that dosen't have half a dozen
laying around, (ok usually for scratch vocals)
Buy one love it and use it for the next few decades or so...
thanks for reading this

Live/recording artist for ten plus years.

I've come up with a few of my own reasons for why this very average sounding and dated mic is still the top choice for the majority of live music venues. Here's my guess:
1. Price/Durability- yeah, it's hard to break one, and the one-time purchase for the venue makes it appealing.

2. Axis/Rejection- small pickup pattern makes it good for high noise settings, and it can stand up to mega gain, which it needs.

3. Familiarity/Neurosis- singers, (and sound guys to a lesser extent) will flip their **** if they see something else on the mic stand- particularly pro's who have used this thing for twenty-plus years and morphed it into a security blanket. Incidentally, I brought my own Beta 87 to a gig once, and the sound guy, after saying "our gear's not good enough, huh?" cut my mic out at various times during the performance. An atypical reaction, but some people really can't let the 'ol 58 go.

I've been playing guitar and harmonica for over 30 years. Almost all live.

I used this mike for singing and playing my Harp through also on my amp. Fender Deluxe Reverb. I was caught in the novelty of the mike. I owned 3 for 10 years but then notice the EV mikes having a warmer tone. I guess these mikes will always be around and they are road worthy. It is a comparison kinda thing. You like them until you really start comparing them to other new designed mikes in the same price range.

I have studied audio engineering and have a few years of experience recording in studios and engineering live.
I have tried out and recorded with a lot of mics from the smallest cheapo drum clipmics to Neumann and Schoeps.

Ive have to agree and disagree to the more critical reviews here. The sm58 is not the best mic around. Its not very detailed and its old technology.
but it works most of the time and thats whats good about it.

forgot the bd mic? put the sm58 in there. it works.
forgot your sm57s for the snare? take the popshield off the 58 and use that. it works. (in fact the only difference to the 57 is the removable popshield)
dont have something to mic the amps? use the 58 it works!
same goes for percussion, acc. guitars etc. and of course vocals

might not always be first choice but chances are if you cant get it right with something else, the 58 might do just fine. and also dont forget that the sound of this mic is known to everybodys ears.

Ive been playing guitar for about 20 years, not proffessionaly.

I worked on a sound crew for about 2 years but recently started aquiring equipment for home recording. I have a digital recording card in my computer, it can do 24bit/96khz, but is nowhere near top of the line equipment.

I got a pre-amp and some XLR cables, and another mic, a condenser (which I like alot more)

Dynamic mike with a big reputation: I did use some while on a sound crew, however I never realized till I tried to sing into one how close and how loud you had to sing, makes me respect the vocalists who were getting a good sound out of them a whole lot more.

The venues we worked in were either large halls or outdoors, so I never really noticed the singers (who had lots of expierence with this mic) were actaully yelling at it.

You really have to scream at this thing, or be prepared to deep throat it. There is this tiny envelope you need to sing in to get a signal, moving only a few inches colors the sound considerably, I think it was designed to be used with compression only.

I can now see the advantages of the small pickup range and why we used them live, but for recording I would look for something else: in my apartment studio the neighbors would be calling the cops if I tried to sing into this, yet I can get a good signal from my B5.

My opinion is this mic is good for screamers, deep throaters, or proffessional singers who have learned how to sing exactly in the right envelope, for less expierenced singers good luck.

I'm sure its as tough as they say, in fact, I think the only thing I will be using it for is a stage hammer...

Guitar/Piano/Vocals 10+ years

Listen up. After talking to the friendly folks at Shure I was notified that there has been a proliferation of "fake" sure microphones.

The story: After purchasing a new beta 58a from e-bay for $100 and wondering why it sounded so crappy I called the people at Shure to see if it was a hardware issue. The representative told me that there is a ton of fake "shure" microphones coming out of Asia. They find them all the time when they are sent in for warranty work. He said it's pretty much a disaster how many fake Shure microphones are out there. I decided to just send the microphone back to the ebay seller. He said your best bet is to buy from a reputable dealer so even though I hate paying full price for stuff I am going to suck it up and shell out the bones for one.

I've been playing guitar and piano for quite many years.
The last 10 years or so I have been recording music
on the computer. I have experience with a wide
variety of mics under $200.

Compared with other dynamics under the 200$ range, I found
the SM58 to lack completely in sensitivity. As many noticed
you need to really scream to get something out of it.
I bought the mic because of all the hype. I should be selling it
to ebay shortly. Too many people mention its durability, but
if the sound is not loud enough why do you need it in the first
place?? I have also a starpower SP1 and a behringer XM8500, which
both sound louder. Cleanless of sounds seems the same for my ears.
My recommendation, don't waste your money on it.