DON'T Mod Your SM58.

The SM58, SM57 and SM7b are all great microphones. They can be used on drums, guitars, vocals and are some of the most well known and most used mics in the world. They may have some similarities, but are actually more different than you might think.
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www.thediyrecordingstudio.com
Song by oldmanrei
Recorded by Mitchell Rose at The DIY Recording Studio
Filmed and Produced by Mitch at The DIY Recording Studio
FOLLOW ME MITCHELL ROSE AKA. OldManRei
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GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO:
COMPUTER:
Mac Studio M1 Max amzn.to/3MmOlbx
AUDIO:
Antelope Audio Zen Tour amzn.to/3VhgEvX
Rode Mic Go amzn.to/3ei3XAv
Shure SM7b amzn.to/3Tcw3Mg
Shure SM58 amzn.to/3T43FvS
Shure SM57 amzn.to/3EwGDtq
Neewer Boom Arm Stand amzn.to/3fWNhPt
Rode PS-1 Boom Arm: amzn.to/3SX0DcX
Midas L10 Legend 500 Series Rack: amzn.to/3yv36mT
Presonus Faderport8: amzn.to/3rPUNOs
SPEAKER STANDS: amzn.to/3COQOZ8
CAMERA:
Canon 80D amzn.to/3EAwFaj
Sandisk 256gb Extreme: amzn.to/3fYmkus
Batteries amzn.to/3fYmkus
LENSES:
Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 amzn.to/3Mk0Nsm
LIGHTING:
Yongnuo 600L 600 LED amzn.to/3rIUN2L
Viltrox Super Slim LED amzn.to/3MkaCXa
MIDI
Akai MPK Mini amzn.to/3Ewk7Rj
#thediyrecordingstudio #sm7b #sm58

[@dslrvideoshooter]

Thanks for the response, killer information and kind words Mitch. Audio and microphones for music production are obviously way outside my experience and I really should have brought someone like you on to talk about that in the video. All that said if people have fun modding this mic and they like the look and sound of it who cares! Same with cameras. If a matte box makes you happy even while unnecessary, who am I to slap the smile off your face. Thank you again for taking the time to make this video. I learned a lot! If you’re ever in the Chicagoland area hit me up.

[@botox1603]

oh here comes the tea

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Thanks Caleb for taking the time to reply. I appreciate your thoughts on this too, and you've definitely made a fun, cool looking project. I also can't understate the value of the rest of your content, you've helped me and many, many other youtubers I'm sure. I'm in Australia, so not sure if I'd be in Chicago any time soon, but thanks greatly for the offer. Keep up the awesome content.

[@reginaldbowls7180]

@@diyrecordingstudio Aw you guys are too cute.

[@chargv]

Your mod is awesome. I hope you helped lots of people who wanted the SM7B and couldn't afford it. Also, you helped other KZbinrs to actually have something to talk about. You did great!

[@gabrielschroll3824]

I've watched a bunch of comparison videos of the SM58, SM7B, RE20, etc etc, and while there is a noticeable difference when I hear the samples back-to-back, it's not a $300-350 difference to me. What's important to me is that there's no hissing, no plosives, no going into the red, and minimal to no background noise. As long as the audio is clear, the very minor differences between good mics does nothing to elevate or reduce my enjoyment. The mod is an excellent solution for aesthetics, and is sold for around $35-40 on the creator's website. That's a great deal, especially for someone who is just starting out and testing the waters of KZbin, but still wants to look good on camera. Because like I said, the difference is noticeable when heard back to back in a comparison video, but the vast majority of folks simply haven't developed their ear to the point that it's going to matter. Besides what I wrote in the second paragraph/sentence, the thing that really makes a difference is the content itself. Write good scripts, have hot takes - or sensible takes, depending on your personality and goals - ask good interview questions, do your research, and be entertaining or educational. I say this as someone who plans to go the SM58 + mod route. I am not even close to the point where spending $400 on a microphone is in my near future, but I still want to look and sound really good. Maybe not GREAT, but really good. And that's enough for me.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Yeah I totally understand where you’re coming from Gabriel. What might sound even better and look pretty decent is the sm57 with the wind shield. If it’s good enough for the POTUS, it’s good enough for us peasants 😂

[@paulw.3967]

The most noticeable differences can be made to go away by judicious use of a parametric equalizer. That's the elephant in the room. Yes, a 58 has a different frequency response curve than a 7b, due to differences in capsules and cavities and headbasket and so on... but that's easily fixed with EQ. A lot of people choose mics mainly for how their frequency response suits the source, rather than using EQ, as if EQing a mic were somehow cheating. But they ignore the fact that many mics have eq circuitry in them that's doing the same thing. For example, most high-end condenser mics have a bright capsule and a high-frequency rolloff in the circuitry, to tone down that brightness. A lot of fairly cheap condenser mics are too bright, because they too have bright capsules, but don't have sufficient HF deemphasis in the circuitry. Many mic modders fix that by changing some capacitor and maybe resistor values, but you can also just use EQ when recording or after, and get the same effect. Doing EQ after the mic is often better than EQ circuitry inside it, because you can use a parametric EQ that gives you precise control to tame particular bumps in the frequency response, start the low frequency rolloff right where you want to, etc. The similarities in construction between the 58 and the 7b makes this more effective than for mics with very different construction. (For any directional mic, the off-axis response is different from the on-axis response, in a way that depends on the architecture, so you may be able to adjust the on-axis FR to match, or adjust the off-axis FR to match, but not both. Given the right similarities in mic construction, that's less of an issue, and adjusting the on-axis response will also adjust the off-axis response fairly appropriately.) Julian Krause has a great video demonstrating this, and giving (at about 10:32 in the video) the parametric EQ values to adjust a 78 to sound very much like a 7b: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWSaY6ScichmY6s&ab_channel=JulianKrause If you want to make it low impedance and low output, so that it hits a preamp more similarly to the way an SM7b does, you can just remove the output transformer of the SM78 and connect the wires directly to the XLR connector. Then you'll need a lot of gain. For good modern preamps, with lots of clean gain, that shouldn't make much difference, but it may make a more important (but very slight) difference in the sound by eliminating coloration introduced by the transformer. (Dark Corner Studios has a video on modding the SM78, including how to get the transformer out by boiling the handle part of the mic to melt the hot glue.)

[@larry5962]

the point of diy shure sm7b is mainly aesthetic only. a lot of people love how clean it looks so its nothing about mic quality but simply aesthetic

[@diyrecordingstudio]

I’m sorry Larry, but I couldn’t disagree with you more. It has a specific frequency response which makes it great on vocals in a lot of situations. It also has superior off axis rejection compared to other dynamic mics. If you watched my video and the interview with people from shure, you’d know that EVERYTHING about the mic matters and contributes to its sound especially with dynamic mics.

[@larry5962]

@@diyrecordingstudio damn alr sounds awful

[@itslegiTim]

@@larry5962 I agree. I Heard a lot of streamers and this Mic just doesnt Sound good for me....

[@qu4zz4r]

Aesthetic? The fact is I don't like how bulky sm7b is, if I could get the same sound from other smaller mic, I'd use it instead. But I can't)

[@jm808official]

@@diyrecordingstudio I think you missed that he said “DIY shure sm7b” not anything about the actual sm7b. Just about the people making other mics look like the 7b

[@chancehansen]

This is the audio equivilent of pixel peeping. They sound pretty similar, that's a bennefit. Nobody would have known the change at all had he not made a video of it, including all of the audiophiles out there.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

If you want to use analogies like pixel peeping, and things like resolution, I would say this is more where we get into converters and maybe even certain preamps, especially cheap/digital ones. However, microphones, to stay on camera analogies, are more like lenses. Where lenses capture wavelengths of light, microphones capture wavelengths of sound frequencies. If you compare one lens to another, their resolution, aperture, bokeh and more are very very different. I would say the same for all microphones. It might be hard to hear the difference in a simple voice over for some people, but accumulatively as you record more and more layers, as we do in real music recording situations, the differences couldn’t be more obvious. It’s not an audiophile thing. These mics, instruments and signal processors are the tools of our trade. There’s not really a better or worse, just the right tool for the job.

[@Tully-Henderson]

@@diyrecordingstudio if we're using lenses as analogies I think its more of a comparison between a Sony GM 50mm F1.2 vs Sony FE 50mm F1.8. One is $2.5k and one is $250. You'll get manual focus, aperature, etc with the GM but the FE has a similar bokeh but much less exaggerated. Whos to say that them being inherently different bars us from using them all the same especially when the cost of them certainly are not the same. Of course we should buy the tools of the trade but lets factor in financial context for those who haven't turned it into a trade already.

[@nuttylmao]

@@Tully-Henderson Yeah I agree, this whole video is cope. Caleb's video was pretty obviously just meant to be a fun project for hobbiests. I certainly didn't get the impression that he was trying to convince anyone that there was no difference between an SM58 and SM7B. Don't get me wrong, the information is certainly valuable, but it could have been delivered without taking unnecessary shots at Caleb. He even provided all the STLs for free.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Hey @nuttylmao love your channel I’m surprised to see you comment on one of my videos tbh. It’s a shame you feel that way, but I have to mostly disagree with you. It’s cool that Caleb offered the 3d printed files and stuff for free sure, but he does however try to prove throughout the video that his mod in fact changes the sound quality and frequencies response of the mics used. It doesn’t. I don’t think I’m being unfair in the video. Caleb didn’t either.

[@theoutsiderjess4869]

I actually like this for aesthetic they don't change the sound but it does better to prevent plosive

[@HpPmL]

My 2 cents, if you have $500 it's better to get a SM58 and a $400 preamp than a SM7b and a $100 preamp.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Absolutely agree. A great preamp with dynamic mics really brings them to life.

[@qu4zz4r]

Better to get AKG D5 and a preamp actually))

[@neferpitou1795]

​@@diyrecordingstudio Hi bro, Im asking for a sm58 shure mic. Currently im using samson q8x. What would you recommend me? Thnxs and greetings from Chile

[@neferpitou1795]

​@@diyrecordingstudiooh, I use the samson mic for death and brutal metal vocals. Tbh I heard both and the Shure seems to have less volume, the Samson sounds a little louder in the same range, although I think it engages more (I don't know what the word in English is to say that it saturates more, or that it quickly causes the typical "beep"). Any comment would help me a lot in making the decision to buy the shure sm58 or keep the samson q8x

[@chargv]

"You can't do that to my beloved SM7B! It's a heresy! You don't belong to our audiophile community", says the guy using his consumer-grade-extremely-color-tuned headphone. 😅

[@8BitParadise]

Sony XM4 💀💀💀

[@xxchendricksxx1]

What if I don't want an sm7b and just want the sound of an sm58 with less plosives and set at a better distance from the capsule as to better avoid the close proximity effect on the low end?

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Moving back an inch or two will solve both of those problems.

[@alexforget]

The problem is that everyone want a 7B for the look first and a bit for the classic sound. But the price doesn’t make sense at all for a lot of people. An electret capsule or a cheap dynamic capsule could do the job perfectly for 99% of people than want a 7B.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Yeah the price for an SM7b is pretty outrages, I get it. But i consider audio a trade, and tradies ie carpenters, electricians, plumbers pay wayyyy more for some of their tools of their trades. Just depends how serious you are about it.

[@patrickpeck4643]

i love how much fun this guy is having 😁

[@FutureVegan]

That was a really good video! I'm looking for a mic solution to reduce the echo in my studio. Currently I'm using a zoom h5 with the zoom ssh6 capsule. From what I've seen and read it seems that perhaps the SM58 might be the best option to reduce echo, noise and reverb, although after watching your SM57 mod video I was left with even more questions. I already got 2 fetheads thinking I would buy the SM7B, but now I don't know what to do. If you watch any of my last 2 videos you'll see how my sound currently is (and it is a treated small studio room with 10 sound panels). These are the options I'm considering: *1 - SM7b + Fethead + Zoom h5* *2 - SM58 + Fethead + Zoom h5* *3 - SM57 + Fethead + Zoom h5* Any help / feedback would be much appretiated. Thanks!

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Great question! The real question is, what are you recording? If it's voice, then either of these will suit. You dont necessarily need a fethead for the 57 and 58 though. The 7b will definitely. If you're recording some podcast speech and wanna save money, go the 58. If you want radio ready vocals and are recording music as well the 7b or 57 are your best bet as they both have heaps of uses! If you need more advice, I offer audio consultations via my website. Email me at [e-mail]

[@gloomaudio5300]

Any thoughts on removing the transformer from the SM58 or 57? I thought that was the original point of modifying either of those mics. Either way good info!

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Yup, don’t do it unless you have a spare lying around and you want it to sound really bad. The glue that holds that holds that transformer in place helps with the handling noise and the air gap left in that grip piece is measured for the frequency response. Everything about the mic matters. You mess with one thing and it changes how all the other parts work. If you want a trashy sounding mic, that’s what you’ll get, but why would you want to wreck an already great sounding mic anyway?

[@captaingerryyt]

@@diyrecordingstudio how about eqing like julian krause did with his xm8500/sm57 sounds like sm7b ?

[@itslegiTim]

Funny enough, your SM7b (or how you EQ it) Sounds like a fckn Gaming Headset.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

😂….. riiiiight

[@itslegiTim]

It's no Joke, I Heard a lot of people using this Mic, most of them with very little or no eq at all and the SM7b just doesnt Sound "good" out of the Box. Frequency response is great, but if you don't know sh*t about eqing voice or vocals, this Mic doesnt do any good. It has a very very flat Sound, which obviously is a good thing for people who know their stuff. But it's just no good fit for the stuff it's used for by 90% of the people. That's why I said it sounds Bad on you. Because it does. It's just flat and not sounding very good. That maybe the reason Radio Stations here in Germany use proper mics from Neumann. Because they're just mich easier to make sound great. People are just like "Oh, SM7b, everyone uses it. Must be great then despite costing 400$. Because more money is always better"

[@qu4zz4r]

@@itslegiTim fun fact is that I'm doing voice over right now. And I gave up your German Neuman TLM 103 to SM7B because of the sound)) Maybe you should listen not through the dynamics of your cellphone, so sm7 won't sound so flat

[@qu4zz4r]

@@diyrecordingstudio lol, don't listen to that guy, nice sound

[@luk3z565]

@@diyrecordingstudio its true tho

[@JeremyLeech]

I have an SM7B, re20, earthworks ethos etc. and I bought the mod. Why? Because I have mics like the sE v7 that look better on camera in that housing lol. If you want an sm7b. Buy one. Plain and simple lol

[@nick314]

You are very passionate for no apparent reason. He's not claiming to match it acoustically to the SM-7B - though they do sound quite similar with his voice as a reference. The "new" design does help a lot with plosives. So what if the "curve" is different? You showed the frequency response curves - and pointed to the less than 0.5db 250Hz area... That is minimal to say the least. And if one bothered they could even match the curves with mic modelling methods. Plus the new mic might give a different sound that matches the voice or instrument better than the SM7B would. It's a nice DIY project that could have a happy accident and you're just adding so much negativity to such a creative approach. If everyone thought like you seem to - that the "curve response h a s to be identical - beep-bop" there would be no innovation in the world. Relax, and enjoy the creative process. Unless you're doing this for revenue/clicks - in which case I'm sorry I wasted my time.

[@dundium]

I have a question, the main reason people do the DIY is cause they like the aesthetics, every bit of the mic is important of the sm58 which is why it will sound different when u take the basket off. Even if it doesn't sound like the SM7b, would you say the quality is bad of the DIY made one? or would you still say it sounds good/decent

[@diyrecordingstudio]

I honestly just wouldn't bother. Putting an SM58 in this DIY chassis will do almost nothing to change the sound. If you have a 58, just use it as a 58. SM58's sound awesome, and are great for voice stuff. If you need an sm7b, then the only way to get that sound is to buy one. You cant fake it with mics, especially dynamic mics.

[@clackkeebs]

@@diyrecordingstudio I think you fail to realize that some truly only care about the aesthetic aspect of the mic itself, even if it sabotages the overall quality of what a sm7b has to offer. You can look at it as putting a sm58 into a case and nothing else if you don’t take off the grill and just putting it into a 3D printed holder. Sometimes people don’t have money to spend $400 for a microphone and are willing to take a lower quality microphone to save some extras bucks.

[@fredoverflow]

@@clackkeebs I think it would make more sense to buy the MV7X instead, which isn't that much more expensive than the SM58.

[@qu4zz4r]

Finally somebody did a video like this)) No tricks can make 58 sound like sm7b, and it can be obviously heard on comparisons on that same videos with that tricks

[@diyrecordingstudio]

You get it, that's all that matters! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!

[@hamler7407]

Good vid Mitch👌🏽

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Legend!

[@fredoverflow]

10:14 The SM in SM58 actually stands for "Studio Microphone".

[@diyrecordingstudio]

You're correct! but to clarify, they meant live studio, as in a live performance in a TV or Radio broadcast.

[@alexandreazzalini-machecle4775]

Some people are getting rid of the transformer in the SM58 to change the low end response of the microphone. What do you think of that modification by comparison with the phony one you are calling out in your video ?

[@diyrecordingstudio]

I wouldn’t take out the transformer either. Removing the glue in the handle to take out the transformer destroys the frequency response of the mic and creates handling noise. Ruins the mic, it’s sound and has no benefit at all. A 58 sounds great as is.

[@JimHancock]

The average Joe KZbinr teaching, reviewing or doing reaction videos, cooking, woodworking, or any of a 100 different subjects would be served just fine with the cheapest mic available..... also to tell the difference between a sm57 and a sm7b requires an acquired ear and a nice headset..... WAY above the quality threshold that the average watcher cares about.. Broadcast TV shows use lapel mics and have been for years and the world is happy..... and now KZbinrs are sitting around in recliners with a group of sm7bs boomed over the "talents" mouth sitting in recliners!!!...... the point I'm making is it isn't what it sounds like but what it looks like.... all of it is out of control and spending $650.00 or more for sound on a KZbin channel is money wasted...

[@randomschittz9461]

Haha, I like how nobody talks about the metal casing of the 7b being a Faraday cage that blocks out rf interference, hence why it is sooooo quiet and you can really crank it up. They’ll figure out how bad it is when that 58 hits a decent amount of compression and they end up with a boomy mess and yes... noise my ninja!

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Boomy mess indeed

[@leevanwesterborg7805]

The two videos where they modded the 58s and said they were same as SM7Bs did not test them for high frequencies after they either changed the transformer (Dark Corner Studio) or replaced the casing (DSLR's video) didn't do real tests after they made their changes. The biggest difference between them is that the 7B is much more sensitive to high frequencies, but both of them had baritone voices so we couldn't hear if their so-called mods had actually done anything. These guys are selling snake oil, when i posted that they did not test for high frequencies yet they were claiming the two mics sounded identical my comment was instantly deleted. i feel bad for everybody that got ripped off buying those plastic cases they thought would make their SM58s into SM7Bs

[@afd1959]

Joe Cocker used to be recorded with an SM57 because he would blow out ribbon mics and anything expensive with the pressure when he sang.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

That's really cool, I didnt know that! I'm not surprised, he was an incredibly powerful singer for sure!

[@TavoIce]

Its very silly to think that this works😂 great video

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Hahaha thanks!

[@zakimations]

I already owned an SM58 and had access to a 3D printer. I only did it to give myself an illusion of being more professional. Also I only use my mic to scream at Call Of Duty lobbies.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Hahaha, sounds like a pretty legit reason!

[@suiohh]

Same here. Just for gaming and aesthetics 😅

[@DigIntoGaming]

The major difference between say the sm58 and sm7b, other than price, is actually rejection sensitivity. It's approximately a 2db difference between the two. Obviously with the sm7b being the less sensitive one. Other than that the differences are minor and generally EQ achievable. Especially if your using a fethead or cloudlifter. Now this is of course only looking at these microphones as a podcast mic and not anything like voice acting or singing. I've listened to hundreds of comparisons with tens of hours of pretty accurate low variable testing. From various creators and some personally done. Unfortunately microphones are very subject to personal opinion and how each of our ears perceive audio and the gear we are using to listen to it. Also our voices are different. So if your only listening to comparisons done by one person with one voice some mics will sound good and others will sound bad. Which is why I've jumped around from multiple people who make these comparisons from all sorts of professions based around audio. I've also done my own independent testing. For me I've found that as far as dynamic mics are concerned the sm58, se electronics v7 and rode podmic are the best under $150 XLR mics for podcast style recording. On the higher end we have the sm7b, re 20 and pretty much anything from earthworks.

[@tsanov86]

Yes, yes, yes, I'm definitely modding it bud. It can be done !

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Got for it man, good luck! which mod are you doing?

[@tsanov86]

@@diyrecordingstudio The SM57-like mounting for berhinger mic. Done already, much better looking and more comfortable

[@tsanov86]

*SM7B-like mount

[@gh00al]

This seems pretty unfair. Of course just putting a 58 in the printed 7B body won't turn it into a 7B. But you can certainly EQ a 58 (or better a 57) to get 98% of the way to the 7B sound. And then, once you have that, there is still a lot of value in adding the printed body. As dlsvrvideoshooter's video states pretty clearly, the 7B body enforces a proper distance from the capsule and places foam at that distance, avoiding too much proximity effect as well as reducing plosives and sibilance. This is essential, not optional, when you have guests coming in for an interview recording. Try telling a guest the exact distance to hold themselves from a 57 or 58 over the course of an hour to get a consistently good sound. (Also for what it's worth--which should be a lot--the comparisons at the end of the dlsvrvideoshooter video sound extremely similar between the two... so maybe even just the body does more than you would expect).

[@diyrecordingstudio]

I totally get your point, and I did a video on a better way to get an sm57 to sound more similar to an SM7b. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZqplYalg89lg7M Similar but not the same, which is key here. I think I fully explain this in the video, with evidence, but when it comes to Dynamic mics EVERYTHING makes a difference to the sound of the mic. Shure mics explain this themselves about the SM57, 58 and 7b. Putting an sm58 or another mic, already in it's own housing, into a 3d printed, plastic body will do almost nothing to alter the sound. Yes proximity might change but the diaphragms and capsule designs on each of these mics is slightly different. which makes them sound different. The 58 has a foam covering on the diaphragm. the 57 has a different headbasket and no foam. The 7b has no foam but a completely different housing and internal mounting system and has no transformer. each of these things make a bi difference to the mic and how it works. I totally get what you are saying, but unfair? I don't think so. This is how the mics work and why. That's what this channel is all about. The real way audio equipment works and how to use it correctly. All these 3 mics are excellent and have their place. If you really understand completely how they actually work and why, you can better utilise them in your tool set. Best of luck.

[@gh00al]

@@diyrecordingstudio Oh I actually used that video. Thanks for it. That windscreen was a good recommendation. I really view the printed 7B body mod as just a windscreen mod and nothing else, so similar to yours. If your windscreen mod helps make a 57 sound a little more like a 7B, the printed body mod should work similarly but get it maybe a bit closer. It also adds the important benefit that it regulates the speaker's distance from the capsule, which I think is half of what the design of the 7B was intended to do. Either way, EQing is still 80% of what matters in changing the actual sound of a 57 or 58 → 7B I think...

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Not a problem. Just to clarify, the reason why the Caleb mod won’t do really any more to make it like a 7b is this, we are both just effecting the front end of the mic. However the mod doesn’t do anything else that a real 7b is doing to effect the sound. The way the capsule is mounted in each body, the transformer or lack of in the case of the 7b effects all the low frequency stuff. To get any closer, you would literally have to take the capsule out of the 57 body, put it in a REAL 7b body (the correct air gap and spacing in the chassis make all the difference to the low frequency response) and then finally remove the transformer. And even then, still it wouldn’t sound exactly the same as there are other slight differences to the capsule people don’t mention. I can’t say this enough. Every single difference changes the sound. Caleb’s mod is mostly cool looking without doing anything real to the sound. It is literally a 58, in a 58 mic chassis with a 58 transformer sitting in a plastic body. Besides the proximity effect you mentioned and managing plosives it is really doing nothing else. Even the fact that it is plastic versus the real metal headbasket and chassis makes a difference to the high and low frequency response. Sorry for the rant, I just want to clear this up once and for all.

[@gh00al]

@@diyrecordingstudio I just thought I'd add: for the first time I tried taking the foam windscreen off my 7B tonight and a/b'ing with and without, and I was really surprised at how big a difference it makes (much nicer sounding without imo). So I think just adding that exact foam to the 57 would really make a difference. On the other hand I found that without its foam it still sounds nothing like my 57 lol... so you're right that there's a lot more going on. Honestly for me the biggest argument against the mod is just that by the time you pay the time and/or money to 3D print it, assemble all the other pieces (including the foam), put it together... and then you still have to EQ it... and hope you don't find yourself needing the humbucker which the 7 has... you may as well just buy a 7.

[@LorneVignettes]

I 100% Agree. If you 3D print that SM7b housing and put a SM58 inside, well it seems to me that you would have a SM58 that looks like a half A$$ SM7

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Hahaha, exactly!

[@LorneVignettes]

@@diyrecordingstudio Also I don't understand why anyone would take the transformer out of the SM57? My view is that the Microphone Engineers knew what they were doing when they invented it. I don't see the point in second guessing their work because the SM57 just works. Lol

[@diyrecordingstudio]

100% whenever I see people doing that “mod” i can’t cringe enough.

[@LorneVignettes]

So do world famous recording producers. The SM58 by itself is a great mic to use for streaming as long as the signal chain is fine. look at Howard Stern, Like him or hate him. His show sounds really good and they use SM58's all the time and they sound awesome. No need to be afraid of how the mic looks or how it was built. I'm going to trust Shure Brothers Inc. Lol.

[@puvendranpillay8802]

Yes yes! You mod and try it out!!! Thank you Hater and Mic Snob

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Maybe check out the rest of my videos 😉 I’m certainly no gear snob. This is the DIY recording studio… it’s in the name of

[@joematthews9343]

Great vid my dude. Learned a bunch about mics too! Literally never crossed my mind how important and carefully considered the housing is and how much it would effect frequency response and sound profile. It's east to forget you're just kind of shouting into a can 😂

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Hahahaha totally. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment joe. It’s pretty crazy how much thought and design goes into mic making.

[@johngrant5749]

Yup. This.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Thanks for dropping a comment John. You won't be modding your SM58 anytime soon? ;)

[@johngrant5749]

Definitely not. Horses for courses as the saying goes 😄

[@LillySchwartz]

Definitely agreed on all points, I laughed quite a bit about the naivité with which he approached microphone design 😅 The comments section of the original video tells you everything you need to know about the ears of a non-expert audience too. The average KZbin audience can't even appreciate the difference between those three microphones. It's fairly obvious in the comparison section of the original video if you bother to listen with headphones. And clearly, if you have an audience that doesn't have the ears to distinguish between an XM8500 and an SM7B then you're wasting your money if you go for the more expensive option. All that being said, it doesn't change that the pop shield of the SM7B could be a very decent upgrade for that cheap little Behringer XM8500 he also compares. That microphone actually sounds pretty decent and suits my voice better than the SM58. I've been using it for a couple of years already and I'm quite happy with my results. Haven't seen the need to gamble on upgrading to something as expensive as the SM7B just to find out that it doesn't suit my voice! And I do think there is a point to his mod, at least for that cheap Behringer mic! I have to use my XM8500 with a circular popfilter and a thick foam cover to tame it and having all that on screen while filming looks just utterly ridiculous! That always limited the use for me because I can only use it for voiceovers off camera. I have a 3D printer and this thing costs very little to print, so I'm going to give it a go just for the heck of it. If it doesn't change the sound too much it will give me an additional use for that cheap little microphone. Frankly I'd feel pretty silly buying an SM7B just for the looks on camera when I've already found something that works for me at a fraction of the cost! The SM7B is overpriced for what it is, imho.

[@8BitParadise]

I don't appreciate the use of XM4s

[@BanDal.]

Thank you! I was seriously considering to put some mics into SM7B housing, but now I'll quit.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Haha yeah it's completely unnecessary. Thanks for leaving a comment!

[@mittanorath]

preach

[@jimdilian6245]

mod everything.. all is good. don't stay straight

[@LubuisLchannel]

It was best said in Hustle and Flow, "if you want quality, you have to pay for it."

[@diyrecordingstudio]

100%. Nothing beats the real gear.

[@randomschittz9461]

Aaaaand, “it’s hard out here for a pimp”

[@kn0ckamus]

I get all the technicalities but I think it looks sick. My Jewish ass is all over this lol

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Hahahaha, fair enough if you like the look, just know your mic won’t ever sound like an SM7b unless it’s an actual SM7b.

[@kn0ckamus]

@@diyrecordingstudio lol yeah definitely

[@chickenlickin3820]

surprised behringer hasn't made a copy yet?

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Give them time.

[@fredoverflow]

@@diyrecordingstudio What are they gonna call it? The XMB7? 😆

[@rangersmith4652]

Let's be real here. The main reason why so many KZbinrs use an SM7B is so their viewers will _see_ the SM7B in their videos. Most listeners/viewers couldn't hear the difference between on SM7B and an SM57/58 under ideal conditions, and they're listening on cheap earbuds or PC speakers to boot. If you make a fake housing that 100% mimics an SM7B and put a Behringer XM8500 into it, the vast majority of viewers would think it's an SM7B.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

You're totally right, but I do have to add, if you are a working musician, studio owner or podcaster, the sm7b has a way superior rejection and makes it way more useful than a simple 57 or 58 because it wont pick up the spill from other people talking, playing instruments or the harshness of an untreated room!

[@breslonovic]

When recording audio with AI in post as long as your mic isn't having your usual issues like popping or what you would normally look out for when interviewing then who cares if it isn't like the Shure SM7b. You're getting half the sound for a fifth of the price with a $20 mic. If we as creators won't notice a huge difference in the edit then 99% of the audience won't either.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Maybe for speech in a podcast or something, but if we’re talking music recordings with live drums, bass and guitars and many layers of vocals, a $20 mic is not gonna cut it on any of those sound sources.

[@breslonovic]

@@diyrecordingstudio But he isn't talking about music recordings. I doubt anybody looks at his channel and thinks, 'he must be an audiophile'. Is it not just nitpicking for the sake of it? But hey you got nearly 10k views and a reply from the creator so if it's insincere and for the troll then fair enough.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

It’s not insincere or to troll at all. Purely made this video to clear up the kinds of misconceptions people have about microphones. I’m a teacher and want to further that here on KZbin. The more people understand how all this gear truly works, the better engineers we have out in the world.

[@weareallbeingwatched4602]

Blud are you telling me I should just get a starbucks cup and tape it over the head of a dynamic microphone? F*ING RIGHT THAT IS A GOOD IDEA BLUD. I MUST TRY THIS. AND PUNCH SOME HOLES. AND ADD A BIT OF SAND. OH YES. TRY IT. No seriously dude. A/B it. The resonance of the cardboard will add a lot of distortion. Absolutely. Try a beer can for some high frequency distortion and metallic trashiness. Think of a silencer baffle for a gun, or a shotgun microphone, and serious modification of directivity is possible. Seriously. A paper cup will cause... LOADS OF FEEDBACK LIVE. cupping the mic. Geddit? YES.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Hahahaha! Best reply ever.

[@gardien340]

That's interesting. Fun part and what I am asking myself: why do these two expert guys sound so poor? 🤔

[@epiphonium]

I wish people with fancy flexible microphone holders would stop touching and moving and fiddling with them when they talk. The bumping sound is really annoying. Stop it !

[@01mustang05]

So much confidence that's really and/or is actually fake, while innocent and helpless children are bullied, abused, and worse. That's what's too hard to take, people acting like they are so superior when they can't or won't face the ugly truth and be humble when they have become horrible people.

[@gillihansmobilewelding]

Awww, you're mad because Caleb actually went full "DIY" and you just bought a 7b. Haha, so diy bro. You've got the gear but not ear.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Ha! now imagine I tried to educate YOU on how to weld.

[@gillihansmobilewelding]

@@diyrecordingstudio I'm not only a welder, and if you had the skills, I'd listen. I'm not saying you don't know how to mix music, I'm saying g you let your judgement get clouded by your bias.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

I actually give completely unbiased, scientific answers to everything on this channel. What Caleb did, was spread misinformation about how mics actually work. He replied to this video and agreed he should have done more research. My main aim on this channel is to give people real information on how all this equipment really works. Putting an sm58 in a plastic container does nothing to its sound. Sorry but that’s just a fact. We do diy stuff here that actually improves the quality of sound like rebuilding and modding mics, building and repairing vintage hardware and diy acoustic solutions. If none of those help you on your audio journey than I’m sorry you couldn’t get anything useful here. All the best.

[@gillihansmobilewelding]

@@diyrecordingstudio Haha, he was being nice bro. He wasn't giving misinformation, he was showing how he made a 3D printed "SM7b on a budget" he acknowledged it wasn't the same in the video. You lost your shit and made a lash out video to help personally validate your purchase. You knew that it would get you views and you threw out some basic info on the microphones that didn't "scientifically" back up your bias. Do you really think Shure is going to admit that their mic is a rip off? It's aesthetic my friend. They also say they have a "pneumatic shock mount" in the SM58 but it's just rubber. The low handling noise is due to the copious amounts of rubber cement they use to seal in the air and the transformer. You claim that putting it in a plastic container dies nothing to it's sound, but then you use "resonance" in the 7b to back up your claim. Everything changes the sound of the mic, and in fact when the grill is removed to put it in the plastic case, the sound is changed. I personally belive it's a horrible idea because of that fact alone. The metal grill prevents rf interference that is slightly mitigated by the transformer, but the metal grill is a necessity. The whole pitch was for aesthetic purposes and you over reacted. You can eq the 57, 58, and 7b to sound identical, so it really doesn't matter what housing they're I'm, other than the rf interference. Seems like Caleb was having fun and you got mad about it. You "improve the quality of sound" but the quilality of your attitude in this video is shit. He wasn't claiming to improve the quality of sound. You're reaching.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Who’s lashing out here? I’m sorry you’re upset about my video. You don’t have to agree with me. All this gear is just different tools. Something you should be familiar with as a tradesperson. I’m not gonna mess about with eq all the time to get something to sound right. I’m gonna reach for the best tool. Get it done in recording and move on. My client is happier and I am happier because it sounds right immediately. That’s why I have what I have. Good luck in your audio journey mate.

[@ReclaimJoey]

Honestly. You sound like you're coping and come off as a white knight for a large company. You didn't even try the simple mod to disprove it. As if it's unheard of that a company slaps a slightly different cheaper product in a fancy housing and sells it for a jacked up price.

[@HagisMurderhornet]

I agree. It "Shure" wouldn't surprise me if this video had a secret sponsor.

[@ReclaimJoey]

@@HagisMurderhornet I just think it's wild that no one tried to disprove the video by actually trying the inexpensive mod

[@oldtimer666]

I tried it and its worthless, im running a recording studio since 6 years and i own more than 12 microphones and i can full heartedly tell you the "MOD" is worthless. For anyone who has a little knowledge about sound engineering will tell you on your face that there is a reason for that big price gap between the both microphones. If it was that easy why not just buy a neumann u86 capsule and slap it inside rode nt1a@@ReclaimJoey

[@nicholasguardino7630]

Dude, you’re not only a buzzkill, but also making just as many “trust me bro” claims as the modders. Claiming a new housing won’t help sound, then immediately saying the housing is integral to the sound is mind numbingly oblivious. How about this, buy a 58, remove the transformer, print the housing, reassemble and measure the freq response. Maybe it’s closer, maybe it’s not - but your “logic” here is genuinely laughable and you have zero actual proof for your claim. Thanks for the video, but lame take.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Hi Nicholas, I can see you’re a bit upset about my take on this mod. Respectfully let me try and explain. The housing of the sm58/57/sm7b is a huge part of what is integral to their sound. The size, weight and density of the chassis. The amount of glue in the handle (on the 58 and 57) and not to mention the head baskets and their differences and the foam on the diaphragm of the sm58. Putting a 58 in a plastic 3d printed housing doesn’t do anything. It is still a 58 capsule in a 58 body with a 58 transformer. The evidence I use in this video is from shure microphones themselves. I also have been a live and studio engineer for 20+ years experience and I teach as an audio lecturer. I promise this isn’t any bunk science but well tested, researched evidence. All the best mate.

[@sixlitrehair]

Bro you probably missed the point. For a podcast, you just need a better design and the 58 is at least for spoken word very close. Correct me if im wrong, but people probably dont think, that switching the mic to some plastic cap will make you Michael Jackson sound studio.

[@adamtheduell]

Watching you rage about this, and hearing the things that you chose to criticize (aka NOTHING that DSLRVideoShooter ever claimed) is just hilarious. You're completely missing the point. This "mod" does two things: 1- it makes cheaper handheld dynamic mics that already sound good, now look kinda cool as well. 2- it DOES help the user regulate their distance from mouth to capsule. And that's the only two things that DSLRVideoShooter ever claimed. Relax. Sincerely, an SM7B user.

[@rich8715]

“ ludicrous to think you can even get close”. Lol.

[@diyrecordingstudio]

Yup