Is This the Best Mic You Can Buy? Shure SM57

[@humzatebai]

Now being a sound engineer this is spot on! I prefer the sm57 over a Neumann or a Beyer dynamics, even for vo and for very high budget projects, it just blows them away in terms of dynamics and durability , and it's JUST 100 USD... GOD that mic is epic. I use some Sm 81 as well, discontinued but man are they great... They can take a dinausaur screaming 40 cm away and still resist clipping, I use them EVERYWHERE.

[@Le_Sourpuss]

Which one is better for vocals - The SM57 or the SM58? :)

[@humzatebai]

@@Le_Sourpuss Thanks for the question Sourpuss, well my answer has a question too, what type of voice you need it for. Usually for stages, gigs, and singers’ performances the SM58 is mostly recommended because of its incredible durability and quality when it comes to loud environments, speakers around you and instruments volume soaring up to the sky. The SM57 is also used on stages mostly for drums and crazy transients because it’s very good at absorbing sound wave shocks and delivering the essence of what a drum sounds like without crushing the dynamics. Now in the case of voice over and recording voice only in a studio or at home or wherever you have some decent acoustics, the SM57 beats the 58 in my opinion. It offers me much better dynamics, much better sound quality to edit and richer voice tones/overtones. The 57 is also warmer in character and very punchy, I cannot distinguish it from high end mics sometimes in few tests I’ve done. Well I hope this helps but again in my opinion and the market’s opinion as well SM58 are almost the standard for gigs and vocal performance while the SM57 are best known for drums and handling aggressive and very loud signals in the same context. As for VO and more delicate foley jobs I find the 57 king of the hill all the way.

[@Le_Sourpuss]

@@humzatebai Awesome answer! The idea, at least for now would be to use it for talking in a normal home bedroom, but you never know in the future, heheh. I like the idea that the SM57 can also be used for instruments. It's really great that it's also great at vocals. :) Thanks!

[@humzatebai]

@@Le_Sourpuss you’re welcome Sourpuss, indeed a good feature of the SM57 is that it almost works in any acoustic space due to its solid rejection patterns. It’s a cardioid dynamic mic that asks for little and delivers much more than expected. I have used it in some spaces with bad reverb and it just did very well, I even recorded some VO using it for a mother with a child who was playing around and talking occasionally at a 5 meters distance and I could easily remove the child’s voice later in post, it’s not ideal at all but she needed the voice recorded that time … High end condenser mics are expensive for a reason and they are great but the world is changing fast and more affordable options are out there. Although the SM57 has many great competitors, to me it’s still one of the Greatest mics out there as it combines performance, durability, efficiency and holds the SHURE name all at once with a good price. It will help you in many ways especially mouth-clicks, reverb, plosives (you need to have a pop filter on) , and clipping/ saturation as it allows some of the most aggressive sounds and still absorbs them greatly. So my advice is to go for this mic if you will be producing VO or any dubbing work, podcasts, etc … by the way there is the SM57B which is 300 USD more and widely used in radio stations , however the regular SM57 makes wonders and it’s the predecessor of the B version.

[@garry_wshld]

@@humzatebai thanks for these reassuring comments, man. I've been choosing mic for too long.

[@mikish5664]

Off axis, speaking across the microphone, always the pro JTL and yes, we can hear and see your excitement. Wow I haven’t seen the Uphoria in at least 2 years! Great setup and speaks to your experience and passion for audio. Thanks fo sharing.

[@humzatebai]

That pause you made at 4.44 I really know it... Happens to me, trying to tell the guys how mind-blowing the sm 57 is! And you can never express it enough

[@monfronoriginal]

Side address on SM57 usually will always work for narration/non-musical vocals. On musical vocals you lose signal when not using it as a front address mic due to the polar pattern.

[@actualnotanewbie]

The video looks a lil choppy. Is it just cuz I'm early and it's still processing?

[@FutureVegan]

Nice 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 this 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!

[@Kevinfordsynthesizers]

Hi - I’m late to the party but wanted to say as a professional voice over I had exactly your setup when I began voicing for a living. I have clients who were with me at the beginning, 8 years ago and no one has commented on any improvement in audio quality by me changing to higher grade gear over the last few years. I still keep the 57 and UMC in my case for when I’m travelling - it’s one of the few mics that forgives being used under a duvet in a hotel room!

[@pleiades250]

Hi there - may I ask what microphone you now use instead of the SM57?

[@pleiades250]

Hi there - may I ask what microphone you now use instead of the SM57?

[@realegt]

That said, great video man.

[@AthamAldecua]

So which mic arms are those? Amazon is filled with 20 usd cheap ones.

[@BruceBurke]

Do you have a quick schematic and cables you need? Mic to box and box to laptop? Any links and descriptions would be extremely helpful. I am a novice and don’t want to buy the wrong thing and waste time and money. This is the video I have been searching for. I just got a Canon M50 and am ready to start doing this. Thank you in advance for your help. 🙏

[@johnpienta4200]

Perfect timing. Exactly what I've needed. Any thoughts on two or more input preamps?

[@samhortonlifestyle]

Great advise here. I've been researching mics for doing a podcast and the sm57 is up there with the sm7b and the EvR20 which are $400+ mics.

[@thejasontlewis]

The 57 really is the poor man's everything mic. It sounds good no matter what.

[@TheNiteNinja19]

I have a Neewer NW700. This came with the standard shock mount swing arm, a pop filter and a windscreen, and a separate matching phantom power supply was pretty cheap as well. It's good sounding microphone, but it's a condenser microphone, and I didn't do my research, because I didn't know condenser microphones, pick every small sound you can ever have. I use a sound blaster Z PCI-E sound card and the software for it does a pretty decent job with noise isolation and beam forming and stuff like that, but even then it takes a lot of fine-tuning to make it so that there isn't any echo, make sure it's not picking up any sounds like from a refrigerator or the furnace, and I'm also a monster and use clicky keyboards so that definitely gets picked up. I should have gone with a compression microphone kind of like what you have here, but at least I'm learning using an ultra sensitive microphone so I can find tune the settings based on trial and error mostly. Thanks for the painfully honest tip!

[@alejandroelcid]

Because of the amount of Zoom meetings and the need to record presentations (as an undergrad) for a few conferences I have been working with a setup with a Blue Yeti Nano and a cheap vlogging kit (which also included a small LED lamp) I found around $26. So far it has been working great, and it turns out I didn't need to spend extra on a camera as my phone is good enough. I will definitely try moving the microphone to the side for recording.

[@GamingAtMax]

Actually, the fact that it's the kind of mic every president of the US uses is the only reason I needed

[@chocloditelensman]

But if one is buying a preamp to accompany the sm57, doesn’t that make the price of that mic go way up instead of buying a good mic to begin with. I like my 57 but I wouldn’t want to buy a pre amp to make it sound better.

[@thejasontlewis]

Preamps are necessary for any mic. They aren't necessarily to make a mic sound better. And you could use any preamp with a 57. But I repeat: Every mic needs a preamp.

[@frallorfrallor3410]

i had a 400 euro aston spirit mic straight to a interface but also a cheap behringer xm8500 ultravoice going tru a dbx 286 xs then same interface guess wich mic sounded better? the 20 euro behringer😆 i can imagine the sm 57 tru dbx 286 sx how incredible this gonna sound

[@stefantrisic-produktivnost2963]

Thank you for the video.

[@QuantumKurator]

Hmm for some reason the Amazon links are not working

[@adamgreenhill110]

This sounds okay, but not great. It's quite grainy and the UMC22 doesn't help. I've owned both. But for a budget option it's okay. You can process it to sound better

[@warking4257]

will the sm57 sound better on a Audient iD4 MKII audio interface buddy ? you are more knowledgeable then me

[@dominic.h.3363]

I'm a total beginner, so excuse if the question sounds stupid but would anything improve on that basic microphone+interface setup if I would also buy a phantom power supply? Thank you!

[@thejasontlewis]

No. The interface provides phantom power.

[@dominic.h.3363]

@@thejasontlewis Thank you! I discovered the +48V switch on the back of the interface on product pictures, I should've been more observant!

[@TylerRaber]

The problem I have is the cost of the booms not the mics... At least at the entry level.

[@poissonpuerile8897]

I'm blown away by the Samson MBA28, which is about $50.00 on Amazon. Light, great build quality, and tremendously stable.

[@frallorfrallor3410]

i made a mic arm out of a gass spring cheap monitor arm + a bolt that fit mic clip this arm will last forever🤣

[@bollywoodkahani4u]

Hey Jason, thanks much! Can I turn this SM57 into a wireless with one those transmitters? Thanks!

[@thejasontlewis]

Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I’ve never tried it.

[@gabrielchavarria22]

Agreed. Although I'd go with the focusrite. Beringer is pretty noisy. SM57 is goated tho.

[@thejasontlewis]

I only offered up the Behringer because of the price point. Basically, you get a very "pro" setup for less than $150.

[@gabrielchavarria22]

@@thejasontlewis You're not wrong.

[@amogos2651]

Thank you!

[@drritu9851]

I am very confused. I have added money in 4 years with a lot of hard work. I don't want my money to be wasted. Sir, it is a very good video...can you tell which audio interface and microphone will be good for poetry recording? so that i can record songs in future . Tell me that audio interface after buying which I do not have any problem... I am a beginner and my room is not Sound proof. My budget is around $300 to $350 .

[@frallorfrallor3410]

sm 57 + dbx 286 give you that awesome radio proximety sound eaven better behringer uv1 prosessor got built in audio interface

[@haidar_ezo]

Nice video❤ Which one is better for rap vocals, this one with a Pop filter or sm58?

[@muziky2k]

I’ve been asking folks for several years why everyone thinks they need a $400 mic to get started. The President uses the SM57.

[@frallorfrallor3410]

they beleve the need because the got influenced

[@SukhwinderSingh-rw9ye]

Sir, I am very tired of asking everyone. But I did not get the right advice from anyone. Some say to buy a dynamic mic, some say to buy a condenser mic. I want to record my poetry professionally at home. Please tell me a good mic and audio interface which gives me professional sound quality within my budget. My room is not Sound proof, My total budget is 300 dollars for audio interface, mic and headphones.

[@thejasontlewis]

If your room doesn’t have sound treatment, you need a dynamic mic. It’s less sensitive overall and will pick up less room noise. With your budget, I would get an sm57, a Scarlett solo interface and Audio Technica AT 20x headphones. That leaves $50 for and inexpensive mic arm and a decent mic cable.

[@cubasestudent55]

Thanks!

[@realegt]

The low frame rate thing is back :-(

[@thejasontlewis]

Don't know what the heck the problem is. I'll figure it out.

[@DrForbin001]

Good stuff Jason T

[@6058jeremysmith]

Great video Jason …

[@BrandtRedd]

Am I right that the SM58 is an SM57 but with an integrated pop filter? If so, what's the advantage of adding a foam filter to an SM57 rather than just going for an SM58?

[@Le_Sourpuss]

One advantage is having a mic that can be used for also musical instruments as well as vocals. But that's just my laymen's opinion.

[@tearitloosetearitloose4670]

@@Le_Sourpuss no... you are right...the sm58 is not as good for musical instruments. The 57 is a much better all-rounder.

[@Le_Sourpuss]

@@tearitloosetearitloose4670 Thanks! :D

[@frallorfrallor3410]

57 looks cooler and you can add diffrent windscreen you want also president using the 57😍

[@7171jay]

@BrantRedd Late to the party but I just hate seeing a basic question about the SM57 / SM58 not be properly answered as other people do read through comments even many years later. The 57 and the 58 are basically the same mic, the difference between them is that the 58 has the ball end grille while the 57 has a much smaller and less robust flat grille which offers less physical protection but has less negative effect on the sound quality. Keep in mind that the difference in sound due to the 58's ball end is very slight but to those who are very critical the 57 can sound a tiny bit better in regards to clarity. The 57 used close up without a pop filter can be a real problem for pops if you aren't extremely careful so in a straight up comparison of the two the 58 will do much better at preventing popping. If you use the Shure A2WS foam filter the 57 will be much improved at handling pops, nearly as good as the 58 raw. The best choice really is the SM57 along with the Shure A81WS filter, this is about double the cost of the A2WS (the one in the video here). The A81WS is well worth the extra cash as you will have no popping issues even putting heavy plosives straight into the front of the mic and from super close up. The SM58 is a good choice if the mic is going to have to take a lot of abuse like in a club or music venue where getting knocked over or dropped tends to be a common occurrence. The tiny improvement in clarity offered by the 57 is easily negated by it more easily being damaged than a 58. So if you are doing something like podcasting the best choice will be an SM57 along with the A81WS filter. If however you need a stage mic then get the SM58 as it is far more durable and will easily survive for years in the most brutal of environments.

[@01mustang05]

I'm using AudioTechniKa athm40x's to listen to this and this audio hurts my ears at a non-stupid volume; so I know much of what is being claimed in this video is false.

[@thejasontlewis]

Um, no.

[@01mustang05]

@@thejasontlewis Um, yes.

[@stuffnuns]

shure makes a terrific inexpensive shock mount, the A55m, made for the 57, 58, 81 models, for about $25. I have one for my beta 58A, and it works as good as a mic cage - tho, you won’t think so by looking at it. I got for live stuff, but I got another for recording with my sm57.

[@GabrielTobing]

Always remember folks, this guy uses USD. So it's double for us AUD users XD

[@theadventuresofchalkington4763]

It’d be really funny if you did a satirical video and the theme is “painfully dishonest tech, tech so dishonest it doesn’t hurt”, and just stay in character the whole episode doing and saying the opposite to what you think of everything 😂

[@Big_Iced]

🔥

[@VicMorrowind]

Jerry was the greatest.

[@Ottophil]

Lol its the only mic i own. Same pop filter, which i don’t need, cause i only record guitars

[@thejasontlewis]

Guitar Tom’s sound warmer with the pop filter. I’m joking.

[@supasoulproductions]

Is a 57 the best mic you can buy? No. But if you buy any other 'budget' mic, you made a mistake.

[@thejasontlewis]

You could say it’s the best because it does everything reasonably well, is low cost and lasts forever. Do other mics sound better? Yeah, but they don’t offer nearly the same utility, flexibility and value. I guess it’s all in how you look at it.

[@supasoulproductions]

@@thejasontlewis IMO, You can def say it's the best value, but you sound a little silly if you say it's the best microphone ever made. But we certainly agree about the topic in general.

[@xile7327]

First