Shure Mic Comparison 🎤 SM58, 57 vs Beta 58a, 57a, & 56a 💥 Shootout

Compare the SM58 and 57 to their Beta counterparts: the Beta 58a, 57a, and 56a. These dynamic mics are best selling for a reason. They work great in both live and studio settings, and they offer a great sound at a very reasonable cost. They all offer proximity effect, but each one has a different character.
The Beta 57a and 56a are extremely similar in sound, with the biggest difference being the shape, size and way you can place each mic on the source.
Features mics being used on Vocals, Trumpet, Acoustic Guitar, Snare, Toms, Electric Guitar, Distorted Guitar, and Cello.
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[@rajeevsiriwardena3936]

What a great comparison ; My preference is Beta 57A ; my focus is mainly on Vocals ; Thanks buddy; Keep up the good work; Good luck !

[@ToddUrban]

The 57 is great. Only thing to watch out for with vocals is plosives since there isn’t a built in pop filter.

[@RockieRoadz]

Nothing picked up the instruments better than the SM57

[@ToddUrban]

There is a reason it is a classic 😉

[@RockieRoadz]

@@ToddUrban I had one on my 4x12 cabinet many years ago. Certainly picks up the highs better than the others as u can hear in your examples. Never realized it was that much brighter!!

[@jasonmusic9938]

in this context i agree, though the toms section i appreciated the last two betas

[@jasonmusic9938]

the cello was also very nice with the beta 57

[@Qmayb]

For Vocals, sm58, for everything else, the sm57.

[@ToddUrban]

Yep! Same mic, but with a windscreen. 😉

[@goodbyepolarbears172]

Which you can unscrew!​

[@han1218]

sm57 wins. Even the proximity effect is not bad at all, and you can hear the crisp highs.

[@Kreln1221]

*For me, a good analogy to the SM57 and SM58 is an oldschool four string Fender P Bass. A plain ol' P Bass with a midrangey single split pickup and only a single passive volume and tone knob, and just a plain ol' stamped metal bridge. It was first developed and released in 1957, and in the over six decades since then, companies such as Alembic and EMG, and many many others, have really developed and progressed the art and science of manufacturing basses and bass hardware... That being said, since hundreds of thousands of recordings, and millions of live performances, were performed with an ol' Fender P Bass. And since many of the greatest bassists in history played some of the best bass lines ever recorded on many of the most popular and famous songs of the last six decades, even though it has a much narrower frequency range and less strings and frets than modern active 24 fret neck-throughs, for millions of musicians..., and even more importantly, hundreds of millions of non-musician regular music listeners..., associate the narrow ranged nasal sound of a P Bass with the sound of all those great players playing those killer lines on so many of those classic songs... So, because the non musician masses of listeners out there, as well as many bassists themselves, equate the lo-fi, (relative to modern basses), sound of the P Bass as THE sound of classic quality... THAT's why I feel the P Bass in analogous to the classic SM57 and SM58. They not be as clear or refined as other more modern mics, but since singers, as well as the population at large itself, have heard the 57 and 58 on so many recordings and at so many shows, that tonality, whether too nasal or too wooly or whatever compared to better modern designs, is now deeply ingrained into the minds of millions as, "good".* 🤔

[@ToddUrban]

Great analogy! :)

[@donvittoriosierra]

sm57 most familiar tone for guitar amps, sm58 in these samples though are my preference

[@ToddUrban]

Same mic, but with a windscreen. Due to that, it can filter out some frequencies, which can soften the brittle sounds of amps.

[@donvittoriosierra]

I think longer term going back and forth the beta 57a is mighty fine. Less boxy than the sm58 yet not as toppy as the sm57

[@georgecain123]

Sm57 still the king on instruments and snare, it made the cello sound great too. beta 56a was pretty good too.

[@pourquoipashein2636]

Très bonne vidéo ! Très instructif !

[@gillihansmobilewelding]

That beta 56a is super impressive both aesthetic and tonality.

[@ToddUrban]

Yes. It does its thing and does it really well. 😃

[@EricHowl]

Thank u sm for this video bro

[@ToddUrban]

Thanks for watching! 📺

[@holmes1978]

Sm58 rules

[@lourdespalomares2596]

Gracias por ser claro y conciso muy buen video y por traducir ya que mi inglés no es tan fluido para entender.

[@ToddUrban]

Gracias! 🙏🏻

[@taggmanibanez]

I like to think I have pretty good ears, and I cannot barely hear a discernible difference between these microphones, at least so far with the vocals and Trump.

[@ToddUrban]

Well, I guess that answered it for you, pick one to cover all duties if they are that close. But the differences can be subtle. And sometimes as the performer, the slight differences can alter the way we perform when we hear these differences back. I happen to have several of each, but sometimes will pick the one that is least distracting to artist, as they can sometimes psychologically affect the performer more than the sonic differences of the hardware matter.

[@h.c.7799]

Other comparisons here on youtube show much larger differences

[@自分用-q2s]

1:29 1:32 1:35 1:38

[@greggpospiel629]

Well, it didn't seem to make much difference on vocals and not that noticeable all around however I will say the betas in general seemed to have a slightly brighter overall sound on the various instruments

[@ToddUrban]

Yes. The differences can be subtle at times. But the betas do have a nice extra bit of detail in everything they capture.

[@goodbyepolarbears172]

I agree. Acoustic guitars showed the most differences to me. Enough to imagine A/B-ing them in a studio to make a right choice. But the rest, any of them would do.

[@anonymusum]

Quote: If the SM57 would be a mic it would sound like the Beyerdynamic M201. OK - that mic cost about 250,- but you won´t regret the extra cost.

[@ToddUrban]

Who said that? 🧐

[@anonymusum]

@@ToddUrban It was an American producer. But in the end it doesn´t matter as you would say the same after a direct comparison. Moreso I would say that this SM-series is outdated and lousy in comparison with every decent, modern mic.

[@clicks59]

It would be great to hear the difference in a live sound/recording setting. I think the Beta’s are brighter which could be useful in live sound application. How much better are they for off axis sound rejection while recording in that same live setting? Does the super cardioid polar pattern make that much of a difference?

[@ToddUrban]

Yes, they supercardioid makes a big difference live for rejection. Monitor placement is key, as you want them offset and not pointing directly behind the mic. But live, they have a great benefit, which is the feeling like you get a clearer sound with more gain.

[@clicks59]

@@ToddUrban Thanks. I am going to be recording an acoustic group without any sound reinforcement. The room is very live. I’ve had decent luck recording there before. Just hoping to benefit from the Beta’s which I have never used. Here’s a sample. I use AT 2021’s on one guitar and a pair of GAP FC-14’s on the other guitar. My vocal mic track ended up being totally unusable due to a clipping issue in the Zoom. That’s another issue. The vocals were captured by the GAP guitar mics which made mixing this a bit of a challenge. Thanks again. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2ikl4isrcafbtk

[@ToddUrban]

Nice recording! The room looks great too. Maybe put up some blankets if it is too love. Yeah, the 57s could work great on the guitars, but they aren’t condensers, so you are going to have a different response. But it might add a nice pleasant and punchy character. The vocal could definitely sound great through a beta 58!

[@clicks59]

@@ToddUrban Thanks so much for replying and the information! I will give the 57’s a shot. Thanks again.

[@wileec5939]

@@ToddUrban Exactly - I mix for a group weekly that has some variance in what instruments are played. Fairly regularly we have a cajón - I use a D6 in the hole and a Beta57 for the front, to pick up the snare element of it. On occasion, we have a cello and have leaned toward the SM81 for it - but with a cajón just a few feet away, I got too much bleed with the 81, so moved to a Beta 57 for it and that was a much better fit for our situation, and greatly reduced the bleed from the cajón, as I had hoped.

[@qqme2967]

1:32 beta58 1:38 beta57

[@qball680]

Perhaps I'm biased as I own three Beta 57a's but I really liked the sound of them compared to the 58/57 series and yes the 56a sounded identical and the 58a sounded closer to the straight 58. Can I assume the "a" stands for "Amplifier" as in these mics excel at being used to mic an amp? I use them for live vocals and wanted the most side noise suppression and the most response range for both male/female voices. They have been great and also look more modern than the classic 58 "big ball" look.

[@ToddUrban]

Good point! I actually don't know what the A stands for. Maybe "A" microphone? LOL I'll see if I can find out.

[@xochitlvilorio2177]

To my ear they have a mid/high boost that amplify some of the nuances that the other microphones compress. Not that it makes it a better microphone, the regular sm57 had my preferred sound on most applications.

[@윤이월-n6n]

1:38 beta57a 1:48 beta58a

[@pourquoipashein2636]

It's very dificult to ear a difference between the mics with the cello !!!

[@S.T.G.]

Proximity effect is not a property of dynamic mics but that of directional mics. So a cardioid/supercardioid/figure of 8 etc. mic will have proximity effect irrespective of if it is a condenser or a dynamic (or a ribbon) while an omni will not have one. (However, there are those cardioid dynamic mics which have special provisions for reducing the proximity effect like the Shure KSM8, the Electrovoice RE20/27/320 and the AKG D2XX line but these still have proximity effect for some extent.)

[@ToddUrban]

Exactly! Thanks for adding the comment.

[@curtbarnes966]

The 56a cancels out drums/background noise does the 57a?

[@ToddUrban]

Yes. They are actually the exact same mic but a different shape. 😉

[@curtbarnes966]

@ToddUrban ahh!! I went for the 56a in the end but of this is no good ill go for the 57a thanks for you help 😀

[@MrEllguitar]

3:15 3:22

[@hezekiahcharles6754]

in this case, the SM57 wins in terms of tone on all instruments.

[@ToddUrban]

Thanks for sharing your feedback! 🎤

[@h.c.7799]

I cannot notice any difference between the beta 57A and the beta 58A

[@ToddUrban]

Well, from what Shure has told me, they are basically the exact same mic, minus the pop filter. So if that is the case, we should expect some filtering due to the foam inside, but otherwise have extremely similar results.

[@civilfieldengineer]

Sir I am full beginner. I want to record my written poetry professionally. Suggest me audio interface and dynamic mic. Which gives me professional level quality. Because my room is not sound proof. My total budget is 300 dollars. Tell me such a setup that I will not regret buying.

[@ToddUrban]

The beta 58 is easy to use and something you will keep for life. Pair it with a Focusrite or Presonus interface and you should have no problem getting a great sound!

[@civilfieldengineer]

@@ToddUrban Thankyou Sir ..

[@TrueShayari]

@@ToddUrban Can I use SHURE SM58 for Recording poetry?

[@ToddUrban]

Absolutely. The closer you get, the more bass you will get in your voice!