Shure SM58 vs Rode PodMic Comparison | Which is better?

[@JackalGB]

SM58: Sounds full and warm. Can also be used as a hammer. Rode PodMic: Sounds thin and tinny, but looks nicer.

[@Sid3300]

I’ve got a podmic and I don’t have a problem with how it sounds. What you may wanna remember is that dynamic mics shine at close range, and in your video you’re a least a foot away from them.

[@larryhinze9314]

I have owned both. I can tell you that the 58 sounded better at any distance. And, I have an Audix F50 that I snagged for 20 bucks that sounds better than both. Still have the Audix. Both the others are tossed. I also have an SE V7 that sounds great at the hundred buck range. Foam windscreens suck, I used a metal pop filter and they sound a lot better-but I am not a singer.

[@rinzayi6322]

i have podmic and it sucks

[@dwalex97209]

I have a Shure SM58, and it sounds great. Your video has helped me make a decision. I thought about buying a Podmic, but after watching this, I'm buying a second SM58.

[@catjack90]

There are a lot of microphones that sound better thant the SM58, but they are usually a lot more expensive. If you're in a budget, in my opinion the Shure SM58 still has the best price/quality balance of all mics out there, you get great quality mic for just 100 dollars and to top it all it's really small and portable and is basically a tank, you can drop it and hit it and use it under non ideal weather conditions and it will still function as new and record in high quality even with a horrible background noise because it's such a silent mic. The Shure SM58 is truly one of the greatest microphones ever made and its legendary status is no coincidence. Now if you think it's too quiet and want to boost the gain without clipping, just get a cloudlifter for an additional 100 dollars more or less and it's a game changer. I'd love to have a Shure Sm7b, and test its legendary status as well, but it's too expensive for me at the moment and in the meantime the SM58 has done nothing but making me happy.

[@itsmilesdavis]

This review was great. I bought a rode podmic, thinking it was going to be awesome. It's okay...However, I felt like it lacked warmth and sounded thin. I compared it to my wife's Shure SM58 and the Shure sounded way better to me. Your review helped give me additional insights and ensured I wasn't going crazy!

[@kettnercreative]

I'm not quite sure where the PodMic got the hype as being a SM7B killer etc. Like you said, it's okay. It looks great and is priced well, but the 'ol 58 still works and sounds better. Crazy how such an old design still beats modern microphones.

[@nunoandradebluesdrive]

I have a SM58, SM57, beta58, SM7b..and the 58 and 57 works for about everything. For live work the sm58 just works. In this application, the 58 is just awesome..more than good enough. People are buying mics other than the old and cheaper 58 for podcasting and they just don't need to. I guess it's a "better look" thing..but..well

[@SuperMiker78]

Wow the SM58 really does sound much better! Thanks for the comparison!

[@DiegoHL]

Hi! I just want to add that the SM58 has a sensitivity of -54.5 dBV/Pa (1.85 mV). That's what the official page says. And that's why I'm debating between those two mics. I don't what to buy a cloudlifter, so I'm looking for the best dynamic mic for broadcast

[@pavelxbushmakin7252]

Try Sennheiser E835/845/935/945. Its sensitivity is 2.7/2.8 mV/Pa (-51 dB). I order it with supercardiod and button (E845 S)

[@zorzevic]

Instead of a cloudlifter you can get a triton fethead; cheaper and works great with the SM58. As said in the video, your money will never be wasted on a SM58 and same goes for the fethead IMO. Furthermore, just consider the reselling value; they'll resell great at anytime if you feel like going for something else (Spoiler: you won't and just keep them along with what you get next but anyway...).

[@PIXIENATORY]

Thank you for such great review. Very constructive and informative.

[@ulfrinn8783]

Here's the reason I went with the Podmic. To get rid of all the background noise I have, a mic has to be close, really close, and the SM58 just sounds muddy when the proximity effect is applied. The Podmic sounds like it was designed for the proximity effect to be used. The other reason is the form factor. It looks like a studio mic and that's cool, but what I really like is that it's a very durable package with some space inside the grill to put some extra foam to get rid of some of those pops without using an external windscreen, it has space to mount an on/off switch, at some point I'd like to get a few N channel JFETs and some resistors and wire up my own little DIY Fethead PCB to install INSIDE the mic. And if I'm not 100% in love with the sound of it, I can just change the capsule to one that offers a sound I would rather have. At $100, it's a good price point for modding, compared to other studio dynamics which actually have resale value you'd destroy doing any of this.

[@kettnercreative]

Makes sense to me. Looks and proximity effect are good reasons to go with the PodMic if you're only interested in talking head recording.

[@Rompler_Rocco]

Definitely... given the looks, weight, and design, the Podmic seems like it was intended to be spoken directly into, and voiced with the proximity effect in mind. And side note: just my 2 cents for anyone stressing about needing expensive preamps & signal boosters to get decent results from the Podmic: I only just got mine, and my first impressions left me pretty cynical. But today, I could NOT believe how well it paired with, of all things, my cheapo Behringer 1202FX mixer! These budget "Xenyx" preamps just won me over! And with the basic 3-knob EQ, just adding a touch of Low (80Hz shelve), in combination with the proximity effect, totally squashed my concerns about the Podmic's response curve. It provided a totally usable broadcast sound, especially considering the investment. That being said, I have yet to test it against my SM58. But for me, the Podmic is really about the look, feel, and fun of talking right into the thing. For recording at a distance, I would probably just stick with condensers anyway 🤷‍♂️

[@larryhinze8658]

Looks don't trump bad sound.

[@Irshaad88]

Both mics are great. The Shure 58 sounds fuller. Much better on the low frequencies. I must add though, for my livestreams, the Rode does look way better. This should be secondary in terms of quality of production, but it does make an impression.

[@kettnercreative]

Totally. Looks do matter for some types of productions

[@ulfrinn8783]

The Shure does sound fuller, sure, but is that always a good thing? I've used them, and with a naturally deep voice + a mic with more bass + proximity effect, all you hear is incoherent mud. Being easily understood is probably more important than sounding deeper.

[@Irshaad88]

@@ulfrinn8783 Brilliant point. This is often overlooked. Each vocalist is different and should choose their mic according to their voice. People often make their choices in this regard, based on trends, looks and price tag. These shouldn't be primary factors in audio gear, but unfortunately it is. Every Tom, Dick and Barry (with the deepest of voices) go for the SM7B. For a male, I have a higher frequency range with nasal tones, so the SM58 is great for me, personally. To each his own.

[@ulfrinn8783]

@@Irshaad88 Exactly. And if we're going to just compare a $100 handheld dynamic to another $100 handheld dynamic, my voice sounds much better on something like a Sennheiser E835 or AKG D5. Now an E835 or D5 capsule inside a Podmic body could be a pretty badass setup.

[@tristansacousticcover8388]

SHURE SM58, i'm comfortable with it👍 I'll used it almost on my GIG play here in Philippimes🎸🎶🎤...love the Quality, Efficiency and Quality😍

[@glenyswana7259]

Agree, totally

[@musapeyton3050]

I guess it's kinda off topic but does anybody know a good place to stream new movies online?

[@nickolaskaiser447]

@Musa Peyton lately I have been using FlixZone. Just google for it =)

[@angryshinobi693]

"about a fist away" yeah right lmao

[@darnellcaballes]

thx for the review. the sm58 sounds better to me... the durability/reliability of the sm58 makes it my goto budget mic.

[@loonaya]

I don't hear that bump at around 15Hz on the Rode microphone. Actually the SM58 sounds like it has a bump over there, it's fuller down there. Seems like the Rode sounds better when you are in proximity effect zone, right because non existant bump it has on 150. Shure sounds like it has too much lows when in proximity, really over the top... You'd need to cut a lot of fundamental frequency tone and the next harmonic, and Rode sounds fuller and very little over the top.

[@glenyswana7259]

Shure SM58, for shure 🙂

[@massamune70]

Hi Jordan, thanks for the great video. I have one question. After all being said about these 2 great mics, which one would you choose for your everyday mic?

[@Dog11_08]

I want to buy a shure sm58 but if I spend a little more then I could get a sm58 performance set. Which is better the performance or just sm58 with nothing else

[@Eddylive]

100%! I have sm58s and a good buddy loves his podmics and I'm using them for a few episodes, but i fail to see where they are better so far, aside from the looks, coolness factor. Any thoughts on the procaster?

[@2000gijs]

great video but imidiately noticed a delay in your audio and video doesnt give a great impression when watching a microphone video

[@jamescrismore4741]

Dang I already bought the rode podmic....... is there anything you can do to make the eq more like the sure? I'm also using the yamaha x10 that you use can I just adjust its eq?

[@kettnercreative]

The MG10XU won't let you EQ it specifically enough to try and compensate for the thinness compared to the SM58

[@KevinJamesVideo]

The "hammer deck nails" line got me.

[@kettnercreative]

Aha

[@endezeichengrimm]

Good demo format. The SM58 sounds better to me.

[@PabloVieiraViolao]

SM58 sounds better overall. Podmic sounds better with proximity effect than SM58, but that's all.

[@kettnercreative]

For sure.

[@ulfrinn8783]

True, but there are a lot of good reasons people would be that close to a mic, and have to consider how each sound with the proximity effect.

[@PabloVieiraViolao]

@@ulfrinn8783 you are absolutely right

[@ulfrinn8783]

@@PabloVieiraViolao Yup, I do not have a treated room. If I was further away from a mic you wouldn't be able to hear me over my central heating, or my air conditioning in the summer. So I get really close to a mic, and that lets noise cancellation get rid of the noise for live audio (I was streaming at the time). The problem is the proximity effect with my already deep voice made the dynamic mic I was using (a Q2U) way too boomy which made it hard for people to understand what I was saying. This means that a microphone that is seemingly built to compensate for the proximity effect would work a heck of a lot better for me. Besides, I love to mod hardware and at only $100, I can do whatever the heck I want to a Podmic (vs any other studio dynamic mic like the SM7B, Procaster, RE20, etc) and not have any real value to destroy. There's really nothing stopping me from putting in a different capsule if I wanted a different sound and just use the Podmic as a durable AF chassy.

[@Lofistl]

SM58 is the best all the way around.

[@fadirabadi7878]

sm58 for sure warm and fuller

[@frallorfrallor3410]

Sm58 sounds its got more topend ans sounds cleaner

[@zatoichiable]

sm58 is way better than these new microphones.... its just fully functional mic.

[@kettnercreative]

100%

[@TheClockworkImp]

Am I the only one here that just thought the Shure sounded muddy and kind of muffled?

[@kettnercreative]

When switching back/forth, you can certainly be left with that impression.

[@anaskhanazmi2862]

Which one is better for singing ​@@kettnercreative

[@yaesuicomkenwood]

Podmike sounds like Mickey Mouse :-) 73 Mark

[@mjcz5853]

SM58 much better sound, full and rich. Podmic, to flat sounding, no personality.

[@leechongyew8807]

lol... I was sure it was going to be a tough choice between the two. One sounds so cheap and another... legendary but ugly as heck... ugly as heck it is for me....

[@larryhinze8658]

Rode should be ashamed of ever releasing the Podmic. What a tinny P. O. S.