ShureSM-57 Cardioid Dynamic Instrument Microphone

If you have used Shure SM57's before, you can probably skip this review.If you are new to the wide-world of audio recording, this mic should be the first mic in your mic box. Get one of thee NOW if you haven't already. (I just paid $65 for mine here, used). It is a great mic for recording pretty much anything and will produce an acceptable sound. It is also great for live use as well. I have been into audio engineering as a professional for over 20 years (as well being a musician) and played hundreds of shows, been in dozens of studios, and have home-recorded for a long time. You know what microphone I run into more than any other? The Shure SM57. It has been used in the studio and on stages for decades- to mic up guitar cabs, drums, and pianos among other things. I have seen a lot of metal/thrash/punk bands use them for vocal mics. Yet they are subtle enough where I have seen people record acoustics guitars with great success. There is a reason for that- while yes, there are better sounding mics out there, when you buy a Shure SM57 ($100 new), you know EXACTLY what it is going to sound like and that the sound is unbeatable for the money. They are virtually indestructible as well, and when they do crap out (IF they do- I have a few that have been dropped numerous times, one took a beer bath, general abuse, and they still worked great) you can usually just get a new capsule for them for around $30-40, solder it in and BAM! it's as good as new.Yes, there are other mics out there for the same money that sound as good (the Audix i5 comes to mind), and while they have their place and some have the same sound quality as a SM57, I highly urge anyone thinking of getting into audio engineering as more than a hobby start out with a 57. Why? Because it is the mic that ALL other <$200 Dynamic mics are judged by. It's just that popular. At every major concert I have attended, there was at least one SM57 microphone on the stage, if not a bunch. Same as for every recording session I've attended.Usually I would NEVER by a used microphone sight unseen, but since it was a Shure SM57 and the seller had good feedback, I didn't hesitate to snatch it up for $65 as I KNEW EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GETTING and EXACTLY HOW THIS MIC IS GOING TO SOUND WHEN I PLUG IT IN. I used to have a mic arsenal of well over 50 microphones. The Shures were among the cheapest and they saw the most general use. You will always find a use for an SM57, even once you start buying $800 LDC mics, $600 matched pairs of SDC pencil mics, etc etc. I guarantee you will be pulling out your 57 for something on every job. I had to sell my old mic arsnal and have started to re-assemble a mic box, and I bought six of these first thing, it was a no-brainer.In the past, I have recorded a few punk bands using nothing but SM57's (aside from a Shure Beta52 for the kick drum mic) and ended up with GREAT sounding recordings that were released on Indy labels, one record has sold over 10,000 copies to date. Talking with people about this, they are either amazed or they just smile and nod their head, as they know the versatility of these microphones.They say the road to a good recording is having a good signal path from the sound coming from an instrument to the recorded track, and if you use an SM57, you can be assured that the mic will NOT be the weakest point in that chain.Yes, there are some engineers who think of the SM57 as a lowly piece of equipment which isn't much good for much else but to use as a hammer (which I have done incidentally, and it still worked no problem) and yeah, if I have $40,000 of microphones, I might finding myself being a bit snobbish myself. But unless you have that kind of money to spend on mics, the SM57 is indispensable. As I said, there are (finally) now mics out there that are VERY comparable price and sound wise which is a great thing (having options is a good thing), and down the road, yeah, try some of them. But if you are a novice and getting your first "real" mics, depending on what you are recording, an SM57 is a worthwhile investment. You won't have to worry about upgrading your mic box (that is, aside from adding more mics to it as money allows) with 57's. They will always have a place in the world of microphones.They are also great for stuff like podcasting, although for this I would suggest an SM58, which is pretty much the same mic, but with vocals in mind (they are a bit more omnidirectional).But if you want an industry standard instrument mic, buy a SM57, I promise you won't be disappointed. Thousands of records have been recorded using SM57's, as well as hundreds of top-earning tours.

We have purchased two of the Shure SM-57 microphones for use at business meetings. The SM-57 is often hailed for being a great musical instrument microphone, but we are using it for speakers at a podium. We hold meetings at hotels three times per year and wanted to get reliable equipment so that we would always know we were going to be using a reliable sound system. We chose the SM-57 microphone because of its durability and sound quality.Durability - The SM-57 is known for its durability and while we have only had the microphone for a year, it does not get pampered in any way. In fact, it gets stored in a cardboard box and moved around a lot. So far, neither of our SM-57s has given us any problems.Sound quality - We use the SM-57 as a podium mic and a floor standing mic exclusively. It only gets used for the spoken voice so I cannot comment on the way is sounds when you sing into it. It does not color the sound of the person speaking and the sensitivity is pretty good. There are more sensitive mics out there but this one works really well. This is the same microphone that has been used by the President of the United States for decades and I can see why. It is a proven winner.Overall, I would recommend the Shure SM-57 as a podium microphone to anyone.

Besides the Crunchy S sounds, this iconic mic just works for everything, voices, instruments, sounds of birds and trees, too. it might be a bit more sensitive to "earth" issues, i found a buzz that goes in only when using this mic, but it goes away when i touch the metal part of the cable, so i assume its me.anyway, great mic, highly recommended, especially for deeper voices.

Not much to say. With my settings, it has a VERY rich sound! Honestly, very close to a Shure SM7B, but the foam I'm using is likely to contribute to that more since it "moves" the capsule to the same relative location under foam just as the 7B does. Their capsules are very similar, but if you're using the mic in environments that are bandwidth limited such as streaming, Discord or uploading to YouTube, the difference isn't big enough unless you're in a professional studio. If you have a mid-range male voice, try my settings! Tweak around if you have different hardware/software. This microphone has a pretty flat frequency response, so calibrating it is a breeze!**Hardware Setup-----This mic is on a shock mount with an A81WS foam (Wasn't meant to be used with the SM57, but with a little work, it'll fit!)Fethead preamp (CloudLifter can work too)Yamaha MG10XU mixer with 80Hz HPF switch on, Gain set to 9 o'Clock, Compressor off (Hardware compressor is not good for noise isolation. It's much better to do it in software after noise suppression is already applied), HIGH EQ 10kHz set to 1 o'Clock, MID EQ 2.5kHz set to 12 o'Clock (Default), LOW EQ 100Hz set to 11 o'Clock and Level set to 3 o'Clock (Default, where the arrow is) The EQ settings will roll off a little more of the bass in the 100Hz range while also bringing out some of the vocal presence in the 10kHz range.**Software Setup-----DAW: Cakewalk; set to monitor out over Virtual Audio Cable (This lets me make any further post adjustments and be outputted as a mic in real time as a separate device to have a fully EQ'd microphone running all across Windows.)VSTs in order (Effects apply from top to bottom)***Brusfri Trial: Best noise cancelling VST out there! Just keep everything quiet, and hold the ear button down for 10 seconds. Unlike almost every other noise canceling VST, this one actually retains sound quality! I'm well past the trial, but it still works as it's supposed to.***Rough Rider: Very good free compressor. I use this over the hardware compressor because it'll compress everything after it's gone through post.