Expanding My Mic Collection

[Eboy87]

You notice I didn't say they weren't. I said I've heard they weren't.

 

[howlingwolf487]

So you can't use a 57 for vocals?
I know a bunch of people that disagree.

Pink Floyd used 57's for their vocals, I believe.

I've heard from many people that those aren't '57 elements in there.

As far as I know, the elements in SM57's are the same as in the SM58's. The porting on the microphones might be different; a difference in the ports or where they are placed could lend to differences in frequency response due to what frequencies the ports are tailored to allow/reject (which may lend that "growl" to the 57 that most everyone seems to love on guitar cabs) but the elements are the same.

Anyone know if this is true?

 

[Eboy87]

As far as I know, yes, the 57 uses the same element as a 58. The different ports and slightly different case give it peaks in different parts of the frequency spectrum, which is what gives the mic its distinct sound. I've seen many people use 57's for vocal mics, my old church used to have a bunch of em for everything (only model they had besides a PZM and PCC) until they bought the Crown podium mics.

As for the actual elements in El Presidente's mics, that's open to debate. Phil and I differ on many things, and he gets a little carried away sometimes (probably shouldn't have said that). It's like ZZ Top using the 666 mics, I'd be willing to bet those aren't the original elements in those mics either. Or even the 421 that Mars Volta used when they were out with RHCP. I believe they put a 58 element in the body of the 421, giving the usual vocal mic sound, but with a different look.

 

[avkid]

Phil and I differ on many things, and he gets a little carried away sometimes (probably shouldn't have said that).

No offense taken.
-
I do have opinions and express them regularly.

 

[TimmyP1955]

Call me old; but SM-58s for vocals and SM-57s for everything else, and you're done. Why complicate things with all those fancy and expensive mics? Shure, you could use all Neumann, but "It's all in the mix," anyway!

You don't have to spend a lot to do as well or better then the "old standards". I'd rather have 835s, 609s, and 604s any day. Audix OM (the 7 is 50% more than the 58, but a heck of a lot better sounding, with much better rejection of unwanted crap) and Audix D4 is my choice if I want better performance yet want to keep things simple.