Members mbengs1 Posted December 26, 2015 Members Share Posted December 26, 2015 I have one shure sm57. I'm sure its a great mic but is there anything as good thats cheaper? i need about 7 mics and shure sm57's are about $100 each. too expensive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ermghoti II Posted December 26, 2015 Members Share Posted December 26, 2015 $100 is very cheap for a microphone. Try used SM57s, which are everywhere, or in a pinch, the GLS 57 copy gets very good word of mouth, and can be had for about half that, including a cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted December 26, 2015 CMS Author Share Posted December 26, 2015 I have one shure sm57. I'm sure its a great mic but is there anything as good thats cheaper? i need about 7 mics and shure sm57's are about $100 each. too expensive! The SM57 is a good mic for many things, and a poor mic for some things. If $100 for a microphone is too much for your budget, you should consider whether you really need seven mics. What's your application? Recording? Live sound? A conference or panel discussion? At folk festivals, we get groups all the time that say "We have 14 people so we'll need 14 mics" when three mics will do the job well. But admittedly it's a hard sell sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted December 29, 2015 CMS Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 I could swear I saw a response from the original poster that he had a 7-piece choir-like group that used handheld mics. Did I dream that? Or maybe the same person asked the same question (or someone else asked a similar question) on another forum? Anyway, my reply to this assumed response is (1) The SM57 may work as a handheld mic for some singers, but chances are it wouldn't be the best choice for every member of a group. The SM58 also probably isn't the best mic for seven out of seven singers, but it's a better handheld mic than the SM57. That's why Shure made two different mics based on the same capsule design. (2) If the group sings like a choir, it would be worth experimenting with using one or two mics for the group, with perhaps a mic for soloist to step up to or that get passed around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 30, 2015 Members Share Posted December 30, 2015 If you must have a condenser, I hear that the AT2020 is surprisingly good for its cheap price. You could get one or two of these and get SM57s for the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted December 30, 2015 Members Share Posted December 30, 2015 Mics are like clothes. Cheap clothes that fit are great and can get you by reasonably well, even if clearly cheap to discerning eyes. Expensive clothes that don't fit can still impress in spite of being wrong for the particular person. The discerning eye will lament the misuse. Cheap clothes that don't fit - well, it doesn't get much worse than that. All but the blind know ugleee when they see it. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted December 30, 2015 Members Share Posted December 30, 2015 I have one shure sm57. I'm sure its a great mic but is there anything as good thats cheaper? i need about 7 mics and shure sm57's are about $100 each. too expensive! Last few years at Sweetwater GearFest they sold SM58s for $58 and SM57s for $57. Tough to pass up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Last few years at Sweetwater GearFest they sold SM58s for $58 and SM57s for $57. Tough to pass up. Wow - that's a great deal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 I have one shure sm57. I'm sure its a great mic but is there anything as good thats cheaper? i need about 7 mics and shure sm57's are about $100 each. too expensive! I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a universal "best mic" - there may be the "best mic for the money for X or Y sound source in this particular situation", or one we prefer the sound of, but even that can change from song to song. First question: What are the sound sources? Vocals? Instruments? Second question: What is the working environment? A live concert? A studio recording? Third question: Will the microphones be stand mounted or hand held? We already have an idea of your budget... which is very tight. The earlier GLS 57 suggestion may be the way to go if you need inexpensive dynamic microphones for miking up amps and drums. You also might want to check out the Tascam TM-PC1 pencil condenser - you can get a pair of them for about $100, and they're surprisingly good for the money. They do require phantom power though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 30, 2015 Members Share Posted December 30, 2015 When I was taking classes at a local college, we used to jump through hoops trying to get our drum sounds 'just right.' But one of the better drum kit sounds I got back in my learning days was with just four mics -- we were stuck in a satellite studio with only a four track 3340 and a Tascam Model 5 mixer -- and only one mic cost over $100, IIRC: a Sennheiser 421 on the kick, an SM57 on the snare and one on the toms, and a single '58 overhead. The 421 is a good mic for kick, to my thinking, but, to be honest, anything with some bottom would have done nearly as well. One important proviso: it was a good, well-tuned kit and the drummer was very solid. If you want a good recording -- start with a good musician playing a good instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 If you want a good recording -- start with a good musician playing a good instrument. The only thing I'd add to that truism is "...in a good sounding room." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 30, 2015 Members Share Posted December 30, 2015 I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a universal "best mic" - there may be the "best mic for the money for X or Y sound source in this particular situation", or one we prefer the sound of, but even that can change from song to song. First question: What are the sound sources? Vocals? Instruments? Second question: What is the working environment? A live concert? A studio recording? Third question: Will the microphones be stand mounted or hand held? We already have an idea of your budget... which is very tight. The earlier GLS 57 suggestion may be the way to go if you need inexpensive dynamic microphones for miking up amps and drums. You also might want to check out the Tascam TM-PC1 pencil condenser - you can get a pair of them for about $100, and they're surprisingly good for the money. They do require phantom power though. There is all that. You want to get the best possible sound first. A directional microphone would probably suit someone's needs in a room where there is little or no treatment. But so much of this depends on what the situation is, who you are recording, what kind of music there is, etc. This is part of the reason why I suggested above that you might want to consider some condensers in all this. You would be covered for different scenarios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted December 30, 2015 Members Share Posted December 30, 2015 I also want to point out that if you cannot get great deals such as above, consider buying things like sturdy dynamics like SM 57s used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted December 30, 2015 Members Share Posted December 30, 2015 The only thing I'd add to that truism is "...in a good sounding room." Oops, And, indeed, it was a good room for our live-basic tracked project (rock trio, stereo drum mix)... The room (the school's original studio on a satellite campus -- built, I believe, for a public radio station that was later spun out and ultimately became KLON -- now KKJZ -- moved to Cal-State Long Beach instead of the original home at LB City) was built in the 50's per accepted principles -- no parallel walls/floor/ceiling (as I recall it) and, if I'm not mistaken, a nice wooden drum floor in view of the (somewhat small) CR window. If I could have changed anything I would have used an appropriate condenser mic on the OH -- but there was no phantom on the Model 5 mixers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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