Re: The SM58...
The SM58 is a versatile utility mic. Its ubiquity means that most singers know how to "work" it. Anyone who does sound for clients other than themselves should own several. Really.
I own around 80 mics, 6 of which are 58s. Another 6 are 57s. The 58s look nice (I don't do rock shows with my personal inventory) and get used when appearance is important. I should probably sell off the 57s as they almost never get used... but I have them in case they get requested.
But mic options are nice to have, so there are 6 Beyer M69, 6 AKG C-535 and 6 Shure SM86 in the vox collection, too. Only 2 Heil PR22 so far, I hope to add 4 more soon.
We have some original EV ND series mics but never accumulated enough of any one model to do all the vox on a stage, so my use and observations are pretty limited. They seemed more "personal" in that on some voices they were very complimentary, but on some they were just plain ugly and that there wasn't a lot of middle ground. The real prize of the ND line was the 308. It was a nice tom mic, guitar cabinet mic, horn mic; it was rugged, too. It's the mic EV needs to reissue and not change a thing from the original.
I agree with whoever said the Beta58 sounds unflattering on most vocals. I think they used the word brittle, and that's not exactly the word I have in mind (maybe 'crunchy'?)... but to me they sound like someone stole JBL's "icepick in the forehead" sound from the 1980s and put it inside a microphone. That same coloration seems common to the Beta line with the exception of the Beta57a. That bite is still in there, but the additional proximity effect seems to give a bit of balance to it.
With so much variety in voices it's nice to have microphone choices. When one has the luxury of working with the same acts on a regular basis, finding the microphone most suited to a singer can be a fun and frustrating pursuit but it can have a nice payoff. For one-offs, "put a 58 up there and get off my stage." 8O~8-O~:shock:
Have fun, good luck.
Tim Mc
