Faulty SM58? [was: Home recording: -6db level for tracking? ]

I thought my new SM58 mic was faulty as I couldn't get a decent level to record my acoustic guitar. I had bought the mic for home recording of vocals + acoustic guitar + percussion. So I went back to the shop.... Turns out the SM58 was not faulty. It test drived through the shops PA OK. My mic newbieness was exposed for all to see... The sales assistant advised me that the SM58 was no good for recording acoustic guitars etc. He recommended upgrading to a Rhode NT-1 condenser mic. Condenser mics also seem to be better suited to weak vocalists like me. I was able to hold the Rhode condenser mic a foot away, whilst the SM58 needs to be a 1/4 inch off my lips (The SM58 manual states that the mic can be held 6 ins to a foot away

Hi

I have both an SM58 and a Rode NT1.

The SM58 is fine for stage vocals. It's fine for recording vocals (Chilli peppers used one exclusively on 'Californication', not sure about 'By the way'. It's usable for recording an instrument. I got reasonable levels when recording an acoustic guitar, but the quality was not fantastic. Not got a pad switch on, have you? I have miked up an electric cabinet with it as well. Again, not really what it's meant for, but it was usable.

The Rode NT1 is more difficult to use on stage. It is better for recording vocals than the SM58 IMO. It is better for recording an acoustic than the SM58 IMO. Good mike for the money. Acoustic recordings were much more transparant with the Rode.

But don't let the shop tell you that an NT1 is better for a weak vocalist. If anything, it is more likely to expose that weakness as it has a more natural sound than the SM58. With the SM58, it is fairly normal to be close enough to eat the thing, thus making use of the proximity effect bass boost. You should be able to get more than enough level out of an SM58 for vocals. Whilst you can sing close to the Rode, you will generally be using it 6-8 inches away and you will need to buy a pop shield or make one with the missus' old hosiery. At least I tell her that's why I want 'em And you'll have to make sure everything else is silent. The Rodes will pick up a moth at 100 yards

Just be prepared to EQ differently with the Rode, should you buy it. It is a very different beast.

I got a Rode NT1 for my son's studio - I use two AKG C1000S mics which were what was around before the NT1, which I think is better. I also have an SE-1 - a Chinese mic, Se Electronics, which costs £69 and is a real stormer, high gain, moderate noise threshold, very directional and very punchy clear guitar sound.

I once used an SM58 but sold that years ago to get a Beyer M105 which was an SM58 clone but clear, loud and responsive by comparison. I still use that for vocals, rarely for guitar.

David Kilpatrick http://www.mp3.com/davidkilpatrick

(all my tracks on mp3 com have some info on the mics etc used)

Dynamic mics (especially the old favourite SM58) are frequently used for vocals... mostly on stage, but also in the studio. But they're particularly suited to higher pressure levels (ie screaming your lungs out).

The SM57 is the more usual choice for instruments (especially guitar amps). For acoustic instruments, condensor mics are a more common choice.

The condenser probably will sound better for acoustic guitar, but I have used an SM57 (pretty similar to the SM58) to record voice (nice), acoustic guitar (level ok, I just didn't like the sound too much and found plugging in was better, it's an electroacoustic), and cello (had to EQ a bit on the computer to get the best sound, but it recorded alright). If you can afford it, the condenser is probably the best bet for acoustic instruments... or so I'm led to believe.

TBH, I use a condensor (the AKG1000c) to do any recording of acoustics. I've also recently been able to borrow one so I can record in stereo. The AKG1000C is used on vocals as well. It's also handy if you don't have phantom power as it accepts a 9V battery (which was the original reason I bought it as I didn't have phantom power at the

In this respect he's right (perhaps a little extreme, but on the right lines), because the SM58 is - above everything else - a *vocal* mic. If you bought it primarily to record instruments you were ill-advised.

If you wanted a dynamic mic to record both vocals and instruments an SM57 would have been a better choice. Nevertheless the SM58 should be able to get something to tape (or disk, or whatever) at higher levels than you're reporting.

The windshield will make it sounds a little weird on guitar, but at a push you can make it sound a lot less peaky by unscrewing the windshield (be careful if you do this because it leaves the capsule unprotected).

He is - above all - a salesman, this is the kind of thing we'd expect.

I stick with my original response: If you can't peg the meters with a working SM57/58 6' in front of an acoustic guitar then *something* is broken or mis-adjusted.

You've checked the mic, you said earlier that you've swapped out the cable, so it must be something else. Are you sure you don't have a 20db pad switched in on the mixer?

Not instruments with a 58, but loads and loads with an SM57 (over almost 30 years).

There are many reasons to spend the cash on a *good* condenser mic (though IMHO if you're buying it primarily to record guitar then a LD condenser is the wrong choice, you should be looking at SD types), but a lack of level from the mic isn't one of them.

I fear there's a danger here that you'll go and lay down the dosh on the NT1 (or whatever) get it home and find it's low level on your system too.

I think you need to get to the bottom of where over 20db seems to be

Yeah, I agree with that. If you like the idea of Røde mics, Bruce, the NT3 might be a better choice. A while ago, daveh and I did some comparisons, and the (small diaphragm) NT3 worked much better on acoustic guitar than the (large diaphragm) NT1.

And my earlier post should have said NT3 not NT1. Better insturment mic and that's what we got.

I must agree with David here. Choice of mic is obviously important but until you sort out why your signal isn't reaching the levels it should you've got a bigger problem to deal with.

Cheers, Steve W

In most cases an SM58 is not great for recording acoustic instruments,but one that it does seem to work well on(and the Beta 58 is even better)is on the trumpet. In recent recordings of the band I play in (mostly acoustic)we used AKG 451s on most of the acoustic instruments.My guitar was recorded direct(Godin Multiac)but a bog standard 58 on the trumpet(not as loud an instrument as you might assume)worked really well