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Those who think there is a 'best mic' are talking about a specific recording situation.



Not quite. A "good" mic can do everything. The problem is that most mics have a flaw here and there. What a microphone should do, is to record sound in its most natural way without adding or subtracting emphasis in certain areas.

You're right if you have to record the sound inside a combustion engine (volume!) or capture the true sound of an elephant herd's conversation (subsonic!). But everthing on a stage could be captured with the same microphone if it leaves the quality of the sound as is.

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Think about possible needs before deciding. I wouldn't put a couple mics mentionedin this thread on a snare or inside a bass drum.



That is correct. The microphone here needs to accept certain SPLs that a lot of mics for vocals cannot accept without producing annoying artefacts. The klirr factor is something to be considered here.

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... many recordings and artists like the sound of their voice thru an sm57 or 58 (or any other brand in any price range).



Price range is the key factor -- the sound depends largely on
- positioning of the mic,
- the settings of the mixer and
- the quality of the speakers.

I bet that, with a good sound engineer operating the mixer for best sound, nobody is available to identify any decent mic in a certain price range.

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It depends quite a bit on what you need it for. Close range protection is a bit different than spying for antelope. I have $30 mics that don't sound good on a lot of stuff, but pointed at a ride cymbal makes it a surprise bargain.



On a stage making music you probably won't need a shotgun charakteristic, so these are not a subject here. And having a cheap mic that is perfect for the frequency spectrum of a certain instrument is a winner. But the original question with an emphasis towards a Shure 55SH doesn't really point to it.

Your absolutely correct with
Quote:

It depends quite a bit on what you need it for.



Here, in the original post, it probably should look sexy for 50s-stlye music.
I use EV N/Dyn mics because they are insensitive to handling noises. I use the Shure for looks for certain types of music despite its major disadvantage (hiding the face). With all microphones I use I try to get the best setting of the controls on the mixer that my voice comes across as natural as possible. This setting changes when I change microphones -- more or less depends on the microphone. And it changes with different mixers because of different mic-preamps, and different sensitivity of the controls.

And through observation I learned that, especially the untrained, people judge equipment by looks and (weel-known) name of manufacturer.

So the best mic, for the envisioned purpose, gives you the most natural sound possible. There are several manufacturers who can provide similar mics in any given price range and usually the higher the price the better the mic.

You might, however, find a cheap microphone perfect for a given situation. But: How many cheap mics are you willing to buy until you find "the one".

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