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Which would be the best to buy do you think shure 57 or 58? I don't like a mic picking up too much of the bass in my voice so don't know which of the above mics would be better in that regard.
Thanks for any advice.


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Like Herb said, a good condenser mic is really what most studios will use for vocal recording. However your question was 58 or 57?

The condenser will require phantom power to get a decent signal.



SO... to answer that question specifically.... let me weigh in again:

Neither. Unless you have a specific reason to get a Shure dynamic like the 57 or 58 which are fairly similar in many respects, such as you play live gigs and want a good stage mic.....

Spend your money on a reasonably priced condenser mic. The interface you mentioned that you have already has phantom power so you should be good to go. I'd figure a budget between $150 to $400 for your first condenser.



Using a condenser allows you to sing further back from the mic.... 12 to 24 inches is common with condensers. You'd never sing that far back from a dynamic like the 57/58. Proximity effect, or that bass response you mentioned you didn't like or want is a factor of how close to the mic capsule your mouth is when you sing. Dynamics almost force you in close since they don't pick up like condensers. You can also sing close to a condenser but the point is, you don't have to and that lessens the proximity effect automatically.

NOTE: the only thing I did not see in the specs I looked at briefly, is whether it either has or doesn't have any audio pre-amps. While not always necessary, some mics do benefit from the boost that a built-in pre will give it. Many folks in the Sonar forums who use interfaces without preamps use a small inexpensive mixing board for the preamp. My advice... just plug in a condenser mic, turn on the phantom power, and adjust the input gain and experiment. You may be very pleasantly surprised at the results.

I did find this on a further search at the B&H website:
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The unit has two high-quality microphone/instrument preamps accessed via convenient front panel hybrid XLR/TRS inputs that can accommodate balanced or unbalanced line or instrument levels. Switchable phantom power and individual -20dB pads are included, as are sixteen channels of MIDI in and out.


so you should be good to go with this and a condenser mic... no further external mixer/preamps needed.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 03/16/15 02:15 AM.
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