[LAU] hardware: recording voice and acc. guitar

[Andre Majorel]

On 2008-05-26 18:09 +0200, schoappied wrote:

> I was thinking about the sure SM58, like dp was talking about.
> Can I use it for recording acoustic guitar too (voice is the
> most important)?  Is there much difference between a SM75 and
> a SM58, and are the 'beta' versions much better?

The SM57 and SM58 are the same capsule in different bodies. The
SM58 has a grille which may give better results for singers who
pop their Ps but messes with the response (as in "makes the mic
sound a lot worse"). For a string instrument there probably
isn't any reason to prefer the SM58 over the SM57.

The SM57 is said to benefit from being plugged into a
preamplifier that has a low input impedance, i.e. 600 ohms.
Your sound card input is likely closer to 50 kohms. If you're
handy with a soldering iron, you could try soldering a 680 ohms
resistor across the hot and cold terminals and see if it
improves the sound.

I doubt an SM57 would be the first mic any engineers try on
acoustic guitar. But it probably wouldn't be the last, either.

-- 
André Majorel <URL:http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/>
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