Shure SM57 Dynamic Instrument Microphone

Never buy this dress if you value your equipment! This is terrible. The seller sent a non-working microphone, in addition, the wires inside were incorrectly soldered. If I connected a microphone to the mixer and turned on the +48V power, my equipment would be damaged. The seller is cunning and greedy. In response to this review, he will invent and justify himself. He misled me and closed the dispute. In general, it is up to you to take risks or not to take risks.

A classic

You could literally record an entire album with just this one mic if you had to. It just works great for instruments and vocals both. I mostly use it as guitar speaker mic, but occasionally I'll put a pop screen in front of it to record vocals and it works great for this as well. They are almost indestructible, but if you do have to send it to Shure for repair, they have great repair plan - they just charge you a flat rate and send you a brand new mic. Hard to beat.

A staple in recording studios, and for a reason.

I was introduced to this microphone in my studio recording techniques course in college. This mic is super versatile and I've used for guitar cabs and for miking drums. It really helps the attack on a snare shine through and for guitar, depending on where I place the mic over the speaker cone, I can get a bunch of really great tones. Overall great mic. I actually wish I had a couple more.

Cheap Does Not Mean Low Quality

As a high-school musician on a budget, searching for microphones became a tedious and frankly pointless task; every microphone of interest was too expensive. Enter the Shure SM57. It's cheap, and it's fantastic. So far, I've used it on vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, and drums (snare and kick). It provides a natural and punchy sound that caters well to any music style. As a close mic, it performs beautifully; and with a more sensitive room mic, it really shines. #sweepstakes

Excellent Instrument Mic

I bought this mic for recording Quena & Zampona at home, so close miking to minimise environmental noises. For this application it's great and it's presence boost really enhances these flutes tone very nicely indeed, sounds amazing even with no EQ. My audio interface has fairly limited gain range & the SM57 signal level is easily within that range for this application. I don't currently have any need for more distant miking. Being a dynamic mic the output is low compared to condenser mics which are internally amplified & therefore lend themselves to distance miking without additional amplification. I see some negative comments by people who bought the wrong mic for their distance miking application. This can be overcome simply by buying a small inline phantom ... MoreI bought this mic for recording Quena & Zampona at home, so close miking to minimise environmental noises. For this application it's great and it's presence boost really enhances these flutes tone very nicely indeed, sounds amazing even with no EQ. My audio interface has fairly limited gain range & the SM57 signal level is easily within that range for this application. I don't currently have any need for more distant miking. Being a dynamic mic the output is low compared to condenser mics which are internally amplified & therefore lend themselves to distance miking without additional amplification. I see some negative comments by people who bought the wrong mic for their distance miking application. This can be overcome simply by buying a small inline phantom powered mic amplifier that plugs directly into the base of a dynamic mic. There are several brands available. As these amps are right at the mic, there is zero additional noise before amplification, making the amplified signal as clean & strong as much more expensive condenser mics. This is definitely the way to go if you need more gain and a great way to go for vocals on a tight budget.

Industry standard

I'm using SM57 for recording music or speech etc. in a small hall with setting mic stands in front of speakers. For a video shooter like me, audio quality is really important. In the case of live recording, getting a line signal from a PA mixer is ideal, however, sometimes it is better to stand SM57 in front of speakers, because the balance of signal and surrounding noise is awesome, so it can be heard more naturally than a PA line. SM57 and SM58 are the most reliable mics. I don't need to say so anymore. Of course, the audio quality is super clear and the metal body is so stable.The mic stand and cable including this bundle are also enough stable for this price.

Might get more of these

Drummer of 23 years, self-producing for 10, recording for 3. Recommended to me by a community of producers to replace my PGA57 that came in the PGA7kit, best purchase in my entire rig. Was using the PGA57 to record my snare but discovered I had to do a lot of processing to get it to sound even half decent, and that actually the PGA56s get a better sound than the PGA57, Still needing to do a lot of processing and EQing (mostly reductive with a healthy boost to the highs).The SM57 however, didn't need to do half as much to get it to sound even better. No EQ, with only processing for taste. It's also much hotter which I was not expecting. Going to experiment on the other drums with it. Might need more.

Overall great microphone

Bought this to use as a standalone microphone for my computer to record voice/audio for content creation as well as voice communication for gaming. The quality of the microphone is top notch although it is my first legit microphone. I'm new to all this audio stuff so I do have much to learn, but the microphone is pretty straightforward to use. Only downside for me is that the input volume is sort of on the low end (might be due to my inexperience) even though I have it connected to an audio interface at its max gain and my friends sometimes have trouble hearing me in discord. I have to have the mic near my mouth in order for them to hear me properly. I understand this is meant mostly for instrumental recording but when doing research, I've seen that this was ... MoreBought this to use as a standalone microphone for my computer to record voice/audio for content creation as well as voice communication for gaming. The quality of the microphone is top notch although it is my first legit microphone. I'm new to all this audio stuff so I do have much to learn, but the microphone is pretty straightforward to use. Only downside for me is that the input volume is sort of on the low end (might be due to my inexperience) even though I have it connected to an audio interface at its max gain and my friends sometimes have trouble hearing me in discord. I have to have the mic near my mouth in order for them to hear me properly. I understand this is meant mostly for instrumental recording but when doing research, I've seen that this was supposed to be a very well versed mic. Overall I cannot complain with my purchase as it has not given me any other issues. #sweepstakes

Real deal - Great drum mic

After getting burned by two other (less expensive) vendors who sold me counterfeit SM57 microphones, I decided to pay full price at B&H. I'm a drummer and I use these mics in my basement studio to record myself, to analyze my practice sessions and progress. In the 40 years I've been playing, I've never heard myself in such great quality. I use two SM57 mics as room mics, to record in stereo with a focusrite digital interface recording onto a computer. The SM57s work exceptionally well suspended from the ceiling or on stands 3ft away and pointed at either side of my drum kit. I'm getting zero clipping. A great drum mic for individual drums or as a room mic.

The 57 Dynamic Microphone is perfect for me

A friend of mine and I have been writing original songs and we didn't have a way to record, so we dug out the old cassette tape Tascam 6 track recorder and headed to Sam Ash. The guy at the microphone deck was great! Very informed and very helpful. I explained that we're recording in a big echoey warehouse and he immediately suggested the SM57 dynamic mic cause it's unidirectional and will help to somewhat isolate the instrument in an open setting while picking up a strong, solid signal. It worked perfect and sounded great, just like he said it would. I'm so satisfied that I will be buying a couple more soon, they are extremely affordable for the quality! Thanks again Sam Ash, I'm always a satisfied customer, every time!