Should I buy the Shure SM57 or SM58 for instruments and vocals?
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Answered by Roadie
Choose the Shure SM57 if instruments are your main priority; choose the SM58 if you mainly need a vocal microphone. Buy for the job you do most often rather than treating either as the automatic better choice.
The SM57 is an instrument-focused dynamic microphone, with a best new price of £104 in the supplied listings. If you're shopping primarily to mic instruments, it's the more directly matched choice of these two.
The SM58 is a dynamic cardioid vocal microphone, so it's the clearer starting point if singing is your main job. Those intended roles are a useful buying guide, not a claim that either microphone can only handle one task.
Buying second-hand? The Best-value used microphones list is a sensible place to compare options. Ask about condition and check that the microphone works properly before committing; a used listing isn't automatically better value than buying new.
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This answer is based on MyGear's own catalogue, price and list data on these pages:
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