Arcane knowledge

I have oddball pockets of knowledge. Or, maybe I just have different interests than most people. I know very little about sports, cars, and other traditional "guy stuff". But I know more than most people about recording, hand tool woodworking, and martial arts. Mostly book-learnin' (I follow a few topic-related blogs, and read books and magazines on the subjects).

The Director at work (my supervisor's supervisor) writes and records folk-ish music. We were both heading out the door at about the same time, and I raised the subject of microphones. We geeked out a little about microphones, and then she asked me what the difference was between a Shure SM57 and the SM58.

I actually had an answer: My understanding is that they're essentially the same mic, except that the SM58 has the wire grille "ball" on the end, with a foam pop-filter inside. So this ends up changing the frequency response -- and thus the tonal quality. It's also a very sturdy mic. Because of this, the SM58 is frequently used as a live music mic, whereas the SM57 is often used in recording -- especially micing guitar amplifier speakers, and snare drums.

The things I know...


--GG