mic'ing a guitar - sm57 vs rode nt5

[broy]

Hi All,

Right now I have a Shure SM57 mic and a SM58 mic. I use the SM58 for vocals and the SM57 for guitar. I want to be able to record guitar in stereo. My ultimate goal is to get a pair of KM184, but that's down the road. So I'm thinking of budget friendly options that get me to 'good enough'.

I could get a matched pair of Rode NT5s for $429, or another SM57 for about $100.

From following previous threads, I was thinking getting to an SDC was the way to go for me (which led me to the NT5). Then I started wondering if the SM57s would be good enough, since I already had one?

Does anyone have any thoughts on using Shure SM57s for mic'ing guitar for recording in a stereo set up? Any reason this is not a great option and the NT5s would be better? Thanks to all for any input.

Rgds - Bill

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by broy

I could get a matched pair of Rode NT5s for $429, or another SM57 for about $100.

Both purchases put you further away from your KM184 goal. The SM57 puts you less far away. But you might just use your 58 and 57 as the stereo pair and overdub your vocals later. That doesn't put you any further away from the 184s.

[dnf777]

What Jim said. But if GAS (MAS) has you in a choke hold, the Behringer C2 is a nice, affordable, “matched” stereo pair of SDCs. ($59 a pair). They ar3 not KM 184s, but get pretty good reviews. A little higher up the price point, sE makes a nice stereo pair for around 2 bills.

[TBman]

I have a Rode NT 5 and it is very brittle sounding. I recently acquired a matched pair of Se8 SDC mics, 550 for the pair, and I'm really happy with my recordings now.

[lukegard22]

Run away from Rode mics for recording acoustic guitar. Brittle, harsh, does not maintain financial value.

Se mics would serve you well and they are a good price point. Lewitt stuff is okay as well and is budget friendly.

Just a hair beyond the Se price point:
Used pair of SM81 (to keep the Shure theme!) - sound great, maintain value, versatile
Used pair of Aston Starlights - warm, captures things well, some fun buttons to diversify the sound

Or bonus/wildcard option -- grab an AKG C214 and throw that up with the SM57. As long as they are in phase (separate topic) you can probably get a satisfactory recording.

[broy]

Thank you all, appreciate the input. No one said a pair of SM57s would be a good option, so I think that gives me the info I need. Not sure where I'll land - but the info on the Rodes is very helpful and will stay away from the NT5s for my purpose.

[dnf777]

Originally Posted by broy

Thank you all, appreciate the input. No one said a pair of SM57s would be a good option, so I think that gives me the info I need. Not sure where I'll land - but the info on the Rodes is very helpful and will stay away from the NT5s for my purpose.

Oddly, you have probably seen paired SM57s all your life, and didn't realize it.
Almost every President since Nixon uses paired 57s with the big wind screens at the POTUS podium.

you can google and find thousands of pics of various presses with either one or two 57s. (didn't post to avoid politics). Apparently this is just "system redundancy", NOT that folks want to hear speeches in stereo.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by broy

Thank you all, appreciate the input. No one said a pair of SM57s would be a good option, so I think that gives me the info I need. Not sure where I'll land - but the info on the Rodes is very helpful and will stay away from the NT5s for my purpose.

I have a pair of SM57 which I tried out in the past. My Se8 SDC mics have better clarity, but the 57's were fine. I'll do comparison recordings and post them up later.

[Eastbound]

I rarely record acoustic in stereo, unless its just one guitar for the whole track. That said, one stereo guitar with voice in the middle may sound good. Ive found that the stereo recording on the guitar just does not "improve" the track enough to be worth while. If the song has more then one guitar part and all are recorded in stereo, this can really muddy up the track.

With all condenser mics, you'll want to be aware of the top end response on acoustic. Many can sound brittle or fake, and it can be difficult to EQ.

Many new mics will have a 30day return policy. Ive taken advantage of this a few times. I dont want to be stuck with a mic that doesn't work for me.

SDC's - Shure KSM 141 and SM81 have a pretty smooth top end response. Have gotten decent recordings from both. Probably better ones out there that I haven't tried yet.

LDC's - Ive been using the SE4400a. It has a great top end response and is still warm and articulate.

It can pay off to take a good look at the mic specs before purchasing. Also read up on the specs and understand what they mean. The specs usually give an eq curve, sensitivity and self noise spec. If you buy a mic with low sensitivity and it has high self noise...you might inherently be getting some noisy recordings. Or then you might need to go purchase a super clean preamp with loads of gain. To me, some mics dont pair well with your standard interface, as they really need a special preamp to give them enough gain.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by broy

Thank you all, appreciate the input. No one said a pair of SM57s would be a good option, so I think that gives me the info I need. Not sure where I'll land - but the info on the Rodes is very helpful and will stay away from the NT5s for my purpose.

There are more pricey dynamic mics that sound better than 57's, but generally 57s don't make great acoustic guitar recordings, especially if you're looking to make simple recordings featuring your guitar's sonic capabilities.

Here's a recording I made with a $60 pair of Behringer C-2 mics that Dave referenced earlier. I have much higher "rated" SDCs and picked these up simply to see if the good reviews were true or not. They turned out to be a nice pair of SDCs.

[Mbroady]

Save your money for now and worry more about the room. Assuming you get loads of room sound being picked up, a couple of thick moving blankets on the wall can go a long way to improving a recording (for acoustic guitar).

And its a good time to start experimenting and experiencing how mic placement can drastically change the sound.

Considering the price, Rudy4's demo of the Behringer C-2 above sounds really good. Rudy4, what was your signal chain......Converter, preamp, etc?

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Mbroady

Save your money for now and worry more about the room. Assuming you get loads of room sound being picked up, a couple of thick moving blankets on the wall can go a long way to improving a recording (for acoustic guitar).

And its a good time to start experimenting and experiencing how mic placement can drastically change the sound.

Considering the price, Rudy4's demo of the Behringer C-2 above sounds really good. Rudy4, what was your signal chain......Converter, preamp, etc?

Here's a birdseye view of the setup for the video. Equipment-wise its simply the pair of Behringer C-2 mics going into a Zoom Livetrak L8 portable recorder. You can see it sitting on the table in the photo.

The room sounds pretty good as a recording environment, so that's a big plus. I'm a big advocate of capturing audio on a portable recorder because its so easy to pick a good sounding space. That can even be outdoors in some cases.

[jim1960]

FYI - The 57 and 58 are essentially the same microphone so you kinda sorta already have a pair of 57s. That's why I suggested using those mics to record guitar in stereo and overdub the vocals afterwards.

[broy]

Originally Posted by Eastbound

It can pay off to take a good look at the mic specs before purchasing. Also read up on the specs and understand what they mean. The specs usually give an eq curve, sensitivity and self noise spec. .

Thank you, noted.

Originally Posted by Rudy4

There are more pricey dynamic mics that sound better than 57's, but generally 57s don't make great acoustic guitar recordings, especially if you're looking to make simple recordings featuring your guitar's sonic capabilities.

Here's a recording I made with a $60 pair of Behringer C-2 mics that Dave referenced earlier. I have much higher "rated" SDCs and picked these up simply to see if the good reviews were true or not. They turned out to be a nice pair of SDCs.

57's - appreciate the input
Behringer C-2s - $60 for a matched pair, wow... pretty good stepping stone option.

Originally Posted by Mbroady

Save your money for now and worry more about the room.

I started here with 4 acoustic panels, but you're right, I should re-evaluate again before going further... but geeze, new mics will help me make sure I'm picking up room noise.

Originally Posted by Rudy4

Here's a birdseye view of the setup for the video. Equipment-wise its simply the pair of Behringer C-2 mics going into a Zoom Livetrak L8 portable recorder. You can see it sitting on the table in the photo.

The room sounds pretty good as a recording environment, so that's a big plus. I'm a big advocate of capturing audio on a portable recorder because its so easy to pick a good sounding space. That can even be outdoors in some cases.

Rudy - you don't have a need for any acoustic treatment?

Originally Posted by jim1960

FYI - The 57 and 58 are essentially the same microphone so you kinda sorta already have a pair of 57s. That's why I suggested using those mics to record guitar in stereo and overdub the vocals afterwards.

Noted, and the most sensible option. I would like to record the guitar in stereo while singing though, that's the barrier here.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by broy

Noted, and the most sensible option. I would like to record the guitar in stereo while singing though, that's the barrier here.

In that case, wouldn't it make more sense to get a microphone better suited for vocals? Perhaps an LDC?