microphones!

[Dave_the_rave]

hi guys, not sure where to post this so thought id post it here -
ive started doing a bit of the old heavy metal singing for a band ive just joined, but im a bit fed up of nabbing the bassist's mic every week at practice. anyone got any good recommendations for a live use mic, with mind of heavy metal vocals ala maiden/priest style? doesnt have to be one of those thousands of quid jobs for recording, just a good one for live gigs and general practice, but of a decent enough quality.
thoughts and prices?

[maverickf1jockey]

I'd recommend something quite commonplace as a starting point if it will be used in any professional capacity such as an SM58.

You could also try out some of SHURE's other products as they are quite inexpensive for the workhorse/go to microphones they are.

If you are willing to go over a couple of hundred Sennheiser are incredibly good (getting better the more you pay, obviously).

If you want some good looks you could buy an SM52 (I believe that's the product code for the retro ones) and replace the coil.

[noodleplugerine]

I've allways thought AKG are the best for recording mics - Not sure how they're perform live though.

SM58s are the staple I guess.

[38thBeatle]

Yeah I would say Shure SM58 is about the standard for live-there are better but not for the same money.The SM58 has been around a long time and is as tough as old boots. The Beta version is pretty good too-slightly more money. Watch where you buy-there are lots of fakes for sale on t'interweb.

[Dave_the_rave]

hmmm sounds like the sm58 is the answer. have to say ive always heard good things about shure stuff. more sennheiser for headsets but not heard much about mics. looks like ill get the shure though, thanks guys! any last min advice?

[remak]

The Shure 58 is a very good mic for little money but it's a dynamic and needs a good pre-amp to really shine. For a rugged stage -condenser- mic take a look at the Rode S1. Condensers require phantom power but need less pre-amp gain than dynamics (usually).

Also worth checking out, as an alternative to the Shure,  is the very reasonably priced AKG D88S. Not tried it but AKG are generally classy mics.

[HTH AMPS]

when I used to do alot of recording and live sound engineering I liked the Shure Beta58, it's got a peak in the high-mids that makes it cut better than the SM58 imo - its got more output too.

[nfe]

Whilst SM58's are certainly the obvious choice.

An EV N/D767 is a great higher end version of a 58 for little extra cost. It's very similar but better, think the difference between a mexican and american strat.

More specifically for a metal vocal, the EV N/D967 is a lot like the 767 but you can throw a lot more gain at it before feedback becomes an issue, nicer than the 767 on aggressive vocals tonally too.

Audio Technica's recent Artist line are good too, the ATM410 being their version of the 58. Again just a higher end version of the same thing.

[mikeluke]

Echo previous - lot's of fake SM58s on EvilBay - beware! And they look very convincing - you would be hard pushed to tell unless you had a genuine one next to it.

I sing in a Classic Rock band - have a Beta 58A as main mic and SM58 just in  case... Can't fault for the money - might have missed this in the thread but if you have a lot of variation in your volume at different pitch then I'd stick a compressor somewhere in your set up - if you have not done so already

[Dave_the_rave]

bought the SM58 in the end, great mic, requires a bit more fiddling on the PA mixer to adjust to my vocals though lol - i tend to sing bruce dickinson/rob halford style power vocals so finding the right gain/volume balance without feedback took a little time!

[TwilightOdyssey]

I would love to hear your singing!