Shure SM57

The Shure SM57 is a cardioid dynamic instrument microphone found on every stage and in every studio. Its main jobs are snare, guitar amps, brass and percussion, but it also works for a speaker at a lectern and as an emergency vocal mic. It is rented for band rehearsals, club gigs, festivals, school events and recording, often several at once. It is hard to break, needs no phantom power and sounds familiar to every engineer.

The SM57 and SM58 are essentially the same capsule with a different grille: the SM58 has a round windscreen for singers, the SM57 a short grille for instruments so the capsule gets closer to the source. The Shure BETA 57A is the supercardioid, brighter variant for loud stages, and the Sennheiser e906 the stand-free alternative on a guitar cab. On snare it is the default; on a guitar cab it is often paired with the Shure KSM313 ribbon. A small mixer like the Soundcraft EFX8 handles it well.