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Published on 07/18/11 at 11:37
The Shure SM48 is, predictably, the SM58's younger brother. I, however, resent this claim slightly. Sure, Shure's nomenclature and pricing would have any person who is not well read up on microphones believe that the Shure SM58 is simply a better version of the SM48, and I suppose in some ways, that's true. In others, it simply is not. I am going to go into the specifics of this very soon.
The Shure SM48 has a respectable frequency response from 55-14,000 Hz. The SM48 is a cardioid dynamic, just like the Shure SM58. The Shure SM48 is built like a tank, not unlike the SM58.
What makes the SM48 interesting, however, is that on a certain voice (read: my voice), it cal kill the SM58. While the SM58 is a world standard for live singers, we should also remember that singers over the past few decades have gotten more wild and unpredictable, and the general trend is that singers tend to get more edgy. The Shure SM58 smooths that out very nicely.
The Shure SM48 will not. I will never give some heavy rock vocalist an SM48 because it will kill the ears of everyone around. This is because the Shure SM48 lacks a n impedance matching transformer. This makes the SM48 more quiet than the Shure SM58, which is already quite a quiet microphone, but the results are very nice, the midrange honk is gone, and it is replaced with very nicely placed emphasis in the high end, and has less of a proximity effect.
So unless you have a richer voice, which I do, at least compared to most singers out there with an SM58, the SM48 will actually work better, and this difference in the frequency curve actually would make it usable for studio recordings if it had to be!
OVERALL OPINION
I resent Shure's bid to put the SM48 under the SM58, although it is true that the 58 is more versatile. However, if you're like me, and sick of the obnoxious honk that the SM58 emits, this is a great choice for half the price!
The Shure SM48 has a respectable frequency response from 55-14,000 Hz. The SM48 is a cardioid dynamic, just like the Shure SM58. The Shure SM48 is built like a tank, not unlike the SM58.
What makes the SM48 interesting, however, is that on a certain voice (read: my voice), it cal kill the SM58. While the SM58 is a world standard for live singers, we should also remember that singers over the past few decades have gotten more wild and unpredictable, and the general trend is that singers tend to get more edgy. The Shure SM58 smooths that out very nicely.
The Shure SM48 will not. I will never give some heavy rock vocalist an SM48 because it will kill the ears of everyone around. This is because the Shure SM48 lacks a n impedance matching transformer. This makes the SM48 more quiet than the Shure SM58, which is already quite a quiet microphone, but the results are very nice, the midrange honk is gone, and it is replaced with very nicely placed emphasis in the high end, and has less of a proximity effect.
So unless you have a richer voice, which I do, at least compared to most singers out there with an SM58, the SM48 will actually work better, and this difference in the frequency curve actually would make it usable for studio recordings if it had to be!
OVERALL OPINION
I resent Shure's bid to put the SM48 under the SM58, although it is true that the 58 is more versatile. However, if you're like me, and sick of the obnoxious honk that the SM58 emits, this is a great choice for half the price!