DON'T Mod Your SM58.

The SM58, SM57 and SM7b are all great microphones. They can be used on drums, guitars, vocals and are some of the most well known and most used mics in the world. They may have some similarities, but are actually more different than you might think.

For more info, head here;

Song by oldmanrei
Recorded by Mitchell Rose at The DIY Recording Studio

Filmed and Produced by Mitch at The DIY Recording Studio

FOLLOW ME MITCHELL ROSE AKA. OldManRei

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GEAR USED IN THIS VIDEO:

COMPUTER:

AUDIO:

CAMERA:

LENSES:

LIGHTING:

MIDI

#thediyrecordingstudio #sm7b #sm58

[dslrvideoshooter]

Thanks for the response, killer information and kind words Mitch.
Audio and microphones for music production are obviously way outside my experience and I really should have brought someone like you on to talk about that in the video.
All that said if people have fun modding this mic and they like the look and sound of it who cares! Same with cameras. If a matte box makes you happy even while unnecessary, who am I to slap the smile off your face.
Thank you again for taking the time to make this video. I learned a lot! If you’re ever in the Chicagoland area hit me up.

[gabrielschroll]

I've watched a bunch of comparison videos of the SM58, SM7B, RE20, etc etc, and while there is a noticeable difference when I hear the samples back-to-back, it's not a $300-350 difference to me.

What's important to me is that there's no hissing, no plosives, no going into the red, and minimal to no background noise. As long as the audio is clear, the very minor differences between good mics does nothing to elevate or reduce my enjoyment.

The mod is an excellent solution for aesthetics, and is sold for around $35-40 on the creator's website. That's a great deal, especially for someone who is just starting out and testing the waters of YouTube, but still wants to look good on camera. Because like I said, the difference is noticeable when heard back to back in a comparison video, but the vast majority of folks simply haven't developed their ear to the point that it's going to matter.

Besides what I wrote in the second paragraph/sentence, the thing that really makes a difference is the content itself. Write good scripts, have hot takes - or sensible takes, depending on your personality and goals - ask good interview questions, do your research, and be entertaining or educational.

I say this as someone who plans to go the SM58 + mod route. I am not even close to the point where spending $400 on a microphone is in my near future, but I still want to look and sound really good. Maybe not GREAT, but really good. And that's enough for me.

[nick]

You are very passionate for no apparent reason. He's not claiming to match it acoustically to the SM-7B - though they do sound quite similar with his voice as a reference. The "new" design does help a lot with plosives. So what if the "curve" is different? You showed the frequency response curves - and pointed to the less than 0.5db 250Hz area... That is minimal to say the least. And if one bothered they could even match the curves with mic modelling methods. Plus the new mic might give a different sound that matches the voice or instrument better than the SM7B would. It's a nice DIY project that could have a happy accident and you're just adding so much negativity to such a creative approach. If everyone thought like you seem to - that the "curve response h a s to be identical - beep-bop" there would be no innovation in the world. Relax, and enjoy the creative process. Unless you're doing this for revenue/clicks - in which case I'm sorry I wasted my time.

[theoutsiderjess]

I actually like this for aesthetic they don't change the sound but it does better to prevent plosive

[larry]

the point of diy shure sm7b is mainly aesthetic only. a lot of people love how clean it looks so its nothing about mic quality but simply aesthetic

[Haintly]

What if I don't want an sm7b and just want the sound of an sm58 with less plosives and set at a better distance from the capsule as to better avoid the close proximity effect on the low end?

[chargv]

"You can't do that to my beloved SM7B! It's a heresy! You don't belong to our audiophile community", says the guy using his headphone. 😅

[chancehansen]

This is the audio equivilent of pixel peeping. They sound pretty similar, that's a bennefit. Nobody would have known the change at all had he not made a video of it, including all of the audiophiles out there.

[CintrixIRL]

I think the point of modding is being missed here. The point of modding is to get a product of lesser value to a respectable comparison to its expensive counterpart, in this case the SN7B. I have watched another video by the creator Dark Corner Studios. A link to that video will be at the end of this comment, that shows people how to take the transformer out of the body of the SM58. This mod is to allow people how own a SM58 to get close to a SM7B. Nobody in either video said that it's better or that it's even the same. The point is that with some cosmetic/ mechanically changes you can get a microphone that is 1/4th of the price pretty darn close to the goliath of popular microphones.

All of your points in the video are valid but I just think you were misunderstanding why people are doing this rather than the idea of it. The SM7B will always be better. Even after this work is done to it you can still pick out the 7B over the 58. But how close it can get is pretty mind blowing. Liked the video and hope this helps!

[fredoverflow]

10:14 The SM in SM58 actually stands for "Studio Microphone".

[alexforget]

The problem is that everyone want a 7B for the look first and a bit for the classic sound. But the price doesn’t make sense at all for a lot of people.
An electret capsule or a cheap dynamic capsule could do the job perfectly for 99% of people than want a 7B.

[tomvice]

I have a sm58, took the metal filter out, and installed the a81ws pop filter. It sounds very very good. Look it up there's tutorials on how to fit it

[itslegiTim]

Funny enough, your SM7b (or how you EQ it) Sounds like a fckn Gaming Headset.

[mikejones-ndni]

Still sounds really good and looks good on screen

[nicholasguardino]

Dude, you’re not only a buzzkill, but also making just as many “trust me bro” claims as the modders. Claiming a new housing won’t help sound, then immediately saying the housing is integral to the sound is mind numbingly oblivious. How about this, buy a 58, remove the transformer, print the housing, reassemble and measure the freq response. Maybe it’s closer, maybe it’s not - but your “logic” here is genuinely laughable and you have zero actual proof for your claim.
Thanks for the video, but lame take.

[dundium]

I have a question, the main reason people do the DIY is cause they like the aesthetics, every bit of the mic is important of the sm58 which is why it will sound different when u take the basket off.
Even if it doesn't sound like the SM7b, would you say the quality is bad of the DIY made one? or would you still say it sounds good/decent

[JimHancock]

The average Joe YouTuber teaching, reviewing or doing reaction videos, cooking, woodworking, or any of a 100 different subjects would be served just fine with the cheapest mic also to tell the difference between a sm57 and a sm7b requires an acquired ear and a nice WAY above the quality threshold that the average watcher cares about.. Broadcast TV shows use lapel mics and have been for years and the world is and now Youtubers are sitting around in recliners with a group of sm7bs boomed over the "talents" mouth sitting in the point I'm making is it isn't what it sounds like but what it looks like.... all of it is out of control and spending $650.00 or more for sound on a YouTube channel is money wasted...

[anthony_fesce]

well of course that was not exactly modding the tech... The only error was thinking it wasn't just a cosmetic change. Nevertheless they sound kind of similar from the start so the concept was quite fun.

[afd]

Joe Cocker used to be recorded with an SM57 because he would blow out ribbon mics and anything expensive with the pressure when he sang.

[randomschittz]

Haha, I like how nobody talks about the metal casing of the 7b being a Faraday cage that blocks out rf interference, hence why it is quiet and you can really crank it up. They’ll figure out how bad it is when that 58 hits a decent amount of compression and they end up with a boomy mess and yes... noise my ninja!