difference between Shure PG57/58 and SM57/58?

[cassettefetish]

Does anyone know? I mean, other than 25$.

--Nick

[Everybody's X]

Name recognition?
I am curious about it too, I might just buy a pg 57 and the kick mic (pg 52?) and try them out.

Frequency charts are all the same.
It wouldn't surprise me if they are using the same capsules for everything in the mexican plant.

I bought a shure 14a off of ebay for $9 and I'll be damned if you can tell the difference between it and my 58

[ubertar]

Not sure, but I think the difference is tighter quality control on the sm series.

[aikan]

My impression is that cheaper things are usually less hardy than their more expensive counterparts. That is, they might do the job just as well when they're new, but a year of spit and being dropped might be more detrimental to a PG58 than an SM58.

That being said, the PG58 is dang popular for live music around here. Probably less likely to get stolen.

[cassettefetish]

Well, that sort of comforts me as they are very gently handled and I never have an opportunity to record anyway.

--nick

[daveaux]

Not sure, but I think the difference is tighter quality control on the sm series.

yeah, like the difference between the '57's and the old Unidyne series...remember them? silver, shaped like a 57 but with an ON/OFF switch. i was told by a music merchant that the only diff was that they spent the extra man-hours to inspect the more expensive ones but were the exact smae guts (i guess it's more trouble to actually build 2 different sets of components, unless it's something like a pre with an expensive transformer).

Shit, maybe i'll grab some for emergencies.

[theistheman]

The PG kick drum mic sounds like butt.

[Everybody's X]

The PG kick drum mic sounds like butt.

see that's the stuff we need to know

[Devlars]

I would beg to differ with you. I think the PG52 sounds fantastic. Think of the kick sound on Wilco's 'A Ghost is Born' and that's about what it sounds like, lot's of thump and the slightest bit of definition.

[Devlars]

But that's not what we're supposed to be going on about is it, sorry. Back to the differences....anyone else?

[ubertar]

Not sure, but I think the difference is tighter quality control on the sm series.

yeah, like the difference between the '57's and the old Unidyne series...remember them? silver, shaped like a 57 but with an ON/OFF switch. i was told by a music merchant that the only diff was that they spent the extra man-hours to inspect the more expensive ones but were the exact smae guts (i guess it's more trouble to actually build 2 different sets of components, unless it's something like a pre with an expensive transformer).

Shit, maybe i'll grab some for emergencies.

No, the Unidyne III is the papa to the sm57. They're the same mic, just a slightly different look. Plus the U III 545 and 544 were both dual impedance. 545 was shipped as low Z and 544 as high Z. And they didn't all have an on/off switch, only the "s" models. The first sm 57s were called Unidyne III sm57 and like the 545 et al, they were made in the US. Current 57s are made in Mexico. A lot of people like the U III sm57 better. I do, but the difference isn't huge. QC was just as good for the 545 as the 57. They're pretty much the same mic. UTSF for more, this has been discussed before.

[i am monster face]

The PG series is mostly made of plastic. They also come with a crappy cable. The PG58 breaks A LOT (we have a lot of people come into the store with broken 58's being dropped on stage). Of course, with proper handling, they're not bad mics. I don't really notice a sound difference when I play a show and the tech hands me a pg instead of an SM series. But, check out the PG82, I like them much more than C1000's. They have a certain non-piercing high-endy thing to them that I like in a SDC. They're cheap. I wouldn't use them much, but they seem to be perfect for some things.

Ian

[marqueemoon]

I ran live sound with all PG dynamic mics a few times, and they SUCK ASS. Seriously. They were horrible. The rest of the rig was pretty decent, and anything run direct sounded fine. It was definitely the mics.