It's not actually that simple, you want to look at the frequency response curves for the m icrophones which varies considerably between the two. You can find them on Shure's web site I'm certain if you're curious.Originally Posted by dodgyedgy
In fact:
http://www.shuredistribution.co.uk/p...sm58_large.gif
http://www.shuredistribution.co.uk/p...sm57_large.gif
They probably have different frequency responses off axis as well ... not that that's probably gonna make a huge amount of difference but the basic curves above are important.
Usually you just have to pick a mic that sounds good though, never learnt much from staring at the curves, best to use them to confirm what you're hearing is coming from the mic rather than usingthem to choosethe mic.