My band and I needed an all purpose mic for home recording, rehearsal and live gigs...this is the industry standard and comes very highly acclaimed so we spend £100 on this, a stand and an XLR cable from GAK.co.uk...this was about 2 years ago. It is an all-rounder at it's best.

FUNCTIONALITY
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THE Shure SM-58, as mentioned, in an industry standard and you will very rarely find a sound technicians gear box without a few, this also goes for most studios. It is a DYNAMIC microphone meaning it does not require power from the mixing console like a dynamic mic, making it very versatile. It is more suited to live sound, most studios will use dynamic mics due to higher sensitivity. It has a cardioid polar pattern meaning it will catch what it is pointed at and also what is either side of it ( http://www.csun.edu/~record/polar.html) there is a bit of a geekier explanation for you. The Shure has a 'frequency response of 50Hz to 15Khz, this is a good range as when your born you have the capability of hearing 20Hz to 20Khz and this deteriorates with age so there isnt a lot that the SM-58 will struggle to pick up. I find it best for vocal but it doesn't stop there by any means, I have successfully used it fork amps, acoustic instruments and even drums, but I do find that the Shure SM-57 is better for instruments.

RELIABILITY & BUILD
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THIS is a very robust microphone! I have been using it regularly for over 2 years and am nothing but careless in looking after it. The amount of times it has been dropped, smashed and bashed on stage and in rehearsals doesn't bare thinking about...I have never experienced a simple problem in functionality from it! It has an on/off slider on one side and the top screws off to allow repairs...of which I have had to do none. The XLR plugs into a well built secure connection in the bottom of the mic.

IN SUMMARY
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This is a fantastic all-rounder that has earned and deserves its status as the industry standard for live sound. It is well-built, sounds great and is VERY reliable.