Shure
SM57
Dynamic · Cardioid · 40–15,000 Hz · a rider regular
- Same Unidyne III cartridge as the SM58 — the difference is the grille, not the capsule.
- It has been the lectern microphone of the US White House Communications Agency since 1965.
- On a snare it is a default rather than a choice: most engineers only notice it when someone has put something else there.
Frequency response
Read off Shure’s published response graph and re-drawn on the fixed MicSense scale (20 Hz–20 kHz, −20 to +15 dB), so two microphones can be compared at a glance. Points between the entered coordinates are interpolated — no data has been invented to smooth the curve.
Polar pattern
Generated from the first-order directivity formula for cardioid. It illustrates the pattern type — it is not a measurement of this individual model.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Shure |
|---|---|
| Model | SM57 |
| Type | Dynamic |
| Form factor | End-address |
| Polar pattern | Cardioid |
| Frequency range | 40–15,000 Hz |
| Sensitivity | 1.6 mV/Pa · -56.0 dBV/Pa |
| Max SPL | — |
| Self-noise | — |
| Impedance | 310 Ω (rated 150 Ω) |
| Connector | XLR3M |
| Powering | None (dynamic) |
| Weight | 284 g |
| Price tier | Budget |
| Introduced | 1965 |
Every figure above is from Shure’s own published datasheet for this model — see the datasheet. A dash means the manufacturer does not publish that figure; it does not mean zero.
What it gets used for
- Snare top
- Snare bottom
- Guitar cab
- Horn / brass
- Toms
- FOH vocal
- Lectern / podium
MicSense tags microphones by the job on a live stage, not by studio category — so you can filter for “kick in” or “monitor vocal” instead of working backwards from “large-diaphragm condenser”.
Compare it against the alternatives.
MicSense lets you put up to four microphones side by side — spec table, overlaid response curves and polar diagrams on one screen. Free with a free Squaresmile account.