Just how rugged is your microphone? Mats St̴lbr̦st, editor of the Stockholm-based Studio, took testing to a new extreme last year. He did violence to the legendary Shure SM58 Рthe sub-$100, vocal dynamic mic. It was used to hammer nails. It was dropped several meters. It was frozen. It was dunked in water. It was driven over by a car. It had beer poured on it. It was placed in a microwave atop a pizza. And the thing kept on working.
We covered the gory abuse back in October 2007. Little did we know then that the test wasn’t over. It seems Mats and company buried the SM58. The SM58 has been there, underground, for a year, even enduring a harsh, Swedish winter. To complete phase II of their test, the folks at Studio unearthed the poor mic, washed it (running it under a tap, of course, not doing it properly), and gave it another test. Surprise: still working.
Incidentally, the SM58 and variants make a fantastic gift for a musician. Even if they’ve already got one, they could probably use another.
Shure SM58 Product Page – and yup, positive they do not endorse this sort of thing, but if it keeps working like this, who needs a warranty?
Here’s the new video. May not be suitable for squeamish audiophiles:
And the original torture test:
Sound files promised in Studio 01-09, but that issue doesn’t seem to be up yet. (Selected from the dropdown.)
Got an SM58 – or other mic – that’s taken some abuse? Send us photos!