Hey everyone! I'm torn between buying three different dynamic microphones

57, SM7B, or beta52

I have a drum recording session coming up and I need a kick drum mic. Obviously, the beta52 IS a kick drum mic, but the other two could also have their advantages. The sm57's being the price (if it's good enough to mic a kick drum and maybe fatten it with a trigger). The SM7B I'm intrested in because it's use for vocals as well.

I already own a 57, two sdcs, and a Rode NT1ss (i've tried it on kick and hated it). All of those microphones make my voice sound harsh. I have a pretty thin voice without much body, and the nt1 brings out a sort of metallic characteristic in my voice that I dislike, unless I pretend to have a really deep voice and sing unnaturally. Similar case with the 57. I was thinking the dark tone of the sm7b could go well with me and also serve as my kick mic? But I've also heard lots of shit about the mic

As you may have realized if you remember my last posts, I'm still sort of a beginner, your opinions are really helpful
What do you guys think?

 

The room is crucial! What are the room acoustics like?

10 Steps to the Perfect Vocal Recording at Home 
www.sonible.com/blog/10-steps-to-the-perfect-vocal-recording-at-home%e2%80%af/

I recommend the Shure BETA 57A.
Ideal for drums (snare, tom), guitar amps and wind instruments, also suitable for vocals.
www.shure.com/en-US/products/microphones/beta_57a?variant=Beta%252057A

Boss VE-22 Vocal Performer --> www.boss.info/us/products/ve-22/ & www.thomann.de/de/boss_ve_22_vocal_performer.htm

 

Last edited: Feb 22, 2026 at 5:31 PM

SM57 is the best "all round" mic ever made.
Guitar, snare, kick ...

You can even record a full kit mono, for demo :

But you can do the same with SM7B :

So to me, as you already got a 57, get a 7B, so you can try different mics.
You will learn a lot.

 

Interesting! Didn't consider these. I'm in Argentina so the import market is pretty expensive, I had these 3 options from the used market.

I'll check them out!

I have an untreated room, does ent sound too bad, but there's some room noise that the condenser picks up

 

The sm57 can be used to get the attack from the batter head.
The sm7b could be a good choice for the resonance head, I had a moving coil mike from Sennheiser I loved to use for that, and the sm7b is moving coil as well.
When using two mikes it is important to align the phase at mixing.
Honestly you can't go wrong with any of these, just keep in mind that the sm57 is quite thin in the lower end.