The Shure 58/57 design decisions/distinctions make total sense.
A: Depends
clear as mud
I think what they’re saying is buy both the 57 and the 58 and ‘let your ears decide’
As a business selling things it’s the perfect explanation.
I have no horse in this race.
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They are both great and work fine for both applications, there is no loser here
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No votes for the Sennheiser MD 421? With the 5 position roll off you get some options
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Not at 4x the price of a Shure SM57 or SM58 
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Microphones are a a lot like turntable rabbit holes.
You can get crazy expensive for things you will never ever ever here.
Yeah. For price/performace, nothing comes close to the SM58. The cheaper clones suck (I have tried several), and diminishing returns sets in very very fast. Meanwhile, the SM58’s are indestructible and sound great.
If I were looking more expensive, it wouldn’t be for dynamic mics. It would be for condensers, and then only for voice. They are kind of wasted on instruments IMO. YMMV.
If you can’t hear the difference between the 5 positions of the roll off you probably thought Roseanne Barrs rendition of our national anthem was good. The mic is great near speakers, was used by the Stones and others for vocals and drums…lots of them show up in old videos of most of the greats. While I have a Shure 58 also, the Sen will let you eat the mic if needed to hit highs or better yet lows and not get destroyed by the speakers or anything that is not in front of it. Radio stations used them for on air and small markets still do. As for basses/guitars… do you take the same attitude about buying a $125 no name guitar and or bass over the big names cause you will never hear the difference? Yes the 58 is an Ok mic but compared to the 421 there really is no comparison. I bought mine close to 40 years ago…I never lend it out cause I’d be in jail if some wanna be did a mic drop with it… my 58…no biggie I can get another any day for about $25 used…a good used 421 can be had for about the price of a new 58 you just have to do a little looking.
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My hearing is so bad that an old Fisher Price sing a long mic would be just fine.
Also it’s just a mic, it’s not worth getting worked up about it. I mean if it was a bass then yeah. But arguing over mics, meh.
More importantly he wants to record a didgeridoo. How much audio clarity do we need from someone blowing down a piece of drainpipe?
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This is one bummer about dynamic mics in general; they are really sensitive to mic proximity. The SM58 isn’t too bad (and is commonly used this way live) but some of the less expensive ones really suffer and you can definitely hear it on the 58 too.
I’m sure this affects the 421 too but I believe you it may not be as bad.
So you wouldn’t use it as a hammer etc. then? 
SM58’s multifunctional and miles cheaper, can’t go wrong with it 
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No no hammer… While the 58 is good if you get a chance to buy Senn at a good price do it or if you ever get a chance to mess around with one do it that 5 position bass roll off is incredible… As old as both of them are it’s amazing that they both are still so widely used And speaking of roll off the Senn wont roll off a table…thats gotta be worth $50-$100 right?
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Yes they do have proximity issues but as long as your name ain’t Stevie Wonder it shouldn’t be a problem once you get used to it Again as I said to Dead Pixels…if you get a chance try one, do, ,and be sure to play with the roll off… In a studio …well production room at a radio station , I can make Don Williams sound like he’s singing soprano on Good Ole Boys Like Me
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I think the Shure SM57 is an easy grab for instrument recording, sounds good on voice too but you gotta be careful of plosives
Foam covers cure that…just get the good ones…the cheap ones do nothing
I’d choose a large diaphragm condenser microphone. Something that will pickup the high up through air frequencies as well, so it doesn’t get muddy. Maybe a Lewitt LCT 440 PURE. They go for about $290 right now. Always remember, you can’t EQ in frequencies that your microphone never picked up…but you can EQ them out if you don’t want them.
But by lowering the volume of air going through your pipes you can go lower cause they vibrate slower…so if you can eat a mic, at a low sound volume level and that mic doesn’t pick up other sounds around you you can pretty much drop tune your voice… and if the mic likes low notes… that is why right or wrong most people called it a bass roll off because it takes out the bass Like I keep saying you gotta mess around with a 421 to believe it and it is not a one trick pony but alas it is old school and not flashy
Yeah. If I were going more expensive than a SM58, this is how I would go too. It will be a much larger change than to another dynamic mic.
It will still be a relatively small change but it will be noticable.
Everybody has their preferences…I worked with a 421 for years on air and really got to play with it doing multi track radio commercials…actually I did too good as I was the go to guy for writing and producing spots at some of the stations I worked at and too often the voice work…I learned analog multi track at one station that had 1/2 inch open reel 8 track… and I eventually bought a board and open reel 4 track for a home studio so I could work without interruption …wish I still had that set up but radio was moving to satellite feeds so it was off to something else… this might help explain my rabid love of the 421…