Looking for some Dope recommendations about microphones

Cafe Society
1

I’m currently in the market for a new microphone, and I wanted to check in with you all for some insights. See, I need this microphone for three different scenarios:

  1. Performing live on stage
  2. Recording a single voice/instrument
  3. Recording multiple voices/instruments (getting a live recording of a few fellow derelict musicians performing in my living room, for instance)

I know that, really, the ideal would be to have a separate microphone for each situation; however, that’s not really in the budget right now. In fact, the budget is pretty minimal even for the one microphone, but I really need to invest in one, since my 16 year old SM58 (my only mic currently) is finally beginning to show its age, and wasn’t really suited for some of my purposes to begin with.

I’ve been trying to do some research, but it’s proving more difficult than I thought. Talking to salespeople at the music store and visiting company web sites tends to provide information skewed towards the positive - this makes sense, since they are trying to sell merchandise. Looking at purchaser reviews on line, on the other hand, tends to provide information skewed towards the negative - this also makes sense, since people are more likely to write a review when they are dissatisfied with something.

So, I figured I’d ask the folks here at the SDMB. Any thoughts?

2

I can’t think of anything better than an SM58 or Beta 58A, except, perhaps, more than one of them.