The Shure SM-7

I just got a Shure SM-7 microphone and have been amazed at what it is capable of! I record a lot of voiceovers for videos, so that's why I got it. After recording the project I got the SM-7 for, I decided to try it out on some other things.

Electric guitar - the SM-7 did a great job here! It sounds a lot like an SM-57, but there is a lot more punch and detail, probably because the SM-7 has a much beefier transformer.

Bass drum - gets the job done well, but it requires a little more EQ than my Beta 52. I wouldn't but the SM-7 on bass drum unless I didn't have the Beta 52.

Floor tom - pretty impressive as well.

Leslie speaker - I put the SM-7 on the lower rotor of a Leslie speaker and really liked what I heard. Before I had been using the Beta 52, which is designed for kick drum, so it doesn't have much midrange. The SM-7 had a lot more lower midrange, which gave the organ a much beefier sound, especially for chords and walking bass. This is now the permanent parking spot for the SM-7 when not in use for other things.

Tenor sax - I have a friend who plays tenor sax with me, and we had previously used an SM-57 on that, but we were never happy with the sound. The SM-7 made the tenor sax sound a lot more detailed, so it cuts through the mix a lot better.

The SM-7 is really worth checking out! Think of it as a more refined SM-57. It works for the same applications as the 57, and then some. It sells for around $275 on eBay.