The question can't be answered properly without knowing what it is you want to record and also the acoustic space you have to record in.

Miking a snare drum in a treated studio with an SM57 and running it though a quality pre-amp like the Daking produces a stunning result. People who have only heard 57s/58s going through PA mixer pre-amps are missing a treat by not trying these $100 mics feeding a top-notch pre-amp.

Primarily its going to be used for vocal and guitar recordings. Right now I am using my spare room (10x10) to record in. Definitely not professional, but I have done a bit of acoustic treatments on the room. I hope this helps...I'd be happy to answer any other questions. Thank you

That's helpful, and puts things in a context. Is it a male voice? What do you have in your microphone locker to use for capturing the vocal and the guitar? I'm assuming these will be tracked and not recorded at the same time.

At the level of the daking, most mics will sound good.
The first mic any homestudio should buy is a sm57 (vocal, snare, guitar amp and many percussions Will sound good with it)

If You already have one, a good condenser is my next pick. You can try the akg214 but if You could get a used akg414 or a shure sm44, they are some work horse that will be good on a numerous sources.

Yeah its a male voice, kind of a low rhaspy tone for what its worth. All I have right now is a cheap little pv2, so essentially nothing. I've heard a lot about the sm57 and 58's. I was considering the sm7, how do those compare for what I'm looking for? Or is it not really worth the extra money compared to the sm57 or 58? Thank you guys so much I appreciate the help

The SM7 is a great dynamic mic to have in your arsenal...and it's been used far more than just a few times - and on some huge albums, too - most notably on Michael Jackson's Thriller.... but... they were also using a Harrison 32 Console to track through, and it had (has) great pre amps. Thus, while you don't necessarily need a Harrison console, you will need a mic preamp that's ballsy enough to gain up the SM7, because it has a fairly low output.

Both the Shure SM57/58 are also very good dynamic mics, and are standards in most every studio's mic cabinets. They can take very high SPL's, so you can use them on loud guitar amps, snare drums, kick, close miked brass, etc. They are very durable. It's the only mic I know that can spend an entire winter in a front yard covered by snow and ice, and then run over by a riding mower in the spring, and still work.... and BTW, I'm speaking from personal experience on that scenario. ;)

Regardless of what you end up using as your main studio vocal mic, whether you stay with a dynamic like the SM7 or go with a condenser mic (of which there are far too many models to mention here - and all over the charts price wise) it's still a good idea to have a 57 or 58 in your mic collection, too. They are great for miking guitar amps, snare drums, toms, and are also widely respected live vocal mics as well. You can even use them as a vocal recording mic - but again, you need a good sounding and powerful preamp to get the most out of them.

The bottom line is that it's not all about the mic. Yes, the mic quality matters - whether it's a dynamic, condenser or ribbon mic, quality counts - but it's really only half of the equation, because a mic preamp can make - or break - the way a microphone sounds - or the way it is intended to sound. You could have a beautiful, expensive mic - like a Nuemann U87 for example, or even a solid, good sounding SM7...but if you couple those mics with a cheap preamp with low quality converters, those mics will never give you the fidelity that they are truly capable of giving - which is what you are paying for when buying mics of good (SM7) or great (Neumann), caliber. ;)

FWIW

d/

You hear what everybody is telling you. The SM-57 & 58 is every bit as good as the SM-7/7B's. The differences between those $100 microphones and the $300 plus SM-7's is less than you think. Sure, it's got a bigger output transformer. Sure, it's got a Bass cut off the filter and a flat or presence rise switch. The 57 & 58's don't have those switches. And they do not screw directly to the microphone stands. But what they also do that the 57 & 58 doesn't do, is to put you the right distance away from the diaphragm. The diaphragm in the SM-7's is midway down that long foam pop filter. Not up at the very end like the 57 & 58's. Which is why I always recommend that when recording vocals on a 57 or 58, that you use a large foam pop filter. Just like the one you see on the president of the United States microphones which are 57's. At one point, the White House went with one of the newer miniature SHURE condenser microphones. In the end, they decided the 57's sounded much better. So they dumped the idea of using the condenser microphones for the President of the United States of America. Now he might not be much of a singer but... there's a good reason to use those microphones.

What really burns my ass is that, while I have no college degree. I've actually had to teach some of the college professors to use 57 & 58's instead of using dumb ass condenser microphones, where they are not appropriate. Especially when you plug them into quality preamps like Neve, API and Daking's. And it's always blown their minds because they cannot think any further than the book. Our work is not a work by numbers job. We don't mix or record with our eyes. We use these other two thingies slightly askew to the left and right of our eyes.

I've got ears of years.
Mx. Remy Ann David

Thank you guys so much, you have been an extreme help. I think i'm going to buy a 57 and see if i like that. Worst case scenario I have a great instrument mic. But, I think I really like the 57 daking combo. One more question before we close this out, how does the 57 handle for live shows? thank you all again.

I've used a 57 for live vocal work pretty much exclusively for the last 35 years - other than the times I'm doing bigger shows and am using a production company's gear, at which point, most of the time, it's a 58.

Rugged, durable... if you read my post above then you read my experience with the one I have and still use, which I originally bought in 1979. Here it is again:
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They are very durable. It's the only mic I know that can spend an entire winter in a front yard covered by snow and ice, and then run over by a riding mower in the spring, and still work.... and BTW, I'm speaking from personal experience on that scenario. ;)
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No foolin' either.

Solid, no severe handling noise, and great rejection from other sources of sound on a stage.

My advice: if you have the ability to do so, try each on your own voice. Some prefer the 57, others the 58. But they are very close.

d/