MAKING MICROPHONES: Making an Audio Icon: Inside Shure’s Stress-Test Gauntlet.

The SM58, a standard for live vocals known for its rugged design, is one of many products that Shure employees decimate on a regular basis. A few mics from every batch are brutalized in Shure’s destructive testing facilities to ensure they perform up to par. There they are scorched, smashed, frozen, and bathed in synthetic sweat.

Note the perhaps-correct use of the word “decimate” — though I doubt they really test 10% to destruction. Shure makes a great product, though I was always more of an Electro-Voice guy back in the day. Still use RE-20s in the podcast studio, though they don’t get much use these days.