Shure Beta 58A Microphone Review
Shure
Posted 2001-07-26
Here at Music Gear Review, we realize that many of our readers not only play instruments, but perform live and record their own music at home or in project studios. In addition, we are constantly getting e-mails from readers asking for suggestions of what brand and model of microphone would work well in both a live and project studio environment. What we asked Shure for was a solution that could be used effectively in both environments and one of the most cost effective answers that came back was the Beta 58A. With this microphone, you'll have the benefit of getting incredible vocal response in both environments.
Whether you're performing in live venues or recording in a home or project studio, the Beta 58A is the best bang for the buck you can find on the market. The Beta 58A developed or rather "evolved" from the Shure SM58, the leading vocal microphone of all time. The Beta 58A is becoming more and more popular with professionals, though, because its supercardioid pattern remains consistent throughout its entire frequency range. In addition, vocalists with extended range capabilities are finding that the Beta 58A is more responsive than many other dynamic microphones on the market. For this review, the model we are testing is the actual Beta 58A. Most performers, though, you will see on stage with the U24D/Beta 58 or some variant. This is simply the wireless version of the same microphone with the same tonal characteristics.
After unpacking our review unit, we first decided to hook it up to our Mackie 1202 VLZ-Pro mixer and record some acoustic and vocal tracks in Cakewalk Pro Audio. I played through a few Buffet songs and then recorded myself doing a little country crooning with George Strait's "Cross My Heart". The Jimmy Buffet tunes didn't really show off any of the microphone's capabilities because my rendition of his voice is pretty nasal. One mistake I always make when singing is trying to sound like or imitate the artist. However, "Cross My Heart", a ballad, sounded fantastic (if I can say so myself). I have a similar mid-range to George Strait and for those hard to reach zones, I found that I could cut back almost to a falsetto, move in a little closer to the microphone and hit the notes without straining - and without noticeable artifacts or feedback. This I liked. The Beta 58A didn't even wince when I got up close and personal with it and it picked up every nuance of my voice so I was able to maintain control without straining.
I also spent a few days practicing my live acoustic set to test different genres of music and vocal styles. Running the Beta 58A through the excellent microphone pre-amps of the Mackie 808S 1200 watt powered mixer produced some startling results. The Beta 58A can cover any range and any type of music you throw at it. For most harder styles and heavier rock music, some may prefer the actual SM58 variant, however, if you're willing to spend a bit more to get a higher quality microphone that can be used in any environment, we recommend the Shure Beta 58A.
Something you might find interesting as well is that we threw this Beta 58A in front of my Marshall VS65R to test the ability of this microphone to respond cleanly to a saturated high gain signal. Except for the most extreme conditions, the Beta 58A responded without mashing the signal and we were quite impressed with its ability to capture and deliver the impact of the signal without breaking up. Actually, there was a point when the recorded signal did startto degrade, but after some investigation, we realized it was the Marshall amp breaking up and getting muddy after passing the number 4 tick mark on the volume knob at 12 inches and off-axis from the speaker cone. All fun aside, we still recommend SM57s for this job until we work with another instrument microphone that sounds better to us. We just couldn't resist testing this microphone in this way. Since the Beta 58A is designed for vocals there is a roll off on bass frequencies that you would not want present when recording or miking guitars through amplifiers. In the studio, the Beta 58A is no match for a condenser microphone, but for a dynamic super-cardioid microphone, it's as close in sensitivity as you're going to get, in our opinion, without switching over to a condenser.
After about 8 hours of testing this microphone in different scenarios during the review process, there are three main characteristics that I've noticed about Beta 58A. First off, while stumbling around in our project studio and test room it took quite a bit of shock to produce artifacts in the recording or live sound process. This I would attribute to the excellent shock mount system built into the unit, which Shure states is of a pneumatic variety. This microphone is also very effective for those of you that like to get up close and personal with your microphones when singing. It takes a lot to muddy the signal by getting too close - even when practically yelling into the microphone! Heck, if it can keep up with a 65 watt Marshall amp to the 4 setting, it can keep up with anything! Lastly, of all the microphones we've taken a look at recently, the Beta 58A seemed to be the least susceptible to feedback annoyances. This was a handy feature as we record and test in a relatively small room and microphone feedback because of our large PA cabs (we're gluttons for ear punishment) is always an issue. The Beta 58A has a tailored frequency response of 50 to 16,000 Hz so it's not really designed for miking instruments, but rather providing an excellent tool for applications like vocals and backup vocals. The sound is simply incredible.
Bottom Line:
A large group of artists are now wielding the Beta 58A or some similar microphone in the same product family, including the wireless varieties. This is no fluke and did not happen by accident. The Beta 58A is probably the best live vocal microphone we've tested to this point. The nice thing is that it can also double as a great home or project studio microphone so you get twice the bang for your hard-earned bucks. The Shure Beta 58A can be found on the street for around $160 US. Because of the flexibility and double duty pulling capability of this incredible microphone, we feel its price is worth every penny. Check one out today!
