Shure PG56

The Shure PG56 is an affordable kick and tom microphone, and when I say affordable I mean affordable! It is a Cardoid Dynamic microphone that only cost 69 dollars. I have not seen a kick drum or tom microphone that cheap in a long time. I have had this microphone since 2007, in fact it was one of the first kick drum microphones that I purchased for my own home studio because I couldn’t afford a more expensive one at the time. It comes with a solid mounting system that is well built and wont fall off your drums, the PG56 itself is a smaller microphone and you could probably even hook it up without the drummer even knowing that it is on the kick or toms. It does come with a 15 foot cable which isn’t a very good one and should be replaced if you purchase this microphone. The PG 56 is made for close proximity to your drum or source.


OVERALL OPINION

I love how small this microphone is, and if you are not use to drumming while having a microphone attached it can always be a bit different especially with your toms and snare, but the Shure PG 56 is already so small it will not matter if you know its there or not, you wont knock it off. I am still happy that I own this microphone even though I don’t really use it much anymore. It is still good to have just to travel with because of its size and the price of it keeps me worry free from it getting broken or stolen while we are out recording somewhere else. For the price you really can beat what you get with the Shure PG 56. It is well worth the 69 dollars to buy it, especially if you are just getting started with recording drums. It will be a great first drum microphone for you to record with from home.

The Shure PG56 is an impressively small microphone designed specifically with drums in mind. It is a direct alternative to the SM57's, and often, the PG56 works better due to its small size. Once, a drummer came in and had no idea that he was being mic'ed because the PG56 microphones were so well hidden all around the drum set. Its size also betrays its image of durability. The Shure PG56 is a nastily rugged microphone, so wild drummers who still manage to hit the ridiculously small PG56 microphones on their toms are not going to blow it up like they may blow up an SM57. Don't get me wrong; the SM57 is pretty rugged. The PG56 microphones, are, simply by design, more safe from the abuses of a fast traveling stick of wood. And this thicker grill and padding make the PG56 pretty resistant to extremely high SPL levels. This is nothing I think anyone should be terribly impressed by, considering the fact that it is a dedicated drum microphone and this feature is a requirement of them.

The PG56 has a fairly standard frequency response, starting predictably at 50 Hz and rising to 15,000 Hz. Their response is tailored to deliver a nice punch, and while I have trouble describing the flavor, it provides a healthily budget minded alternative to the SM57. I will just say that it is in no means of lower quality in any way whatsoever.

OVERALL OPINION

The Shure PG56 is a very cute, but very impressive alternative to the SM57 when mic'ing up a drum kit for live use. There are indeed better sounding microphones out there, but not anywhere near at this price. As a vocalist, my standards for this are not terribly discerning, but I found them to be roughly on par with the vaunted SM57's. So use that standard, and decide for yourselves!

Micro cardoïde robust and compact with a very good value for money.
The capsule of PG56 is identical to that of PG57. PG56 and PG57 are entry-level products that meet the same functions as the Beta 56, SM57 and Beta57.
The PG56 fit perfectly in configurations or percussion type battery (like the Beta56). Personally I compared under the same conditions, the PG56 and SM57 ... Frankly it kif-kif (note that PG is 40% cheaper than MS).

OVERALL OPINION

I use the PG56 on stage for 1 year.
Curiously I am not drummer or percussionist, but I chose the PG56 for a wind instrument of high sound pressure (a bomb for lovers of Celtic music). Prior to that instrument, I used an SM58 that I found too "metallic". With the PG56 I found a very warm sound reproducing bass and midrange harmonics of my instrument.
Very good price / quality ratio - no emcombrant - color and output level equal to the SM57 ...