The Shure Beta 56A is a dynamic microphone that can be used both in the studio and for live sound reinforcement. I've actually only used the microphone in a live sound setting. I don't usually do live sound at all, but recently the studio that I work at put on a show and we used a few of these mics on the drum set. The mic is dubbed as any instrument mic, although I'd say it's definitely best for drums. It's got a frequency response of 50 Hz to 16 kHz and picks up sound in a super cardioid pattern. The mic is attached in a way that makes it easy to place it in different directions, much like many of the Shure Beta microphones, and namely the Beta 52A.

OVERALL OPINION

The Shure Beta 56A is overall a nice microphone that sounds great and is incredibly sturdy. I've only used the microphone on tom tom drums for live sound, but for this application it really did a nice job. I'd like to get the mic in a studio setting and see what it can do for sure. I'm not sure how it would fare on anything other than drums, as it definitely seems best suited for drums, although Shure advertises it as any overall instrument microphone and since I don't have experience using it on other instruments, it's hard for me to argue with them. However, Beta 56A is definitely perfect for close micing drums, as it can withstand a good amount of pressure and is built incredibly well like all Shure microphones. I'd definitely recommend taking a look into the Beta 56A if you're looking for some drum mics and beyond, as it's reasonably priced and it's one that will certainly last a while no matter what you're using it for...