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ericthegreat « great for a good drum sound »
Published on 01/10/12 at 14:55I read another review on the Shure Beta 56A and had to have it soI bought this from Guitar Center from one of their closeout sales years ago. It is a dynamic microphone intended on kick drums and bass instruments like tuba. Although I have yet to mic a tuba with it, with the proper placement this mic can make a kick drum sound pretty sweet.
OVERALL OPINION
To make a kick drum sound full, this mic requires a little boost around 100-150 hz. Since I only paid $50 for it on a whim, I wasn't expecting it to sound amazing, but like I said, with a little EQ you can get some pretty good results for the money. Just like EQ'ing the low-end, some midrange EQ can bring out a really nice "thwack" out of a kick drum with this mic as well. That being said, I wouldn't spend much more than $50 for it new. Since I bought it 8 years ago, it's held up very well and not given me any problems despite seeing a lot of studio work, which is certainly a tribute to the build quality of Shure products. I've never owned another kick drum mic, having only used Shure SM 57's on the kick in the past. This produces a similar result, but with less emphasis on the high end, which of course you wouldn't want from a kick drum mic either. I've never used it to mic a bass cab, so I can't speak on how positive those results would be. If it finally croaked on me, I don't think I'd buy another one - unless I was able to snatch it up for a deal again - but would instead go for a higher end mic, like one of the Shure kick drum mics. Of course, those mics are much more expensive, but for someone on a budget this is a great kick drum mic!
OVERALL OPINION
To make a kick drum sound full, this mic requires a little boost around 100-150 hz. Since I only paid $50 for it on a whim, I wasn't expecting it to sound amazing, but like I said, with a little EQ you can get some pretty good results for the money. Just like EQ'ing the low-end, some midrange EQ can bring out a really nice "thwack" out of a kick drum with this mic as well. That being said, I wouldn't spend much more than $50 for it new. Since I bought it 8 years ago, it's held up very well and not given me any problems despite seeing a lot of studio work, which is certainly a tribute to the build quality of Shure products. I've never owned another kick drum mic, having only used Shure SM 57's on the kick in the past. This produces a similar result, but with less emphasis on the high end, which of course you wouldn't want from a kick drum mic either. I've never used it to mic a bass cab, so I can't speak on how positive those results would be. If it finally croaked on me, I don't think I'd buy another one - unless I was able to snatch it up for a deal again - but would instead go for a higher end mic, like one of the Shure kick drum mics. Of course, those mics are much more expensive, but for someone on a budget this is a great kick drum mic!