Behringer XM8500

About me: Semi-pro regularly gigging musician for 25+ years, full-time broadcaster for 20 years.

Using these mics at the radio station where I work for production, as well as my own live sound system & home recording studio.

The Behringer XM8500 is a dynamic mic very similar in sound, appearance, and build quality to the Shure SM58. It's perfectly suited for any application where you would normally use an SM58.

I've owned 6 of these for my band work for several years, and they've never failed to perform. Our drummer also runs a live sound company, doing concert sound for national acts in large venues. He owns a large number of mics, including the Shure Beta 58s, which are an upgraded version of the SM58. He bought a 6-pack of the Behringer mics as backups, and wound up using them as much as the Shure Betas. They really are that good.

When the radio station where I work decided to buy a few of the Behringer mics, I thought it would be a good opportunity to A-B compare them with the Shure SM58. I recorded a piece of commercial copy with the Shure, and then the same copy with the Behringer, to our workstation PC using Adobe Audition. I was careful to leave the levels on the board set the same for both mics. I knew the Behringer mic would sound very similar to the SM58. What I didn't expect was that it would sound a little better. The Behringer has a slightly hotter output, and a little better bass response than the Shure, which is 4 to 5 times the cost of the Behringer. It's a no-brainer. These are a terrific mic for very little cash.

I've owned quite a lot of Behringer gear, and I haven't ever really been disappointed by any of it. Regardless of where they're made, they crank out great products at unbelievable prices. And this mic is THE best deal on a mic anywhere. Highly recommended.

I am a home karaoke hobbyist. My gear is a hodgepodge of stuff I've collected over the years:

Two Sony F-V620 mics
One V-2GO Dyna-Mic.01 wireless mic
Boss BX-4 (used as a mic mixer)
Samson S-Com 4 (to handle dynamics of mics and music separately)
Alesis Quadraverb (to EQ and add effects to mic output)
CAVS DVD-203G (SCDGs are the best thing ever)
Realistic 2102020A 10 band EQ (for the music only)
Realistic 32-1200C (to mix mics and music together)
BBE 422A Sonic Maximizer (to process final sound)
Panasonic SA-PT954 5.1 wireless surround system (Costco is awesome)

I bought these mics as I was looking for a fourth mic to add to my system since I had one more input on my mixer.

I researched on the internet and of course came up with the Shure SM58 and Sennheiser E835 which were going used on EBay for nearly the price you???d pay for them brand new.

In some review somewhere, probably here, someone mentioned the XM8500 as an option for the Shure. A quick google search led me to musicians friend. I thought the price was too good to be true until I read through the hundreds of positive reviews. Picked up the 3-pack the day after Christmas 2008 for $64 shipped 3-day air to Hawaii.

Even if they probably aren???t as indestructible as the SM58 they sound great. They have a lot less handling noise than the F-V620s, which I now know sound pretty darn good if the XM8500 sounds close to a SM58. If the XM8500 had a switch it would be perfect for me but I have had no feedback problems.

Since these are for home use I have no way of knowing how well they will do in the harsh, cruel world but based on other reviewers they seem to do fine on the road. Can???t beat the bang for the buck with these mics; I gifting one to a friend that was also looking for a great hobbyist???s starter mic. Now I might look for a stand since it came with a clip!

I've been a semi-pro muscican for about 5 years, playing live and recording on a basic home PC set up.

I bought this as an all purpose(but mainly vocal/harmonica) mic on a recommendation that it was as good as an SM58 for a fraction of the price and have been very impressed by it. Very warm sound - can be a bit boomy & bassy for live vocals (which you could always fix with the EQ) but it is my instrument mic of choice in my home studio. It has a nice natural compression that makes it particularly useful when micing up percussion. Definitely seems as robust as an SM58 - i've dropped mine a couple of times to no ill effect. Also comes in a solid plastic case which is better able to handle gigging than those shure leather pouches.

I've been in the music business since the late sixties, I've worked as semi-pro and later full professional doing session work in recording studios. I mainly record to the computer using Cubase or Cubasis, and most of the gear in my studio is Behringer - it does the trick for me.

My gear includes:-
Behringer T1952 tube composer
Behringer Virtualizer Pro
Behringer 32 band graphic equalizer
Behringer V-amp Pro
Behringer Patchbay
Behringer mixers x2
Behringer B1 condensor mics
Behringer GMX212 Vtone amplifier
Fender Telecaster
Custom handmade Stratocaster
Acoustic guitars

For the price it's a good mic, comparable to the Shure SM57 without a doubt, and the specifications are almost identical from what I can see, except that I think the pop filtering works a little better in the Shure. If I get pop problems from using them for vocals then I get over them by using a foam cover that I bought, or one of these pop filter screens, which I find works very reliably.

Being under a third of the price of an SM57, I am realistically sure that there is something substandard about the XM8500 in comparison, but to date I haven't found anything in that direction, maybe whatever it is will rear it's ugly head at sometime in the future.

I've used the Shure Unidyne 1 for stage work, plus Shure Unisphere and AKG dynamics, and I'd be quite happy using this mic as well - as I do. I have three of the XM8500 mics and I use them in the studio mainly for recording guitar and percussion, and other things, and they do an excellent job, even vocals record well with them. I cannot fault these microphones, they have never let me down, and they look and feel good. They have a nice warm sound, come in their own high impact plastic padded cases complete with mic stand fitting. I'd happily recommend them to anyone. They are easy to disassemble, repair and service, and are well over five years old and still going strong.

I am an average singer in an average rock band playing weekends in night clubs through an average p.a.

I use a Mackie powered mixer and Peavey and Behringer mains.

Other than being incredibly hot (loud) any differences between this and more expensive mics would take some a/b testing to discern. That it approaches or equals an SM58 at one fifth the price makes it a very good buy.

I bought it because my Audix OM2 is in my storage unit behind a door plowed in with 3 feet of ice and snow.

An average singer in an average rock band (like me) would do quite well with this microphone.

If nothing else it would make an excellent spare should YOUR mic get
stuck behind a wall of ice.

Pro working musician / multi-instrumentalist / vocalist..39+ yrs. Over 1500 hrs as a session player. I've been using Behringer's XM8500 ever since they came out. I own over 24 of them and use them every week in my day job which is playing nursing homes & senior centers. I also outfitted our 8 pc. swing / R&B band with these...the guys love 'em!. I even got my older brother to use them on his gigs in South Dakota. He was a die-hard AKG user for over 35 yrs and has finally retired his old war horses. I give the XM8500 a solid "10" on the quality meter. German technology & Asian assembly...I can live with that knowledge quite easily. Sign me: "Making Beautiful Music In The Berkshires".

I'm a audio enginneer doing live sounds and audio installation for 8 years now.

I got this off second hand from a closed down club. Few months old and mint condition. Didn't expect much until I tested it with Behringer's powered mixer. Sounded quite nice to my ear and definitely very workable for live work at the half of the price of a SM58.

Music Technology College student. Been recording and building up my own studio for 3 or 4 years. been playing music for 7 years.

I bought this mic some time ago when i just wanted to have a mic to use. Wasnt looking for anything fancy or expensive. It is a cardioid dynamic mic and is clearly behringers attempt to create a cheap version of the legendary shure sm58. Although it doesnt live up to the 58, it is less than half the usual price and is a behringer, who arnt as renouned for mics as shure, obviously.

I don't know if this is the same as a MX8500, but suspect it is the same mic.


Been playing 41 years. Recording close to 30 maybe more. I have a home studio and am working on my 3rd CD. Using Adats (previously used Tascam DA-88).
I monitor with a regular older home stereo system ( old marantz reciever). I also check frequencies with a pair of studio monitor headphones.
I attempt to get sounds and arrange and produce my music the way music sounded back when rock music was not called oldies. I also arrange and produce my stuff to sound like it came right out of 1972. I go for the wide stereo imaging and clarity of rock era music. I also go for that very low compressed bass slammed to tape sound of music from that era.
I mix everything in analog to get a rock era sound.

This is a dynamic mic that looks similar to a sure 58 or EV 357. I think it is a cardoid pattern, but not sure.
I have been using a pair of these mics up until today to mic mounted toms.
I like the noise floor of this mic, it is very quiet. I also like the presence peak, it seems a little less harsh than a 58. I think perhaps the presence peak is at lower frequencies than a 58.
I originally got these mics just as spares but when I heard them I decided they were easily good enough to put to use regularly so I miced the toms with them. I just got them because they were cheap and you can never have too many to choose from.

I am rating this mic because today I chose to experiment a little with my guitar sounds. In the past I have used an Equitek E-100 to mic guitar cabs with. I have been happy with my sound doing so, but wanted to see what other sounds I could get. I use the Equitek primarily for vocals, which, I get fantastic vocal sounds with. I was not unhappy with the Equiteks sound for guitar cabs.
I took a small crate amp (65 watt 3 channel solid state) into a small vocal booth and sit it on the floor, and just hung the behringer mic in front of the speaker. Wrapped the cable around the amp handle and just let it dangle against the grill cloth, just as a starting point to check the mics charactaristics.
I started out with the amp on the overdrive channel ( as opposed to the full out dirt channel).
I was amazed. I have tried sure 57s in the past for recording guitar cabs and never liked the tone with distorted sounds. This mic blew me away. It is deathly quiet, and captured the tonal characteristics of the amp perfectly. What comes into the headphones and out of the monitoring speakers is exactly what the amp sounds like when I am in the room with it. This amp, even though it is a small combo, has a huge beefy sound.
I left it set just as it is, and am going to record some guitar tracks on my current project.
I seems as if this mic will be what I use to mic guitar cabs from now on.
The only flaw this mic has is that it does not have an on/off switch. For in the studio it is great. For stage use, a switch is always preferable.
Don't let the price of this mic fool you. I had an EV357 for years that I used, and I much prefer this mic to it. After hearing what it does with a guitar cab I would pay far more for one if I didn't have this one, and had to shell out the bucks to get one. This would be an excellent mic at 100 bucks, but at 30 bucks, man, you cannot beat it.
I strongly recommend this mic to anyone micing guitar cabs. It sure captures the beef for the blues tones I am using on my current project.