Shure Beta 58a

I have been singing live and recording for over 25 years. Live shows from small bars to large clubs. Crappy gigs to once in a lifetime gigs. I have had the pleasure of playing live with Rick Daneko and Levon Helm of the Band. I have also recorded with many local NJ/NY/PA singer/songwriters and a Grammy nominee. My review is based on what this mic (Shure Beta 58) is made for... LIVE PERFORMANCE!!!! Not studio work.

Please pay no attention to the low score reviews based on studio work. The Shure Beta 58 is a mic for LIVE vocal performance and there are many other mics more capable for studio recording. This review is based on LIVE PERFORMANCE!!!

I have been using my Shure Beta 58 for 20 years and it finally went down. So, I had to purchase another mic. I loved my Shure Beta 58 so much, but I wanted to see what else was out there.

Shure 58?, Shure 57?, Sennheiser e935?... Forget them. Shure Beta 87A (maybe better for singer/songwriter or female voice, definitely not for me. Audix OMs and Sennheiser e945(not bad).

Unfortunately, I never got to try out the new Telefunken M80. The Neumann KMS105 and Sennheiser e965 were too expensive. And, I have heard that in a LIVE band situation (small to large club), the Neumann KMS105 and Sennheiser e965 are prone to feedback. (Also I have read posts that the Neumann may have a moisture problem that causes it to cut out) So, for the cost and potential problems, they were out. (remember this is a review based on live performance)

Considering I already knew what I was getting with the Beta 58, the choice was easy when I was through. Rugged, Superior gain, NEVER a feedback problem. Anyone who has had a feedback problem with this mic should note the possibility that they may have purchased a FAKE!!!

Heck, the cost is only $160. For less money you can buy a crappy mic or for more money you can buy a mic that still can't outperform the Beta 58.

I was dead set on going with a different manufacturer when I started, but couldn't. There is definitely nothing better in this price range.

Been making music for 25 years. I have several high end preamps made by Avalon, Demeter, and A-Designs Pacifica. Been recording for many years. I'm recording to Pro-Tools LE.

Overall I'm not crazy about this mic. I primarily do studio work and don't play much live. In the studio I prefer a better mic for vocals such as a an AKG 414 or a Shure SM7B. I think this mic would be great for live work on stage, but for critical studio work I just don't find it that useful. If you want great vocals, get a better mic than the beta 58a. If you like Shure products, I'd recommend you try an SM7B instead. You will thank yourself.

On the plus side, this mic appears to be built like a tank. I think it could be dropped a few times and still work. Also it has noticeably higher output than an SM7B or a SM57. Absolutely no problem driving a weak preamp with this mic.

Also, I find that I can use this mic for guitar cabs as long as I remove it's windscreen. Doing this opens the sound up noticeably. But for vocals, removing the screen is not really acceptable.

im a lead singer in a rock band,and have been for a while, our PA consists of martin tops and bins,with JBL monitors and mixer with a crown amcron amp, with a beringer ultragraph eq, i have aways used a SM58 until about a year ago when i decided to buy a sennheiser radio mic, BIG MISTAKE, not that its no good ,but...., i had a beta 58 on trial a few weeks ago,and WOW,what a difference, the extra volume and clarity is amazing,which really suits my voice, the beta 87a is a great mic also,but in my humble opinion,if your a male vocalist it wouldnt really suit your voice,its generally aimed at female singers with hi octave voices, TOTAL SUMMARY......THE BETA 58 IS THE BUSINESS, TRUST ME. HOPE THIS REVEIW HELPED YOU, GOOD LUCK.

I've been making music for about 7 years. Done a recording school, and several indie projects so far. I use Logic and Pro Tools for recording through an Apogee soundcard.
I'm currently making my way into London's live scene.

Dynamic, hypercardioid.
I was first underwhelmed with this mic. I did some major tests on this, comparing it against a beta 87a and a neumann kms 105. Unsurprisingly, the mic was boomier and had a lot less high end, with an emphasized midrange. The frequency response is quite smooth, though, and a dip in the upper midrange can smooth things out in live situations.
An amazing discovery is how the mic works in a studio recording situation. I had to track in a room with dodgy acoustics, and large diaphragm condenser was just sounding like a bathroom recording. Do me a favour: TAKE THE GRILL OFF, put in a pop shield, and sing about 2 inches of the diaphragm. The breathiness is there, extremely controlled, extremely nice. It beat the Neumann, I'm not kidding you, for that project.
Really pleasantly surprised.
BTW this is Nine Inch Nails's mic of choice for live situations, and the Still live sessions were also recorded with it.

Been playing & singing for 20 years or so, recording seriously for the past 5 years now.

It's a hypercardioid dynamic mic. It's designed for live vocals and that's what I mainly use it for, plus a bit of harmonica. I tend to sing and play harp pretty close on the mic and it works a treat for me. As it's hypercardioid it's very directional, which helps with separation.

I also use it if I'm doing live sound, and compared to the SM58 it has a noticeably louder output and sounds just a little cleaner. It's a good, usable sound with enough warmth and presence. It might not be the best mic for every voice, or style but it suits me fine.

I've recorded a lot of live gigs where this was the main vocal mic, and have found I get a really clean, usable sound. In the studio it's less useful, though times when I've been recording noisy rock bands or drum'n'bass MCs it can sometimes be a better option than a condenser mic (punchy and cutting) and for a quick demo it's certainly viable.

I used it at home to record acoustic guitar and bouzouki when nothing else was to hand and found it coloured the sound way too much in the high-mid range. It is however my first choice for recording harmonica, nice and close up just like on stage, full bottom range and clear mids and highs.

Not a mic for every use, but as a dependable, high-quality vocal (and harmonica) mic on stage you can't beat it.

Active Musician (Drummer, Vocalist for 20+ years), Project Studio Enthusiast (Motif ES8, Alesis Micron, Apple MacBook Pro, Logic, Alesis Firewire 16 Mixer, Rode NT1A (LDC), AKG C1000S (SDC, Pair), Audix VX 5 (C), Shure Beta 58 (D), Audix I5, Shure SM57, Rane HC6, KRK 5s with Subwoofer)

-I play live with a power pop band (U2, Crows, Coldplay, Stones, Who)
-I have a DAW based project studio for recording (my band also does original material)

I have used my trusty Beta 58 live for over 10 years. It is bullet proof, easy to manage and has an overall sound palette that is warm and true. I have been very pleased (but not overwhelmed) by it's performance. If you want a pro piece of gear that won't let you down and will give you a solid live audio performance...you should have one in your mic cabinet (especially if you play live...I have not used it much for recording, but I have not heard that this is a strength for the Beta 58). Your next step up would be to a condensor like the Beta 87 or Audix VX5...excellent condensors with tremendous clarity, warmth and feedback rejection (The Audix wins to my ears...but check it out for yourself).

10 years playing guitar/piano
Church musician/various bands

Listen up. After talking to the friendly folks at Shure I was notified that there has been a proliferation of "fake" sure microphones.

The story: After purchasing a new beta 58a from e-bay for $100 and wondering why it sounded so crappy I called the people at Shure to see if it was a hardware issue. The representative told me that there is a ton of fake "shure" microphones coming out of Asia. They find them all the time when they are sent in for warranty work. He said it's pretty much a disaster how many fake Shure microphones are out there. I decided to just send the microphone back to the ebay seller. He said your best bet is to buy from a reputable dealer so even though I hate paying full price for stuff I am going to suck it up and shell out the bones for one.

I'm a singer so voice is my primary instrument. I also play Bass & keys, but mostly I'm a singer. I've been singing, preforming and recording for over 20 years fairly serious but my main job is I'm a music teacher. I've been singing live into a Shure SM58 for many years, last year desided to ungrade to a Beta 58A (lt blue stripe) becuase one of the other guys in my band had one and liked it. Currently I'm using it with a Yamaha MM1410 mixer, EV7100 power amp and a pair of EV Sx100 main speakers, JBL monitor, this is our live set up for a power trio which plays Jazz, Rock and blues. I sing most of the lead vocals.

I compaired this dynamic mic to AKG, EV, and Sennheiser, the best I could get for under $200. I like the Sennheiser e835 which I own and have used on gigs alot I think of it as fairly mellow in tone. I think the Beta 58A is brighter live. I would have bought any of these high quality mics but the dealer gave my the best price on the Beta 58 at $139. so it added up to a fairly good value. Live the mic has a bass proximity effect similar to the SM58 and I think more highs in terms of ballence. This is a vocal mic so don't try to use it on anything else it doesn't sound right I'm sure it was designed just for voice. It is a very good value but not cheap at the price so a 9 overall.

Been recording since I was 8 yrs old and I'm still at it at 48. Playing the same ammount of time. Got one of these the other day and gave it a full test. I used it for a vocal track recording digitaly as a test. I pre amped it, used an EQ and also used it direct in.

It had some wierd ambience to it I wasnt used to. Not nessasarily bad but it had a breathy sound to it. It did have great sensitivity to neuances to my voice and got a pretty good recording after awhile but found I had to EQ the hell out of the mids on the recording when I was done. My voice is not great but I know how to use a mike to get my dynamics and tone. All in All I was dissapointed with the direct recording. Still have to try live recording of the PA which is how I usually record. I use Large diaphrams for separate vocal tracks which are great, Guess I'm spoiled.

I then tried it live on my PA. Holey Cow what a sound. I had been using a AXS3 for about 2 yrs mostly which is a great mike but I was getting tired of it. This is definately a live stage mike. I coukd nearly get a 30% higher volume level without feedback. I could also keep my EQs on the board nearly Flat. Great Mike for Live. I'd rate it 6 for recording and 10 for live for sure excuse me (Shure)

I am a performing musician. Making music is my full time job so I do "Sing for my supper". I have been playing guitar for almost 30 years and singing for 20 or so. I have a hodge podge of equipment, most notably a Carvin S/L mixer in my home studio and tannoy monitors. Obviously, playing out, I play on a variety of equipment. Most commonly Mackie boards and amps.

I use my Beta 58A, at the moment, primarily in the rehearsal studio. However, I have used it in any imaginable situation and have played live with it numerous times with generally great results. I would use this mic to record in a pinch and don't feel I would need to make any apologies. I find it cuts through the mix quite easily and I don't have to waste much time finding a good sound. Like most working musicians, I can find my way around the equipment but I am not a professional caliber sound man. For me, the simpler, the better. So in the studio,where we usually don't have a sound man for rehearsals, this mic is great. The beta realy requires no EQ at all in my studio setting. It is an extremely clean, full sounding mic that handles my low male voice quite well without ever sounding boomy. The beta is strong and crisp with ZERO sibilance from the top of my sssssst's, through the wonderfully warm yet clean midrange, to the bottom of my vocal range. A beautiful presentation of this male voice without ever hindering my performance. Easy to use, easy to listen to, and absolutely never fatigueing.
I have read the review below a few times over and I am really stumped. i mean, i am sure there are folks who, for whatever reason, just won't like this mic. However, the statements the reviewer is making just do not relate, in any way, to the mic I know.
Specifically;
Feedback issues? never.
Sibilance? never
Harsh? you have to be kidding me.
The reviewers continuing statements would seem to shed some light on the matter. The advice to move to a Standard 58 or the either of the 57's is quite telling. All 3 of those mics have tailored frequency responses. Most notably, they each offer varying degrees of mid boost and warmth characteristics. The SM58 is almost without exception available anywhere I've played. It is an extremely forgiving mic and can cover a multitude of sins quite well. There is a reason it is the biggest selling mic of all time.
The beta is, by comparison, a much more honest mic and slightly less forgiving although I still think it makes me sound better.
As far as feedback, I also own a Neumann KMS 105, arguably the least feedback prone mic for live use. I would say my Beta is just as good. Neither has ever presented a problem.
My guess is inferior equipment, improper placement (monitors, mains etc) or both are responsible for any of those issues.
Th Beta58A is an absolute world class professional vocal mic and I rank it with the best I have ever used.
Given the available street prices, an absolute steal.