The best way to check out recording gear is in your own studio where you know the environment, the live room, and you know intimately how your instruments sound. Especially with microphones, you can really hear what they sound like and what character they bring to a familiar space. For me, engineering and sound design is all about experimenting with sound, and learning what’s possible, so I’ll jump at the opportunity to geek out with gear. Lucky for me a had a whole set of new Sure Beta Microphones.
Recordinghacks.com is a tremendous resource for microphones, and they have a plethora of reviews, specs, and audio files to listen to. I’ve written a number of reviews for the site, including the one below.
I asked my engineer friend Stan Katayama (Rage Against The Machine, Judas Priest, Paul Gilbert) if he’d lend me a hand and his ears to help out. We tested the Betas out in various ways including the ridiculous room mic test where we did a shootout with a vintage 70s Neuman U87, Shure SM57, JZ BT-201, and a Telefunken/AKG D19 (aka the Ringo mic).
The Beta mics we recorded with were the Beta 91, Beta 98AMP, Beta 98A, and the Beta 181, It is an extensive review with lots of sound clips, video, and pictures.
Good times!
Read the full Shure Beta microphone review at recordinghacks.com