Shure Beta 52A Reviews

Solid Mic

This is a fantastic mic for most kick drum sounds. I mainly use it for rock and metal as there is plenty of punch in it. It is very solid,well built and durable. I also use this mic for recording bass amps as it can give a very thight sound.

Sturdy mic that sounds great.

I've used mostly this and the AKG D112 and I have to say I like the Shure Beta 52 better. Even though the frequency response is pretty similar I do prefer the sound coming from the Shure.

The build quality is great, and if feels like you could choose a Beta 52a as you weapon of choice in the coming zombie apocalypse and you'd stand a pretty good chance.

I do wish they had designed the "holder" for the mic a bit differently, I find that the mic is to tall to work good with floor kick stands. But then again I don't have the most flexible of stands.

I have (contrary to the other review) used this on bass amps and I really like it, maybe not as a solo mic, but as a complement (with a 57 and/or a line signal) it's nice, this has been mostly heavily distorted bass. Recording clean bass might very well be different story,

Great Mic for "Kick-in" Drum

This microphone gives you exactly what you'd expect from it inside of a kick drum. Instant low end punch, and snap due to it's calibrated eq curve. Positioning is very easy with great results. What this mic will not give you is that sub thump "kick-out" sound (achieved with yamaha subkick or large condenser 3feet in front of kick). Even positioned as "kick-out" will not perform as good as subkick or large condenser.

Haven't tried it on other instruments other than cajon which sounded good but positioning proved to be tricky. I'm guessing that bass amp sound wouldn't sound so great with it, but would definitly like to try it on baritone sax.