Shure Beta 58A Review - Earthworks SV33 For Narration & Comparison

[@tom_k_d]

Beta58a were made in Mexico for a long time, but production was transferred to China a few years ago. I did notice quality problems with several China made Shure Mics, sound wise as well as in regards to workmanship.

[@GeorgeZambra]

i wish i had your voice.. i love your low voice very nice

[@dupoirier5041]

I’m curious about the beta58 and the new nexadyne🧐🧐

[@billybartcody3591]

I perform using a custom microphone comprised of the beta58A capsule housed within a vintage 55 body (phantom power provides power to led lights housed within the chrome polished shell, makes for a great stage presentation). I have a deeper voice, tend to do a lot of proximity work to avoid clipping the signal and maintain consistent volume between louder and quieter parts of a song. For that kind of control in a louder stage environment, and for the wide range of styles this mic can cover - I mean from screaming metal to smooth crooning to breathy jazz and everything in between, I find there's just nothing like it. I do find the rolloff and humps do require some EQ for my voice. I'll boost the lows by a couple db and pull a bit of a parametric dip up around 1100k if things get nasally or brash on a brighter PA. It's a great mic for cutting through a mix or noisy room, there's definitely some saturation/coloration but it tends to flatter. Great mic for running through an fx chain, you can slather it with all kinds of distortion and reverb and maintains its own and provides a nice core sound for processing.

[@image66media]

I’ve worked with all variants of Shure microphones in live sound for decades in all genres of music. The SM58 and Beta 58A have a saturating effect on vocals that is off-putting for some voices. The purer the vocal, the more irritating the effect. This is especially true with classical and jazz music where either strings or piano are the accompaniment. However, with live music where there are electric guitars and a drum kit, such as rock or pop? The SM58 and Beta 58A has the ability to hold the vocal in the mix. Electric guitars compete with the vocals, and the 58’s keep the vocals forward. The Beta 87A is possibly the worst Shure vocal microphone for rock/pop I’ve found-it’s hard to keep the vocal sitting on top of the instruments. With stage monitors at maximum volume, both SM-58 and Beta 58A give the vocalists confidence in a way that the only other widely used microphone that comes close is the SE Electronics V7. As to the choice between the SM58 and the Beta 58A, in the context of live sound with a standard guitar/bass/drums/keys setup, my general rule of thumb is for handheld, the SM58 is my preferred microphone, but for stand-mounted, the Beta 58A is preferred. If female vocalist, the Beta 58A tends to be slightly airier, but I’d rather use almost any Sennheiser (835, 845, 935, 945) than the Shures. For male vocalists, the Shures are usually a touch better. The biggest downside of the Beta 58A is the same with all super-cardioid handhelds. Plosives. That said, the Beta 58A is about the best at handling ‘plosives of any handheld and is far superior to the Sennheisers in that regard. We love to hate on the Shures, but the SM-58 and Beta 58A are unique microphones in that for live sound, you’ll always find a microphone that will be better for any given circumstance, but there are no other microphones that are as universally good. The SM-58 just works. Not just in reliability, but in usability. It might not always be the right microphone, but it is almost never the wrong microphone. The Beta 58A is almost as good as the SM-58 in this regard, or can be considered the alternative version of the SM-58. There have been many times that I’ve swapped out very expensive microphones for a simple SM-58 because whatever lovely characteristic the expensive microphone has is actually causing problems in that show. It has no bad habits.

[@MrNicknayme]

One thing about the brightness of the Beta58A, is that if You have it on 4 backing vocal singers, that you’ld like to keep in check with some higher ratio compression, then the cymbal bleed from the drums can be awful!! Like insanely harsh and nasty.

[@nikolaykovalenkosinger-1410]

Silver pins???😳

[@alexmegavolt9010]

I can say with confidence that this is a fake microphone. The biggest problem is to purchase the original. There are many signs of how to distinguish from a fake, one of the main ones is checking by serial number on the Shure website. In any case, you recorded a review for a fake. Don't compare it with other microphones, it doesn't make sense.

[@AntonBrowne]

I have just scrutinised the microphone - bought from an official UK retailer - and I can say with confidenece it is genuine. Why do you say 'with confidence' it is fake? From the Shure website... There is no serial number on the SM58 microphone nor on most Shure microphones. Nuff said.

[@alexmegavolt9010]

@ The serial number is on the box. You can register it on the official website if it is genuine. There are several characteristic signs of forgery on your microphone at once. There are no marks (with paint or marker) on the capsule from above, the pins are not gilded, the plastic at the base of the pins is not engraved, even the color of the case looks like it is not original. There are good quality fakes, but not in your case. There are many videos on this topic on the Internet, take a look.