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Beta 98A
This mic is the rebirth of another long-missed Shure workhorse, the Beta 98. It’s a miniature cardioid condenser with a 0.4-inch electret capsule. It is available in two (or three, depending on how you count) versions. The first is the 98A/C, very close to the original Beta 98, only much louder and clearer. It’s available on its own and as the Beta 98AD/C, with a flexible gooseneck drum mount. The other model is known as the 98AMP/C; it has the 98A capsule permanently affixed to a 2.5-inch gooseneck that is mounted on a small-diaphragm-style mic body. The Beta 98A/C’s capsule is just 1.4 inches long and comes with an in-line preamp that connects via an included custom cable. Thanks to its small footprint, the Beta 98A/C fits comfortably in the bell of a sax or woodwind, or on toms or a snare with the 98AD/C’s gooseneck mount. Historically the older version did just that and is the favored sax mic and tom mic of many studios and live players, and in my studio it has been my under-snare mic almost exclusively for about a decade. While the Beta 98AMP/C looks like a gizmo from a sci-fi TV show, its body design alleviates the need for the extra cable, since you can plug a standard XLR cable directly into it. Although they are all the same mic in terms of sound and application, the AMP/C version is intended more for snare and toms and includes a specialized A75M rim mount along with its pouch and a pop filter/wind screen. (This mounting version was the one provided to me for my review.) This mic also has a 20/20 frequency response, one very similar to the 91A’s. It has the same evenness, gentle sloping low end, and the same 7 kHz rise. The primary difference is that the response slopes smoothly down above 9 kHz, without the extra rises and falls of the 91A. In use As a bottom snare mic, I can cut to the chase and let you know, this is the mic for this task in my opinion. It does a great job of capturing the crispness of the attack and its gentle low end helps minimize bass buildup without sounding too thin. On the snare top I tried out the Beta 98AMP/C on both a 1958 Slingerland chrome-over-brass snare and a 1963 Ludwig Black Oyster Pearl snare (a pre-fame, Ringo snare). I tried it out alongside five other snare mics, an Audix i5, a Telefunken M80, an original Beta 98, a Shure SM57, and the new Shure Beta 181, which I’ll discuss in detail below. Essentially my findings here can be summed up as: • The i5 had the meatiest low mids and a punchy sound. • The M80 had a full natural top with nice crack and ring. • The SM57 is the snare sound that we use as a benchmark. It is mid present, with a nice controlled ring and it cracks like nobody’s business. • The Beta 98AMP/C was the crispest of the group, with a subdued ring and a natural un-hyped midrange. • The original Beta 98 was a surprising 9 dB quieter than its replacement, according to my Millennia Media preamp’s metering, and as such was much noisier when cranked to the proper level. Otherwise it sounded near identical to the Beta 98AMP/C. Since the original Beta 98 was also an industry favorite on toms, I used it on both low and high toms, again alongside the SM57, an Audix D2 (high), Audix D4 (low), an Audix Micro-Tom mic (which is
RECORDING AUGUST 2011

clashed with rather than complemented the Beta 91A’s, and in side-by-side comparison, I found the natural tone of the Shure more to my personal taste than the hype of the AKG.

Recording - August 2011

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