Recording - October 2021 - 16

A Family of Microphones Compared
The Shure Unidyne... or, The SM57 & Friends
on saxophone. One aside: for years, I
would find myself frustrated walking into
a gig to find SM58 mics with their windscreens
removed, being used as SM57
surrogates. After doing some quick tests,
I concede that an SM58 with the windscreen
removed is, for all intents and
purposes, an SM57. However, it lacks
the capsule protection found on the
SM57 and can be prone to extreme plosives
and capsule damage. Would you
use your favorite ribbon or condenser
mics without their head grilles attached?
545sd
565SD Beta
57a
Shure 545SD; $92 and
Shure 565SD; $99
The 545SD and 565SD are descendants
of the Model 545 Unidyne III and
Model 565 Unisphere-the first endaddress
cardioid dynamic mics. The current
models can be viewed as modern
reissues of the predecessors to the SM57
and SM58. If you stand them side-byside
with their SM series siblings, they
feature the exact dimensions and weight,
although each SD series mic features a
brushed, stainless steel appearance, and
the upper body of each is made of molded
black plastic. Each mic, like the SM57
and SM58, features a transformer output.
The 545SD uses the same capsule assembly
as the SM57. However, the round
chrome grille on the 565SD features a
tighter weave pattern than the SM58.
Each mic also features an on/off switch
with a locking option. Using an internal
jumper cable on the XLR pins, You can
switch each mic for low or high impedance.
16 RECORDING October 2021
Beyond appearances, the dual impedance
option and the on-off switches (also
available on the SM58S), the 545SD and
565SD exhibit subtle differences from
their SM series counterparts. Their frequency
plots show the 545SD to be just
a tad less mid-aggressive than the SM57,
while it is the opposite with the 565SD.
Its presence range extends gently higher
than the SM58. The 545SD comes across
as just a hair smoother to my ears than the
SM57, while the 565SD is a touch more
open sounding. These differences are subtle
enough to use the mics interchangeably
and side-by-side, yet different enough that
I am now convinced I need to add at least
the 545SD to my collection.
Speaking to their differences, no matter
how slight, I know a saxophone player
(and former Shure employee) who prefers
the SD variants to the SM series on his alto
and tenor instruments.
A fun bit of trivia: while we might
pigeonhole the original Model 565
Unisphere as a vocal mic, documents
show it to be the only microphone used
to record the original 1969 Woodstock
festival-vocals, guitars, bass cabinet,
drums, horns and all.
Shure Beta 57A; $139 and
Shure Beta 58A; $159
Continuing our variations on a theme,
we come to the release of the Shure Beta
series-the first significant change to the
SM57 and SM58 after nearly 25 years.
Note: upon release in 1989, each mic
did away with the transformer output,
which has been added back in the current
A revisions.
While the Beta 58A retains a similar
size and style to the SM58, the Beta 57A
features a larger, removable windscreen
making the Beta 57A 6.35 " by 1.69 " . A
silver-blue enamel-painted diecast metal
body further distinguishes both models
with a hardened, matte-finished steel
mesh grille, each with a blue rubber ring
around it.
Internally, each mic makes use of a
supercardioid capsule with an improved
internal shock mount, making handling
noise even better on the Beta series mics.
Thanks to the supercardioid design,
each mic offers a tighter off-axis rejection
than the SM series, and each mic also
sports 4db hotter output thanks to the use
of Neodymium magnets. Sonically, the
Beta 57A has an even more subdued
low-end than the SM57, but as a supercardioid
mic, it is balanced by a hair
more proximity effect. Its presence boost
Beta
58a
Recording - October 2021

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