Recording - August 2011 - 38

Shure Beta 91A, Beta 98A, and Beta 181
point the mic begins to peak up to around 9 kHz, and then falls sharply down 10 dB at 15 kHz, climbs a few dBs and levels off. If you look at each of the different frequency response patterns, you will see that true to form, supercardioid is not as hyped in the highs as cardioid. Omni is the brightest of the group as well as the bassiest, and bi-directional is the smoothest with a slight low-mid dip. For other specs, each mic capsule changes the game a tad, but they all fall within 23 dB of one another. In use The Beta 181 kind of looks like a baby lollipop mic, and while it is side-address like a large-diaphragm condenser mic, it exhibits more of the “quickness” of a small-diaphragm mic. Even though it is not necessarily a drum mic, as you saw above, that’s where I started. For my reviews, Shure sent me four bodies and two each of the capsules, so for starters I put two of the 181s with the supercardioid capsules on a the high and low toms of a 4-piece kit in a live setting. I put a third one up with an omni capsule as a mono overhead, and the last one with a cardioid capsule on the ride. On both toms they offered a controlled natural low end with a rubbery round tone that was really nice, especially on oil-filled clear heads. The supercardioid capsules offered a nice overall rejection, but as they are condensers they were still subject to some kit bleed. I also noticed that these mics, more so than many others, were very subject to critical placement on the toms and you could easily “tune” the sound by moving their angle and position. Unfortunately they sounded the best the closer you got to the center of the tom, so having an accurate drummer helped a lot. Luckily their low profile and shape helped in that regard, too. On ride and overheads the 181 gave a nice, rich, but not biting tone. Back in a studio setting I wanted to see how they fared on snare and hats, as well as see how each capsule varied as an overhead and front-of-kit mic. On snare (S-capsule), compared to the above-mentioned mics, the 181 highlighted the most snare ring and it was also the boxiest-sounding of the bunch. This is probably not a place I would use this mic. Then came hi-hats, where I used them alongside the usual suspects: Neumann KM84, Audio-Technica Pro37R, Shure SM81, and Shure Beta 87C: • The Beta 87, while a vocal condenser, was or is my current favorite hi-hat mic,

also an electret condenser), and also the Beta 181. My summary here is: • The D-series Audix mics had the mellowest attack with round tones, almost timpani-like. • The Audix Micro Tom mics had the most larger-than-life deep hype of the group. • The SM57 again had that hard-toargue-with, heard-this-a-million-times forward aggression. • The Beta 98AMP/C had a nice pop and controlled ring that was the most natural. I prefer this mic on snare rather than toms. Because it is the least hyped of the bunch, the Beta 98AMP/C’s performance will usually be a case of “The better the instrument and the better it is tuned, the better this mic sounds”.

Beta 181
Now we come to the Shure’s brand new and innovative creation, the Beta 181. It’s a small-diaphragm, side-address electret condenser with a choice of four different 1/2" capsules: cardioid (C),

supercardioid (S), omni (O) and figure8/bidirectional (B). The mic is Shure-tough, with a 4.9-inch Beta-style body. The 1.36-inch capsule housing is done up in an industrial brushed-steel look with an equally industrial looking screen/grille. The Beta 181 requires phantom power. Worthy of note is how the capsules are attached. Rather than being typical threaded screw-on capsules, these fit firmly and snugly into the body, which is notched to keep the mic from turning and bending the pins. The pins are recessed and nicely protected as well. Once the head is seated, a small silver ring turns and tightens it in place. The Beta 181 ships with one capsule, and the others are available separately as optional purchases. The mic also comes with a form-fitted soft-sided case that contains the mic, clip, a windscreen, and slots for additional capsules. Again this is a 20 Hz to 20 kHz mic. It is also smooth and relatively flat from 20 Hz up to 2 kHz. At this

RECORDING AUGUST 2011

Recording - August 2011

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