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• Artist: PodcastGearGuide.com
• Title: Episode 3: Shure SM57A Beta
• Album: The Podcast Gear Guide
• Track: 3
• Genre: Other
• Year: 2006
• Length: 8:51 minutes (4.06 MB)
• Format: MP3 Mono 44kHz 64Kbps (CBR)

The Gear: Shure SM57A Beta MicrophoneThis week's review is on the Shure SM57A beta Microphone.

The Shure SM57A Beta is a dynamic mic for vocals and instruments. Its a second generation microphone (hence, Beta) from Shure. As with all dynamic mic, this doesn't require Phantom Power. The down side is that you can't hook this up directly to your PC sound card - you'll need an additional DI (Direct Input) box or Pre-amp to connect to you PC. These devices usually come with audio jacks that could hook up to your sound card - plus it also boosts the signal strength for a decent recording level.

There are generally 2 types of microphones - Dynamic and Condenser mic. A condenser mic requires a 48v electrical current to work (or phantom power) whereas the dynamic mic doesn't. As a rule of thumb, dynamic mics are for loud sounds / vocals. Condenser mics are generally for sounds which has alot of details / nuances - stuff that makes the voice / music sounds fuller and colourful.

Go ahead, take a listen! Cheers!