Shure KSM8’s
By David Morgan
In 2004, my friend Harold Blumberg, a product consultant for Shure for more than 30 years, contacted me about a prototype microphone. I rarely heard him speak so glowingly about a piece of gear, but he said Shure engineers created a truly revolutionary condenser live vocal mic. He asked if I was interested in beta testing the then-new KSM9. Always open to experience better performance and more pleasing results from a vocal mic, I enthusiastically volunteered to give the new unit a shakedown on the road.
When we next met, Harold handed me two Shure zippered bags. Each had charcoal grey mics with a simple, sleek and modern looking design unlike any other in Shure’s line. These felt substantial in my hand and when I unscrewed the grille and looked at the capsule and shock mount, I liked what I saw. Then Harold revealed the design concepts behind these KSM9 prototypes. The idea of a dual-diaphragm condenser microphone was totally foreign to me and after several repetitions, I grasped what Harold was explaining. One of the new mics was cardioid; the other was supercardioid. Harold added the next prototype would include a switch for selecting either pattern. I was amazed at the innovation and incredibly curious about the performance.
Bette Midler’s 2004 “Kiss My Brass” Tour was my first opportunity to try out the KSM9. Bette and the Harlettes required wireless mics. The KSM9 was not yet available in a wireless version, so that was not an option. However, seated within the band setup was backup singer, Margaret Dorn, sandwiched between Taku Hirano’s percussion rig and Sonny Emory’s drum kit. Margaret has a beautiful voice and I wanted to use a condenser mic to capture all of her subtlety and nuance. However, with her proximity to the instruments, I was worried about leakage. I gave Margaret the supercardioid mic and encouraged her to stay right on it. With her strong voice, I could keep the gain down to minimize leakage. The results were fantastic. We kept her on that prototype mic until the tour ended.
This experience was so successfully that I subsequently used KSM9s on tour with James Taylor, Steely Dan and Paul Simon. The results were always stellar and we use the wireless versions of KSM9 on our singers with James Taylor to this day.
Enter the KSM8
After the KSM9 development, I began talking to Shure about an all-new dynamic vocal mic. My contacts at Shure were reticent to consider creating a competing product for the venerable SM58 and the newer Beta 58A. Though initially met with stiff resistance, I encouraged Shure to produce a high-end dynamic mic that was positioned in price and performance between the SM58 and KSM9. It turns out I wasn’t the only engineer who expressed these thoughts to Shure.
Fast-forward to 2014, and I received a call from John Born, project manager for Shure’s new KSM8 vocal microphone. He sent me a “very early” prototype. It didn’t have a name — it was just “the new mic.” I had no preliminary information, but was told not to unscrew the grille. The air of secrecy was intriguing.
I took the mic to Camarillo, CA-based Delicate Productions and auditioned the unnamed vocal mic using an Avid Profile and a DiGiCo SD5. I compared what I was hearing to a Sennheiser 935, a SM58, a KSM9 and an Earthworks SR40V. I was extremely impressed with what I heard from the new dynamic mic. Its performance most closely resembled the two condenser mics in terms of frequency response, transparency, vocal clarity and usable working distance. It also exhibited the complexity and depth one associates with a high-quality condenser mic. Yet the new mic held its cardioid pattern far better than the condenser mics. After hearing the “new mic,” the other two dynamics seemed rather two-dimensional and a bit lacking in texture in comparison.
This cursory test was so thoroughly impressive that I called Harold Blumberg and asked if he could help me with further evaluation at Delicate’s shop. I set up the same mics I used a few days earlier. After Harold heard each mic individually, we alternated between listening and talking, to execute rapid A/B comparisons. Both condenser mics exhibited the most top-end sparkle and transparency throughout the frequency spectrum, yet both also picked up every random sound in the warehouse. The KSM8 prototype displayed very stable pattern control, excellent rejection of extraneous sounds and, most importantly, great warmth in the vocal range complemented by impressive high frequency detail.
After providing Shure with a enthusiastic test report, John Born provided more details about the KSM8. The revolutionary design was Shure’s first-ever dual-diaphragm dynamic microphone. Both Harold and I felt the new mic performed flawlessly and seemed to bridge the worlds of dynamic and condenser, working exactly as we all had hoped. The beta version had bit of fine-tuning to be addressed and the shock mount needed to be strengthened, but the overall performance of the mic was outstanding.
In January 2015, I was sent two early production models of the newly named KSM8 Dualdyne vocal mic. Instead of placing the KSM8 in another product line or giving it a “58” designation, I supported the decision to give it a “KSM” name despite it being a dynamic mic. This beautifully designed and engineered product deserves this unique placement in the catalog.
Confidently, I brought these two mics with me when I flew to Munich last February to rejoin the James Taylor tour. I told our monitor engineer, Rachel Adkins, I wanted to try the KSM8 as the vocal mic for James. Although we had experienced great success in past years with the Shure KSM9 and the Earthworks SR40V, the stage setup had been changing. The musicians were in the same familiar arrangement, but everyone had been pushed in closer to the center of the stage and closer to James’ downstage center position. While using the condenser microphone for James on the previous tour, we felt we were hearing too much leakage from the drums and the guitar amps. I believed the KSM8 would solve our extraneous signal problems without sacrificing our high standard of vocal reproduction.
Before the first rehearsal, Rachel worked with the KSM8 to adjust her wedge and in-ear mixes. Her comments about the mic were very favorable. James has excellent mic technique and a fantastic ear and expressed immediate satisfaction with the KSM8. It only took a couple of shows for him to master working on the KSM8.
Except for some TV appearances, the KSM8 has been in place on James Taylor’s mic stand for the past year. The mic has produced beautiful, predictable results in every venue we performed, ranging from small European orchestral halls to Fenway Park. We have worked in extremely live orchestra halls to spaces with nearly no natural reverb to large outdoor venues. In every case, the KSM8 provided consistent tonal balance, exceptional accuracy and excellent vocal separation from the other instruments. The KSM8’s performance exceeded our expectations and has been invaluable in solving our particular onstage issues.
With so little stage leakage coming through the KSM8, Rachel began setting up a condenser mic at the foot of James’ mic stand pointed back at the band, using this to replace the missing ambient stage sound that had been coming through the previous vocal mic. She then adds this signal to the in-ear mixes for those band members who had also noticed the significant drop-off in ambience through the KSM8. Using this technique, Rachel wasn’t forced to significantly alter their mixes or snapshots. On the other hand, the FOH mix is now cleaner and more defined than ever. As I begin my 12th year mixing James Taylor, I am very pleased that a parallel 12-year odyssey at Shure has produced the remarkable KSM8.
At a Glance
Advanced Dualdyne Microphone Design
The KSM8’s dual-diaphragm approach places a combines a passive rear diaphragm that acts as an acoustical filter to the sound energy entering the rear of the mic, resulting in a classic near-perfect cardioid response with little proximity effect and a greatly reduced presence boost.
PROS
• Uniform, stable cardioid pattern throughout frequency range
• Accurate, transparent high frequency response
• Warm and powerful in primary vocal range without intrusive proximity effect
• Great rejection of distant sound sources
• Rugged design and effective internal pneumatic shock mount
CONS
• Dual diaphragm capsule tuning requires some necessary compensation using both high pass settings and low frequency equalization parameters
STATS
Pricing: KSM8: $499 (in nickel or black); RPW174 (black) or RPW170 (nickel) wireless capsule head, $499.
Manufacturer: Shure
More Info: www.shure.com
