Question About Shure SM81 Mics

S

Sydfan

New member
I just got acouple of these from a guy who walked into the music store I frequent and sold me 2 of them for $75.00. I looked on e-bay and this was obviously a good deal. What are these mics best suited for? I could use any info from users that I can get!!


BTW....I did a search, but it didn't bring up much for me to go on, so I would appreciate any help. Thanks!
 
The Shure SM81 is a good SDC mic.. it could work on anything a SDC would work on, and it's an awesome hi-hat mic. Want to sell one for $75?
 
Drum overheads is of course the classic application. But I'd say $75 for a pair is a little bit too cheap to feel comfortable about...
 
BasPer said:
Drum overheads is of course the classic application. But I'd say $75 for a pair is a little bit too cheap to feel comfortable about...
Click to expand...
I checked them out before I bought them. They both work just fine. I really think I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
 
I hope they're not. The owner of the store knew the guy, so I trusted him. I don't want any hot gear.
 
More than likely, the guy was just desperate for money and didn't have time to post it on ebay and wait it out.

You got lucky. You should buy some lottery tickets.
 
Something I wanted to comment on about this mic and see if anyone else has the same observation.

When you connect this mic (SM81) with the switch in the flat position, it is really FLAT. In other words, it picks up subsonic (as well as ultrasonic I'm sure) sounds that other mics would "ignore", such as the door of the vocal booth closing.

In fact, when a friend and I were doing some listening tests with the mic (we actually wanted to find out if it was as good for acoustic guitar as I had been hearing on this BBS. I told him that many here dislike the C1000 for acoustic guitar, his "old stand by" mic) and at first thought that something was wrong with his Monitors because the cones kept moving about 1/2" to 3/4", seemingly spontaneously.

By the third or fourth occurance I realized it coincided with the door every time! I guess this mic can pick up some pretty low frequencies! It may have been from air moving across it too, but the room is pretty isolated though.

Maybe this is a warning to users who don't realize this mics potential to blow out your speakers!

When I used one at home, the same thing happened in the flat position. Fortunately I didn't have the volume up very high.

So anyone else?

Ideas how to exploit the low end of this mic?
 
Well, if you got 'em for 75 bucks for the pair, that's gotta be the deal of the decade!
I have a pair of these and use them anytime you want clairity and high definition.

I use them primarily on my 7'-2" Concert Grand Piano. You can hear a short sample of the sm81's here:
http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1656&alid=-1&20020930010511#6266

Samples are called SM81EQA
and SM81 sans eq.

They are great mics, and you'll find tons of uses for them! Definately a "go to" microphone.
 
Those mics are horrible! No one should be cursed with the agony of having to use such crap. The best thing you can do is quickly sell them to me for 75 dollars.
 
You got a great deal. I paid about $300 apiece for mine. They are not the greatest mic for any one application (except maybe Hi Hat :) ) But they do well on lots of stuff. Live recording, drum overheads, church choirs, acoustic guitars and so on. They are also pretty damn durable. I use mine mostly as drum overheads... and they do get hit from time to time. I had one fall over 6 feet onto a tile floor once. No complaints.
With a pop filter, they're even decent on vocals.
 
Sydfan said:
I hope they're not. The owner of the store knew the guy, so I trusted him. I don't want any hot gear.
Click to expand...

Well if you do find out they're hot, I'll take em off your hands


Scott
 
Hey I've had the same experience but had no idea what caused it.. I haven't used these mics too much, but when I did I noticed this same thing.. couldn't figure out what the hell it was. Thanks for explaining!

Scott

maestro_dmc said:
Something I wanted to comment on about this mic and see if anyone else has the same observation.

When you connect this mic (SM81) with the switch in the flat position, it is really FLAT. In other words, it picks up subsonic (as well as ultrasonic I'm sure) sounds that other mics would "ignore", such as the door of the vocal booth closing.

In fact, when a friend and I were doing some listening tests with the mic (we actually wanted to find out if it was as good for acoustic guitar as I had been hearing on this BBS. I told him that many here dislike the C1000 for acoustic guitar, his "old stand by" mic) and at first thought that something was wrong with his Monitors because the cones kept moving about 1/2" to 3/4", seemingly spontaneously.

By the third or fourth occurance I realized it coincided with the door every time! I guess this mic can pick up some pretty low frequencies! It may have been from air moving across it too, but the room is pretty isolated though.

Maybe this is a warning to users who don't realize this mics potential to blow out your speakers!

When I used one at home, the same thing happened in the flat position. Fortunately I didn't have the volume up very high.

So anyone else?

Ideas how to exploit the low end of this mic?
Click to expand...
 
Well, that's what flat mic's do... and IMO, I think the Shure SM81 is pretty ruler flat. My first guess is, you need to acoustically treat your studio.
 
These are one of the finest, most linear SDC made. They're usually used for drum overheads, acoustic guitar, acoustic piano, and most any other source you want accurately recorded. At over $300 each retail, you got a deal that is too good to be true (or honest) IMHO.
 
kid klash said:
These are one of the finest, most linear SDC made. They're usually used for drum overheads, acoustic guitar, acoustic piano, and most any other source you want accurately recorded. At over $300 each retail, you got a deal that is too good to be true (or honest) IMHO.
Click to expand...
It was the honest price I paid....I don't believe them to be hot. There are still serial numbers on them. They are a little rough around the edges....ya know, scratches on the surface.....Maybe I lucked out. Maybe they're hot. I really hope not.
 
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