Comments about Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic:

I had used D12s and D112s almost exclusively for years. Played a gig where the drummer used a no-name '60s red-sparkle kit with a 20" kick with an Evans emad beater head. The sound of that cheap-o kick through the PA was so brutally heavy it was making my ribs creak. Bought one the next day and I find it very easy to work with. This is a mic to use if you are looking for mass rather than tap. I like a kick sound that makes my pant legs flap in the breeze rather than a super-scooped ticky sound. Wood beaters, an emad batter head, and a Beta 52, and I get the fat, wet, smack in the sack I'm looking for with ease. The sound is almost infinitely variable with position relative to the beaters. I tend to have it a few inches into the port hole and pointed at the beater impact location to get the sound I want. If I need more tap, closer to the head it goes.

The only real con is that this is a heavy mic and a well-weighted stand is required to offset the mass of the mic itself. Hardly a problem, but it is noteworthy.

Comments about Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic:

Couldnt get a decent sound out of several mics, EQ didnt help, i was getting major frustration. Bought this, plugged it in, stuck it in the drum port and got exactly the sound i wanted with no eq or effects

Comments about Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic:

I purchased this microphone with intention of replacing a much cheaper Nady microphone I have been using to record my bass drum. The Nady microphone was fine, but I was looking from something to give a little more warmth to my bass drum sound. I had read other reviews and many suggested that this microphone offers more 'boom' than 'punch'. To an extent, I agree with that; I don't have a large enough port hole in my front bass drum head for this microphone so I miked the batter side of the head with the Shure and used the Nady to catch more of the inside of the bass drum and the front head. The sound was ok but nowhere near what I wanted. The sound was muddled with not a whole lot of definition.

I then read a review where someone strongly suggested getting a SHU internal bass drum mount which would greatly benefit the sound when using this microphone. I would like to say "thank you" to that person because they were right on the money. Once I got my hands on the SHU and mounted the Shure inside the bass drum a few inches away from the batter head, the sound of the bass drum was exactly what I heard in my head. There was a nice, strong punch sound followed by a nice, decaying boom sound. I highly recommend anyone buying this microphone to invest in purchasing a SHU internal bass drum mount. No matter what bass drum sound you desire, the combination of this microphone and mount will surely give you the sound you want out of your bass drum.

Comments about Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic:

The Beta 52A mic has a great punch. My friend thought I should have gone with another mic, then he heard a recording of my Beta 52a. He thought about taking his back and when I told him the price, he got one too! Pay the money, it's worth it.

Comments about Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic:

I've used this mic to record drums and for live bands. This mic does not work well for rock style of music. It is very heavy on the low frequencies which is fine but there are no mids. I've tried Eq and I still can't get the hit of the beater. The best I can describe it is you don't hear a Boom you just hear the oom. In my recordings the bass drum disappears in the mix and has no distinction. Live like I said all you hear is low end umph. Which by itself is cool but in the mix it just sounds muddy. If you are using a double pedal forget about using this mic. It will just sound like rumbling.So for Jazz or Hip Hop style drumming this mic would probably be great. If you want you're kick to stand out then look elsewhere. For me I switched to the PG52(The beta's cheap brother) because that's what I already had. It has less low end but you can hear the beater hits. I'll be searching for a better alternative later.

Comments about Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic:

I've had a pair of these for 7 years and have used them live and in the studio on a regular basis. They have never failed me though the spring loaded angle adjustment can be a bit finicky. The low end you get out of this is truly top notch. Pair a 52 a few inches back from the beater dead center in the drum with a 57 on the beater side with the phase reversed and you can't go wrong.

Comments about Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic:

After using many "recommended" drum mics and never satisfied with the punch, picked up the Shure Beta 52A. Used on the batter side of the kick drum really adds the punch.

Comments about Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic:

This mic has huge low end. If you are a live guy, make sure you have some 18" subs to pump the low end out of this mic. It easilly extends down to the 30Hz range to get that rumble out of the kick drum. While that part of it is good, there isn't a whole lot of attack. The beater hit is a bit weak and mid-rangy. If you record, you'll notice yourself taking out some bottom end and/or hitting up the punch around 100Hz. At least I do a lot; even live. You may want to try this in combination with another mic if you need attack. For the type of music I use it for though, it's good. If I were to buy one for my personal system though, I'd be looking around first to get the sound I'm looking for.

Comments about Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic:

in recording for best sound with the bass try using an audix d6 inside close to the beater and put the beta 52 in the triditional spot maybe an inch or two inside the kick. also to the guy that his quit working.. i had my audix D6 do the same exact thing buy some kind on insurance.and using this to mic bass rigs is fine but i honestly think that an sm 57 works a little better.

Comments about Shure Beta 52A Kick Drum Mic:

I owned this mic (the Beta52) for about 2 years when it just stopped working. No abuse, or exterior damage, no broken wiring that I could find... just stopped working. My buddy's SM 55SH did the same thing. Shure's sm57 and sm58 have always been good to me though.Got my hands on a used AKG D 112 recently, and so far so good. Interestingly, the D 112 works very well for scream vox , I don't think the Beta52 would have worked for that.I've heard some complain about the higher level of mid's in the d 112 vs. the beta52... just bring down the mid's on your EQ (how hard is that??)The Beta52 was a handy second mic for guitar and for bass, haven't tried the D 112 for these yet, but I think that it will offer a broader range than the Beta52 did.Overall, I expect the D 112 will prove to be more well-suited for my purposes.