SHURE was already a great audio brand before its microphone was talked about , but the rise of streaming is pushing many to find out its price, its quality and the reasons why streamers and youtubers decide to equip it in their setups.
We have seen that many of you are interested in equipping your streaming setup with the best on the market. Many streamers equip Shure microphones in their setups, which prompts people to wonder, why this microphone and not another? Well, we are going to tell you what Shure is, what microphones it has available and why it is such an idolized brand within professional audio.
Index of contents
- What is SHURE
- What is the Shure microphone what else do streamers use?
- Reasons why streamers choose the SM7B
- Reasons why streamers choose the MV7
- Are there cheaper alternatives for streaming?
What is SHURE
SHURE is an American company founded on April 25, 1925 by Sidney N. Shure as a company that sells radio spare parts. Before 1930, the Great Depression came to the US, so SHURE adapts to the market, manufacturing radios. At this time, you become an exclusive distributor for a microphone manufacturer.
In 1939 , SHURE launched the 55 Unidyne model : the first unidirectional microphone, becoming the most recognized microphone in the world, does the design sound like anything to you? This mike passed through the hands of authentic historical figures : Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzegarld or Ray Charles, among others.
Interestingly, it receives a major business boost from WWII , becoming the supplier of microphones to the United States armed forces. As an anecdote, he introduced the 900MG phono cartridge , which played long-playing records at 78 RPM.
Elvis Presley would make the SHURE 55S microphone famous , known as the “Elvis Mic.” The brand begins to make great strides in the music industry, introducing the SM57 in 1965 , a microphone that would be used by most producers in the United States.
Actually, the microphone that would make SHURE leave an invaluable footprint would be the SHURE SM58, a microphone that was released in 1966 and used by The Who or The Rolling Stones, two rock groups that mark an era.
From here, everything else is the history of the brand, which has been innovating in sound pickup since the 1930s. That said, it is not only a manufacturer of microphones, but also sells :
- In-ear monitoring.
- Audio interfaces.
- Phonographs.
- Headphonesin all areas: in-ear, on-ear, closed, open, DJ, studio; of everything!
Finally, SHURE is not only famous for its history and for its current use by many streamers and youtubers, but it also has partners such as:
What is the Shure microphone what else do streamers use?
Indeed, they are professional microphones and, therefore, their price is not low at all, quite the opposite. What everyone is wondering is, why those 2 microphones when there are a thousand brands on the market?
First of all, because SHURE is one of the best microphone brands on the market, considered by many to be “the best”. Also, it is one of the best dynamic microphone brands , so it’s no coincidence. However, all this is due to technical issues that we explain below.
All the microphones that you see in the images are dynamic , not condenser, so this is the second important point.
These types of microphones resemble loudspeakers in that they have a diaphragm with a voice coil that is attached to the vertex side. However, they differ in how the magnetic system is used with the coil:
- The speakers, all the current goes from the amplifier to the coil. The current creates a magnetic field that flows through the voice coil, causing the coil and cone to move back and forth, causing the sound to reproduce.
- In dynamic microphones the diaphragm moves because the sound pressure changes: the coil moves and current flows as the flux lines of the magnet are cut. Therefore, energy is drawn from the coil, which is just the opposite of what happens in loudspeakers.
The theory explained, a dynamic microphone is robust and reliable because it does not need an external power supply, giving an adapted response. Another key is that they do not require exhaustive maintenance , something that streamers or youtubers will not be aware of.
The alternative to dynamic microphones is condenser microphones , which do need an external power supply to function. Not only that, they cost up to 3 times more than dynamic microphones, which is why it is a reason that pushes many to discard this option and go for the dynamic ones.
But, knowing that there are brands like Marantz , Audio-Technica, AKG , RODE , Sennheiser or Electro – Voice that offer great quality and are not so expensive, why does everyone choose SHURE? Well, the best way to answer this question is by describing and explaining the previously exposed SHURE microphones .
Reasons why streamers choose the SM7B
First of all, the SM7B is a dynamic studio microphone that delivers impressive quality in smooth audio such as louder vocals because it offers a wide frequency response.
One of the biggest audio problems generated in broadcasts is distortion . Think that when we are live we can scream out of fright, sing , like talking quietly. In the end, we are continually changing the decibels so the microphone must give us a dynamic response at all times.
For this reason, the SM7B comes with:
- Controlled bass suppressionand emphasis on mid frequencies.
- Wide and adjustable frequency responseto reproduce our voice naturally: 50 Hz – 20 kHz.
- Detachable A7WS windscreen to reduce plosives.
- Sensitivity of -59 dBv.
- Cardioid pattern.
We can consider this microphone as the star product of the brand and it is used by streamers such as Ibai Llanos, The Grefg or El Rubius , among others. If you look, they scream in the middle of the broadcast and there is practically no distortion, but then you have to adjust the microphone from the PC , which they have been very well prepared for.
Reasons why streamers choose the MV7
The SHURE MV7 microphone is a completely focused product for voice broadcasting, seen in streams or for podcasts . Its design is inspired by the SM7B and is a dynamic microphone prepared for USB and XLR outputs : personal computers and professional interfaces.
One of the reasons is because it comes with a voice isolation technology to focus solely on us, ruling out background or ambient noise. It stands out for using the USB connection , which the SM7B only makes use of the XLR interface, which forces us to buy an audio interface to connect it.
The point is that this MV7 automatically adjusts to the voice level in real time , which is amazing, although we can use a manual mode to configure it ourselves to 100%. In this way, SHURE proposes a “smart” and automatic configuration for those who do not have much idea of audio or its configuration.
All this is achieved with ShurePlus MOTIV , an application that the brand has developed for the optimization of microphone settings. In fact, it has the TeamSpeak certification , although it is a program that has fallen into disuse due to the appearance of Discord .
In summary, its technical specifications are as follows:
- Compatible with PC, Mac, iPad and Android.
- Polar Pattern: Unidirectional Cardioid.
- Frequency response from 50 Hz to 16 kHz.
- Adjustable gain range:0 to +36 dB.
- Sensitivity:
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- XLR: -55 dBV.
- USB -47 dBV.
- Maximum SPL on USB: 132 dB.
- XLR impedance: 314 Ohms.
- Internal suspension.
- XLR or Micro-USB outputs.
- 5 mm headphone output.
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Are there cheaper alternatives for streaming?
Of course, and adapted for all needs, since it is not always necessary to have the best voice capture on the market in podcast or streaming. As an example, we can propose the following cheaper microphones for streaming :
- SHURE SM58. Within the same brand, we have a very good option below € 100 and that is a resounding success. Of course, it makes use of the XLR interface, for which you will need an audio interface to use it
