recordinghacks

Shure Beta 57A

Supercardioid Dynamic Microphone

The Beta 57A is a supercardioid dynamic. Despite its name, it is not the same mic as the either the SM57 nor the Beta 57.

How is the Beta 57A different from the Beta 57?

The ‘A’ revision of the Beta 57 differs from the Beta 57A in two primary respects:

• The Beta 57A has no humbucking coil.
• The Beta 57A has an output transformer, whereas the Beta 57 had no output transformer.

The humbucking coil was initially included to prevent electronic noise, but was found to be unnecessary, and was therefore removed from the Beta 57A.

The transformer was added to prevent the mic’s sound was changing when its output was split to feed multiple inputs, e.g. the mix console and a monitoring console.¹

How is the Beta 57A different from the SM57?
The differences include:²

• The Beta 57A has better off-axis rejection; its pickup pattern is supercardioid.
• The Beta 57A is 4dB louder than the SM57.
• The Beta 57A is less sensitive to handling noise than the SM57, because the dynamic cartridge is shockmounted within the microphone body.
• The Beta 57A has a hardened grille and a built-in pop filter.
• The Beta 57A has a wider usable frequency response than the SM57.

The Beta 57A has a completely different capsule than the SM57, and employs a neodymium magnet, which provides a high signal-to-noise ratio.

The Shure Beta 57A is also known as: Beta 57A, Beta57A, Beta 57.

The mic was released in 1989.

Specifications

Frequency Response - SupercardioidClick Graph to Compare!

Pickup Patterns	Pads & Filters
Supercardioid (2.8 mV/Pa; 50 - 16,000 Hz)

Coil Diameter	Impedance	SPL/Noise
n/a	290 Ohms (Low)	SPL n/a

Weight	Length	Max Diameter	Interface(s)
275g (9.70oz)	160mm (6.30'')	43mm (1.69'')	3-pin XLR male (1)

Power Specifications

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