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Audio Review: Shure SM27 Microphone
A decade ago, Shure Brothers made a splash with the introduction of its KSM series of microphones. Shure has enjoyed legendary status in the domain of handheld dynamic microphones used in both live and recording settings, but the KSM series was the company’s first excursion into side-address, large-diaphragm condenser mics, and this series has enjoyed great success. One of the mics in this series, the KSM27, has been discontinued—to be replaced by the SM27. This mic, which lists at $460, has a typical street price of $299. I was excited to get my hands on this mic to put it through its paces.
The mic sports a matte black finish and is just over six inches in length and two inches in diameter at its widest point. From the mid-point along its longer axis, it tapers in both directions, a bit more gently toward the business end, where the mic’s black grille houses its capsule. Toward the other end, the taper is a bit less gentle. It’s a sleek and attractive microphone, although I always have reservations about using significantly tapered microphones in generic clamp-style shock-mounts, particularly when they have a metal surface that doesn’t provide a lot of grip. I would strongly recommend leveraging gravity by keeping the microphone upright when possible if such a generic shock-mount is to be employed. One certainly would not want the mic to slip out and take a nasty spill. The mic does feel exceptionally solid, however, and that’s no surprise, coming from Shure. The company’s classic handheld dynamic mics have the reputation of being built solidly enough to drive nails, and that quality ethic continues into this line.
On the rear of the mic are two switches—an on-off attenuator (pad) switch and a three-position low-frequency roll-off switch. The pad attenuates the signal by 15 dB, facilitating the capture of substantially louder-than-normal sonic sources like drums, horns, or guitar amps at high SPL levels. The low-frequency roll-off switch has three positions—the first of which does not reduce low frequencies at all. The second position inserts an 18 dB/octave filter with a corner frequency of 80 Hz. This is most useful for eliminating subsonic rumbles and bumps associated with the mic’s stand, the floor, or rumble caused by wind or air conditioning noise. The third position inserts a 6 dB/octave filter with a corner frequency of 115 Hz, intended more to eliminate “mud” than super low thumps, bumps, and rumble. The mic’s grille employs three layers of mesh intended to reduce p-pops and other plosives, and there is also an internal shock mount to help reduce noise physically transferred into the mic’s case.
The mic is permanently fixed in a cardioid pattern, and I found the rejection to be very good. I’m always concerned with the potential for feedback with sensitive condenser mics onstage, and the directionality of this mic put my mind at ease. The mic’s diaphragm is one inch in diameter, 2.5µm thick, and layered with 24-karat gold. As with its KSM27 predecessor, the mic’s internal pre-amp is of transformerless Class A topology, a fact that impresses me. An additional subsonic filter in the electronics eliminates mechanical vibration below 17 Hz.
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John McJunkin is the CEO of Avalon Podcasting in Chandler, Arizona, which offers high quality podcast production and consultation services to a broad range of clients. He’s also the host of the Podcast Pro Tech & Tips Podcast at www.avalonpodcasting.com.
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