Sexy sounds

Beautiful clean crisp sound reproduction.

Excellent mic Excellent company

I've never really liked the goofy mid-range sound of the 58's, Beta or otherwise - the annoying pickup of room and stage noise, 'pinging' feedback problems, etc. I bought the Beta 57 A to use as a cab mic for guitar, until I tried it on vocals. This mic truly does cut through the mix. While my bandmates are busy eqing and constantly adjusting levels on their Beta 58's, I set mine and forget it.
After 6 years of fairly rigorous gig schedules and bouncing around in a humid band trailers, mic stand being knocked over by drunks, etc. It finally stopped working. I sent it back to Shure with a flat repair fee. They sent me a new mic.
If you're in the fence about what Shure mic to get for live use, get this mic. The Beta 57A is very natural for vocals and makes guitar cabinets sound great too. Its VERY versitile and Shure is a rock solid company

Really excellent mic.

I have had the Shure Beta 57a for a while now and the more I am using it I am realising how it really does cut through nicely when singing live.

I know the primary use is more for instruments but it really works with my voice.

I find the frequecy responce to be vey smooth even when singing in my higher register, you can really belt out and close mic and it handles things very well. the sound is crisp and clear and warm without any harshness.

If I could have a sack full of one kind of mic...

...this would be it. For live vocals, snare drum, and amps, this thing is the best affordable jack of all applications. I work as a live sound engineer, and this has been my first pick for vocals for a while now, and the artists, including grammy winners, have been digging it too. Get yourself a sack of 'em!

What a mic!!!

Superb Vocal mic next to being a great percussion / instrument mic. I bought this mic for studio recording, and chose it over the Beta 58A. I much prefer a dynamic mic for vocals in my studio, it picks up less noise from surroundings, i.e. computers, etc. The Beta 58 had a midrange bump that made my voice sound hard / agressive. The Beta 57A has a very natural sound and is more relaxed on vocals. Its sits perfectly in the mix and requires very little if No Eq. The vocals do come out very warm sounding with females i have tried it on, and its sounds extremely smooth. On my vocal i get a very rich open sound with no signs of top end sizzle or sibilance. The 57A is a very good pick up for a dynamic microphone I thing this has to be the best dynamic Vocal mic...period, and a great instrument mic after. Maybe sure need to swap the 57A for being a 'Vocal' mic instead.

ONE OF MY TOP LIST MICS

THE BEST MICT FOR ALL MY NEEDS IN THE LIVE MUSIC SCENE.

It's ok...

I bought this mic intending to use it on top of snare drums for rock records mostly. I end up using it on the bottom with a 421 on top more often. It doesn't get much use anywhere else. I like it for live vocals for some reason. One of the selling points made to me was the hypercardioid polar pattern. I was supposed to get less hihats and cymbal leakage, because of it. In use, however it seemed to be more leak than my 421s, SM57s, and even some SDCs on snare. Thinking about it, I realized that hypercardioid patterns always have this litte area at the back that picks up, almost making it a lop-sided figure 8 mic. So not pointing it directly away from the hats actually helps, but then there's the sound...ehhh I like the SM five sevens better. The response sounds pinched to me... and sorta "honky" in the upper mids. I thought about getting rid of it, but I think i'll hang on until 90 dollars will help feed the kids. If I would have done it over though, I'd have saved my cash up for another 421 or something. Seems like everytime there's something that you think to put a 57 on and you actually want it to sound good, put a 421 there instead.

Great Microphone

I am not the largest fan of the SM57 or SM58, but the Beta 57a is by far my favorite dynamic microphone for vocals and bass guitar. It is also excellent on snare drum,very durable windscreen can take the knocks well. A definate for your short list of must have microphone.