very nice on percussion 
by Ken Ray Wilemon from Durham, NC, July 2008
Music Background:  Drummer, home recordist

Recorded a live acoustic jam and it sounded really good as the room/percussion mic. Tried vocals at home and just couldn't eliminate the hollow sound another reviewer mentioned, but I acknowledge it was a bad acoustical situation. I ended up going with a Beta57 for clearer vocals. And have since gone to an AT-4050 for the same. But, like I said, the percussion sounds very good. I love its look and feel, and the velvet-like pouch.

  Great For Instrumentals 
by Brian Wallen from Indiana, June 2008
Music Background:  Musician, Composer, Performer, Recording Engineer

I purchased the KSM32 thinking I was going to be getting a quality mic I could use for vocal and instrumental tracks. I was partially right...

First of all, the KSM32 is a very sturdy mic. It's obviously built like a tank. The case it comes in is nice too. Kudos to Shure on construction.

This is a very quiet mic. Very little self noise; you can crank it up and hear many other room noises before you'll ever hear the mic. It has a bass rolloff switch, which I love. It has served me very well in recording guitars, especially big rosewood dreadnoughts. Also useful for upright bass. It has a pad switch that I've never had a need to use, but some folks might, and it's a nice feature.

The mic indeed has a very flat response in it's default setting. It picks up any acoustic instrument with precision and detail. You hear every little detail, in fact. The KSM32 demands that you be a good player, because you will surely hear every little mistake you make.

This mic has a very rich tone. I've gotten good results, as I said, micing pretty much all acoustic instruments. It's easy to get a good tone. But, for vocals? Here's where it all changes.

Your experience and voice may vary, but for mine, the KSM32 simply does not cut it. I played a track for several listeners who remarked after a short period of time, "you sound like you're singing through a tin can". Wow. The sad part is that they were right. No matter how I EQ'd, compressed, or mixed this mic, I couldn't get it to sound good for vocals. Plug in one of my Audio Technica condensers, and bam. Great vocals right out of the box. Even a '58 would be better for my vocals than the '32. As I said, your experience may vary; everybody has a different voice. But for me, it wasn't that great.

So, in conclusion; the KSM32 is a great instrumental mic. It has more tone and detail that you'll know what to do with. But for vocals, it's iffy, at least for me. But it was still worth every penny for it's superb instrumental recording ability, and it's durable construction.

Based on all this, 4 stars overall. If you buy it, I'm pretty confident that you aren't going to regret it. I don't.

  workhorse 
by Chris from Colorado, November 2007
Music Background:  Studio owner, pro musician

I've had one on loan from a friend for 6months. I've come to depend on it mostly for vocals, but works on all sorts of recording tasks from guitar to sax and drums. Excellent mic, great sound. He wants it back, so now I have to buy one!

  Great mic - but consider other choices. 
by Nate from Miami, FL, September 2007
Music Background:  Recording engineer, drummer

I've had great results using this microphone on guitar cabs and snare drums, but given the price, you might want to check out the SM-81 as a more versatile and practical alternative - more bang for your buck.

  Multi-million dollar sound! 
by Adhab Al-Farhan , October 2006
Music Background:  Recording engineer, producer, pro musician, hobbyist

You really don't need to own a $10,000 or more for a microphone to achieve that multi-million dollar sound (or just to brag that you own a really expensive mic!). With the Shure KSM32, you can get that multi-million dollar sound without breaking the bank or the ego. This mic is perfect for vocals and instruments. Perfectly engineered!

Excellent Mic 
by Eric from Orlando, Fl, June 2005

This is a great mic, very nuetral sounding and pleasant, a very accurate mic without the hyped up response found in other mics in this category. I find that sonetimes I need to add just a little eq to make it stand out, but what a beautiful sound it has, and it takes to eq very well... If you have some extra dough, I would recommend getting it's bigger brother, but if not, you will be very happy with this choice...

Shure KSM32 
by Anonymous , March 2004

I bought mine about 3 years ago when it first came out; from Sweetwater. It's been my workhorse eversince. From voice over, to acoustic gtr, to singing vocals, to percussion, it has performed flawlessly. Very detail, sometime too detail. Great connection to the spider(suspension), great finish, great packaging(siver model), very quiet, however I personally find it not as warm as i would want it to, but has plenty of lows and clear highs. I use it on a profesional home digital studio, and usually hook it up to a tube analog micpre and compressor to get a better result. In short, its an awesome mic!

shure ksm 32 mic 
by franklin h from baltimore, md, March 2004

I'VE HAD THIS MIC FOR A YEAR AND LOVE IT IT'S WARM AND CLEAN I RUN IT THROUGH AN PRESONUS EUREKA MIC PRE AMP AND NOW IT HAS CHANGED THE QUALITY OF MY VOCALS. IF I LOST IT I'D BUY ANOTHER.

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