SM81 rediscovered

[nestle]

wow after shelving them for about 18 months or just using them under snares I was forced to put them back into use in front of an very old martin.I lent my other SDC out. I wasn't expecting much but they were so flat and nice. Really accurate. I got conditioned to my bright km184's but these SM81's pulled me back to reality a bit and how a natural/neutral sound can be so sweet. If you have em' dust them off once in awhile, an oldie but goodie.

[Snarky]

Yea, Last week I used an 81 for a mono room mic and it kicks ass. Really blended well with all the other mics. I use the 81 almost every day live, on HH and sometimes for OH. But like you, my larger diaphragm condensors get more love in the stu-djoe.

[joel hamilton]

I love the SM81. I have a pair that i use all the time. Totally useful in many situations.

[KennyLusk]

The 81's rock and are especially great for reamping acoustic tracks in a reverb chamber. I've never heard an SDC take SPL's like the 81's.

[thethingwiththestuff]

i love this mic, on any drum or as OHs, and on acoustics. i wish i could get a good vocal sound with it. maybe i want a ksm32...

[Professor]

I usually come off as a Shure-hater in general so I'll appologize in advance. I think that if I owned an SM-81 I would use it, but I don't think I would go out and buy one on purpose.
Yeah, it's an oldie, and in some cases it's a goodie. There's a pair hanging in each of our two concert halls here - and they are used, but not by me.
It's just that there are so many other better mics that have been made since the 81s came out. Maybe the KM-184 isn't one of those, but the AT-4041 or 4051? the Gefell M-300? the MBHO 603? the Josephsons, Earthworks, and countless others.
If I someday replace the concert hall 81s with new MBHOs or something, then the 81s would go into the studio locker, and I've no doubt I would use them.
I guess I'd say that every mic is useful for something, but not every mic is worth buying.
But that's just me.

-Jeremy

[thethingwiththestuff]

to those of us not employed in a state facility, it certainly is worth buying! a better choice than any Rode, that's for sure.

[idylldon]

Just the other day I used a stereo pair in front of my '54 D-28. When I finished the song and played it for a long-time acoustic playing friend of mine, he turned to me during the intro to the song and said, "You know, I hardly ever hear an acoustic guitar sound like an acoustic guitar on a recording. This one does."

I was also blown away. I'm into simple signal paths, so the recording was done with the SM81 pair into a couple of channels of Millennia HV-3D pres into my HD24XR. Playback through my Series II Neotek. I gotta tell ya, it just doesn't get much better than this for acoustic guitar.

Cheers,
--
Don

[joel hamilton]

I DO like the MBHO 603's, but they are nothing like the 81's.

I have been doing SO much AC gtr with a single 81, into a really amazing tube mic pre.... MONO, and it still sounds so 3D and perfect to me....

With the 603 it sounds like a recording, a good one, but a recording of a gtr, rather than the original event itself. I dont always feel like that is appropriate, but I do LOVE the osund of the 81 through a tube mic pre.

[nestle]

Just the other day I used a stereo pair in front of my '54 D-28. When I finished the song and played it for a long-time acoustic playing friend of mine, he turned to me during the intro to the song and said, "You know, I hardly ever hear an acoustic guitar sound like an acoustic guitar on a recording. This one does."

I was also blown away. I'm into simple signal paths, so the recording was done with the SM81 pair into a couple of channels of Millennia HV-3D pres into my HD24XR. Playback through my Series II Neotek. I gotta tell ya, it just doesn't get much better than this for acoustic guitar.

Cheers,
--
Don

Yeah, I feel bad about this, I used to have a pair of 81's and since I hadn't been using them I sold one, now I'm feeling pangs of regret. It feels decadent to hold on to six sdc so I sold a few, shit what are you going to do. I did have a 4041 too and though I love my 4047...that mic did not cut it IMO ...sold

[Garthplinko]

I used mine to record a cello a couple weeks ago and totally loved it.

I also second the room mic usage - they sound great on guitar cabs too.

[nestle]

I used mine to record a cello a couple weeks ago and totally loved it.

I also second the room mic usage - they sound great on guitar cabs too.

I used to assist years ago with an old school guy and he would use a SM81 down the hall for chamber...sounded great I remember.

[jspartz]

I have used the SM-81 on hand percussion and it fits great everytime. Very natural sounding in the mix. It is a classic for a good reason and it still holds up!

Jason

[junkstar]

I've put my 81's up next to the TO Ribbon, my 414, etc and the 81's always win out in the end on acoustic stringed instruments. One of my favorite mics. Real touchy on placement, the 81, if handled correctly can do amazing things.

[Garthplinko]

Yeah, I've heard of guys even using the thing on kick drum - worth trying I s'pose - would probably need help w/ the eq.

About the only thing I have tried it on that I didn't like it at all was vocals, but I have a KSM32 for that. Of course, that could be the vocalist too - might sound good on the right person. That's what makes this job interesting...!