Common Shure Mistakes to Avoid

I've heard a lot of the same complaints about Shure microphones over the years, and almost every single time, the Shure gear itself turns out to be blameless. It's a handful of repeated habits causing the trouble. Here's what actually trips people up, and how to sort each one.

Assuming Condenser Always Sounds “Better”

A condenser will pick up more detail, sure, but it'll also pick up every bit of room noise, traffic and hum along with it. In a untreated room, a dynamic microphone often sounds cleaner and more usable simply because it isn't capturing the room itself. Don't reach for the more expensive option out of habit — reach for the one that suits the actual space.

Getting Distance and Angle Wrong With a Shure

People either camp in one fixed spot or never experiment at all. Working close to a vocal microphone boosts the bass through the proximity effect, which is genuinely useful, but only if you know you're doing it. On a snare drum or guitar amp, small changes in distance and angle change the attack and body of the sound far more than anything you'll fix afterwards with EQ, so it's worth actually moving the microphone around before you commit.

Mismanaging Gain, Especially on the SM7B

This one catches out a lot of people upgrading from a basic USB microphone. A dynamic Shure microphone like the SM7B produces relatively little output, and needs a healthy amount of clean preamp gain to sound right — if your interface can't provide it without adding noise, an inline gain device can help. Whatever you're using, set your level against the loudest expected moment of the performance, not a quiet rehearsal pass, or you'll end up clipping later.

Ignoring the Polar Pattern When Placing Monitors

Most Shure vocal and instrument microphones use a cardioid pattern that is most sensitive at the front and rejects sound from behind it. Forget that, and you'll place a stage monitor right in the pickup path, inviting feedback that has nothing to do with the microphone's quality and everything to do with where it's pointing.

Skipping Frequency Coordination on Wireless Rigs

Running multiple Shure wireless channels without a proper frequency scan beforehand is asking for interference mid-performance. Keep a clear line of sight between transmitter and receiver where you can, orient antennas correctly, and steer clear of dense obstructions or obvious sources of radio interference. For anything with more than a couple of channels, write down your frequency and channel assignments in advance — you'll thank yourself later.

Trusting Marketing Language Over the Manual

Words like “transparent,” “natural” and “revolutionary” sell copy; they don't tell you how a Shure microphone will actually behave in your room, on your voice or your source. Read the actual specifications and, better still, listen for yourself before deciding a claim is true for your situation.

Forgetting About Phase With Multiple Microphones

Close-mic something with two Shure microphones at once — an SM57 and a condenser on the same amp, say — and you can end up with thin, hollow-sounding results if their signals arrive even slightly out of time with each other. Always check phase when more than one microphone is capturing the same source, before you decide the tone itself is the problem.

Quick Reference

The Bottom Line

None of these mistakes are exotic, and none of them mean you've bought the wrong Shure. Get the distance, gain, phase and frequency planning right, and the equipment will do exactly what it's designed to do. If you're still deciding what to buy in the first place, our buyer's guide and our beginner's guide are the places to start, alongside our full overview of the range.

Frequently Asked Questions