May31

Written by:Rip Rowan
Saturday, May 31, 2003 6:00 PM

I have had the pleasure of reviewing several of Shure's KSM line of studio condensers, and generally speaking, I have found these microphones to be sonically accurate and all-around useful mics. The KSM line includes the KSM 27 and 32, which are side-address large diaphragm cardioid condensers, the KSM 44, a multipattern large-diaphragm condenser, the 109 and 137, which are small-diaphragm cardioid condensers, and the latest offering, the KSM 141, a multipattern small diaphragm condenser.

I received a matched pair of KSM 141's in a functional plastic carrying case. The case lacked the sophisticated feel of the elegant case provided with the KSM 44. Inside the case were two mics, a pair of windscreens, and mic clips. The mics were finished in the same champagne finish as the rest of the KSM line, and had an elegant, utilitarian look and solid feel.

The first thing you'll notice about the KSM 141s is the large ribbed knob that surrounds the middle of the mic body. This knob is a mechanical switch that changes the capsule from cardioid to omnidirectional mode. You can actually see, and feel, the capsules being moved around inside the mic.

The KSM 141 has flexible bass-rolloff and pad switches that allow for two bass rolloff slopes as well as a -15 / -25 dB pad selection. This combination assures the user that the KSM 141 will be able to withstand placement at pretty much any location from "across the room" to "touching the cone." The switches are recessed to prevent accidentally engaging them.

The construction seems to meet all of the modern standards for mic design. The unit uses a transformerless Class-A preamp, very thin (2 micron) diaphragm, and gold plated connectors inside and out. The mic generates low self-noise (14 dB A-weighted) and has a reasonably high maximum SPL of 145 dB. The frequency response graph shows a curve similar to that of famous mics like the Neumanns, with a significant top-boost around 10 KHz.

In Play

I used the KSM 141 on a variety of sources, including the obvious (drum overheads and acoustic guitar) and the not-so-obvious (room miking, guitar cabinets, and percussion). In practice, I came away from this mic feeling a little cold and uneasy.

The first thing I had to do was check out that funky mechanical capsule switch. Be forewarned: you must mute the microphone before changing this switch. The switch does its job easily enough. What I found was a very tightly focused cardioid position, and a somewhat spotty omnidirectional position.

In cardioid mode, this mic feels like a laser. The rejection was almost like a hypercardioid shotgun mic. The rejection is so powerful that off-axis instruments can sound very out-of-focus and muted, much more so than with other cardioid condensers I typically use as drum overheads. Even at a height of ten feet above the drum kit, it was very obvious where each mic was pointed. Extra-special care had to be taken to make sure that no drum was in the "spotlight" of the mic. In the end, I decided the pattern was too severe to be used on drum overheads, and I switched the mic into omni mode.

While this turned out to be a drawback in my application, live sound engineers should take note. This mic is an anti-feedback secret weapon. I didn't have the opportunity to test the cardioid-only version of this mic, the KSM 137, but if it has the same pattern, I could see that mic being a great live application mic.

I tried the cardioid mode on a few other applications, with similar results. The extreme directionality led to this mic exhibiting that "pinched" sound common to many cardioid condensers. It's great when you need a lot of rejection, but in many cases, it was too annoying to be easily used for recording applications.

Omni mode proved to be a much more musical setting for this mic. In omni mode the mic lost its "pinched" sound and opened up. Setting up the KSM 141 as a spaced omni pair over the drums gave us a good overhead mix with decent balance and a good stereo image. The KSM 141 also sounded much better on percussion and acoustic guitar in omni mode. The omni mode was a little uneven around the horizontal axis of the mic, but was generally very usable.

My other beef with these mics is that the top end boost, which ought to sound fluffy and airy, came across to me and the other listeners as somewhat harsh and grainy. The effect is more pronounced when the mic is in cardioid mode due to uneven off-axis response. But even in omni mode, there seemed to be an unpleasant edge to this mic that was present on both the drum and acoustic guitar tracks. In the end, we preferred other mics on these applications.

The 141 has a generally thin sound, with its bright top end and an underemphasized bass response. I would have preferred a mic with a more balanced response overall. The drum overheads were thin and the toms lacked body, forcing us to rely more heavily on the close mics than I would have preferred.

Finally, the novelty of the mechanical switch wore off fairly quickly on me. I think it's a neat idea to have physically interchangeable heads always ready at the go, but I would rather have spent my money on better sounding capsules and left out the nifty mechanical engineering.

In the end, the KSM 141 was a disappointment for me. I'm a Shure fan, and I really wanted to like this mic - in fact I hoped to like it well enough to buy it, since I could really use a pair of omni condensers - but just couldn't get behind it. For my money there are better, cheaper mics available that I would recommend over this mic. Too bad they can't all be winners.

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