Customer Reviews

Behringer XM8500 Dynamic Cardioid Microphone

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Price and performance wise, this mic is as good or better than the sm58.

I have been using 3 the of Behringer xm8500 mics in my home studio for over 5 years now. The sound or 'flavor' of this mic is almost identical to an early 90's Shure sm58 that I also use in the studio. The only noticeable difference between the two (sound wise) is the xm8500 has a tiny bit more output, and the presence peak is slightly lower in the frequency scale - I would describe this as the sm58 peak being slightly airy and cutting, and the xm8500 being thick and meaty. If you are using this mic with a 3 band eq, you can bump the mids slightly and match the sound of the xm8500 to that of the sm58 with no problem.

Build wise, this mic is as beastly and tank-like as the sm58. It has a nice heft to it, solid metal housing, all that good stuff.

This mic excels on vocals, close mic'ing drums, bass cabs, guitar cabs,...basically anywhere you would normally use an sm58, you can use this mic there and it will perform like a champ. My favorite task for this mic is bass amps, and toms. The presence bump on this mic makes toms sit just right in the mix w/out having to fuss with the eq too much (you get the nice low end 'thwump' and the necessary mid range 'slap' to not only hear, but FEEL the toms in the mix).

Do yourself a favor and build some xlr patch cables with resistor(s) in them to better match the low impedance signal of this dynamic mic to the high impedance inputs of today's mic preamps. You will find that the mic will perform as it (or actually the sm58 it is modeled after) was designed to. Google 'taming the shure' for more info.

For about $20, this mic definitely beats out the sm58 in my book. Don't be a gear snob,...get your money's worth and try out this mic.

Using this with the cheap but good quality pre-amp from ART (around $30), see my review there as well. Before this purchase I didn't know a whole lot about the various types of Microphones and cabling and pre amps and amps and balanced versus unbalanced but finally have a setup that works though requires a pre-amp. Some things to consider:

1. Use a pre-amp for any dynamic cardiod mic (like Behringer xm8500). Low impedance microphones like xm8500 require pre-amps or perform better. Without the pre-amp, I had to turn my receiver full max to barely get any sound from it and I was afraid I was going to pop/blow the speakers if I switched inputs by mistake

2. Phantom power is NOT required for this Mic. This is not a condensor mic

3. Use XLR male to XLR female cable between Mic and pre-amp. I had ordered XLR to 1/4 headphone jack cable and even though it physically connected to the 1/4 input on the pre-amp, the gain was not sufficient (has to do with impedance, balanced versus unbalanced and so on)

4. The output from the pre-amp can be either 1/4 or XLR, I am using XLR to 1/4 cable (I had one so why not) and then a 1/4 female to RCA into my receiver. Of course if I wanted to, I could use a different connector to plug into my computer and record if I need to (haven't tried it yet)

Now that I know this, it all seems so trivial but I hope it helps someone who wants to just setup a decent Mic for vocals cheaply. The Mic is flawless and I am quite happy with it. It seems good quality for the price.

Happy singing.

I purchased this mic for two reasons: One, I wanted to record guitar and vocals. Two, I was on a budget.

The Behringer XM8500 was recommend by a few sites as a decent budget microphone with good quality, so I decided to give it a try. I purchased it for $25 on eBay (as of writing it is now $20 on Amazon) at the end of January, and it felt like a solid mic that would last a while (this is foreshadowing, friends). While the description says the mic is good for both vocals and amplified instruments, that's only half true. When recording vocals, it sounded great - I don't have the best ear for recordings, but to me, it sounded clear and and uncolored. But when it came to recording electric guitar, the sound didn't hold up as well. I didn't experience any distortion, but my recordings turned out being very "muddy", and if I didn't palm mute perfectly, I would get a loud "WHUMPH!" sound from it. It's a good enough microphone to capture your rough ideas for later reference, but it wouldn't stand up to professional recording. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I could get high quality acoustic guitar tracks - I wouldn't be afraid to use them in my recorded music.

Now, fast forward to September. By this point, I'll be honest, I'd dropped the mic a few times - never higher than a foot, and never onto anything but carpeted floor - but I still had. I recently found myself having problems with getting sound from it, as it would cut out occasionally. Eventually it got to the point where it would not output sound at all - I'd tried several different cables and connectors, but no luck. All I get now is static from the microphone itself if I move it around at all. With the construction of this microphone, I expected it to be able to take a bit more abuse - since the description says it stands up to live performance. I did get 7 months of use out of it for $25, though, so I can't rate it any lower than three stars and be able to sleep at night.

The Final Verdict?

PROS
- Provides clear, clean vocals
- Able to record high quality acoustic tracks
- Good for demoing electric guitar tracks
- Low price

CONS
- Muddy, "whumph"-y sound on electric guitar tracks
- Lasted less than a year before breaking

All in all, this mic is fairly solid for the price - it'll serve you well for vocals and acoustic guitar, provide you a way to get rough sketches of electric tracks, and it's perfect for a budget musician. But be wary that it may not last all that long, because you do get what you pay for.

I am a professional touring and recording artist, OMEB, who typically sings through a beta 58. I have recently been very impressed with some of Behringer's products. Sometimes I will run sound for local festivals and needed a few extra vocal mics. I had read a few good reviews of this and decided to buy one. At $25 I figured I could chance it! I used this in place of my beta 58 at a recent show. The mic was much hotter than the 58, better bass response and the boosted highs in all the right frequencies! As far as durability... that is the question, but if you are looking for a great mic that doesn't cost $160 bucks... this is your mic!

I use this mic with my Ham radio where it is essential to have a nice clean, crisp, articulate mic when transmitting all over the world via the airways where one is dealing with snaps, crackles and pops as well as other interferences. This mic is very crisp and true sounding and has a good punch in the range that is needed most.
The low roll-off and broad ranged flat frequency response gives a nice clean, clear true audio. On paper the spec's rival more expensive mic's costing 5-8 times as much.
In terms of use with music it will produce true sound from vocal or instrument with no masking or muffled or otherwise distorted audio.
It is a plus, plus, plus all win situation and at a bargain price that I dare to say no other mic can give you the performance and quality at this bargain price. You would have to spend 4-5 times as much just to start to challenge this mic and to be in the same ball-park.

You can hear the comparison of a $100 mic against this $20 mic.

[...]

I needed a cheap mic for podcasting. I expected a plastic hunk of junk at this price, but this mic is constructed very much like an SM58, with a thick, rugged metal chassis and screen. And it comes in a nice plastic carrying case. Sounds similar to an SM58, too. I'd highly recommend it for performance, podcasts, etc.

Iam a mobile dj and i needed i cheap microphone to use for my dj gigs. I was suprised of how clear my voice sounded trough this microphone. So far i had no problems with it you cant go wrong with this mic. Its a good mic for a cheap price.

I've owned three Behringer XM8500's for a couple of years now and am very happy with them. I use them exclusively for live sound reinforcement with a small jazz band and they're perfectly suited for my purpose. They compare very well with Shure SM58's, both in sound quality and in "heft" (the XM8500 doesn't feel like an inexpensive microphone).

I will grant that the Shure SM58 is an excellent, tried-and-true microphone that is well known for its durability, but I simply can't justify paying $100 each for an SM58 when the Behringer XM8500 does the job just as well. For the price of one Shure SM58, I can buy four XM8500's.

The microphone arrived in good condition. I had to buy a cable to go with it. Once plugged in, it comes on. There is no on or off switch. It's a good mic for the price that was paid.

We purchased this microphone after originally ordering a NADY SP-4C Dynamic Microphone NADY SP-4C Dynamic Microphone from Amazon. I would DEFINITELY recommend this Behringer XM8500 over the NADY. We returned the NADY microphone. This Microphone comes in superb packaging and we can store an XLR cable inside the case as well. You will need a cable to go with it, it does not come with any cables. We purchased a 10 foot, but we could have gone with a longer cable. Your Cable Store 10 Foot XLR 3 Pin Female To 1/4" Mono Microphone Cable