It was at the last winter NAMM show that Shure unveiled its new KSM8 Dualdyne™ cardioid dynamic vocal microphone. Presented as the most significant technological advance the industry has seen in dynamic microphones in more than 50 years, the KSM8 is undoubtedly an extraordinary feat of design and engineering.
It is the world’s first dual-diaphragm dynamic handheld microphone, and it is designed to deliver unrivaled vocal reproduction and sound reinforcement and control of the utmost precision.
By its design and features, the Shure KSM8 is a microphone for live performances where vocal clarity and sound quality are absolutely essential. What’s more, this new model not only meets the most demanding quality and reliability requirements, it also has the versatility to adapt to changing environments without affecting the performance. This is due to its masterful operating stability.
The KSM8 will revolutionize vocal microphones for professional live sound, offering sound engineers a dynamic model with technical features never seen before, which we explain in detail below.
No proximity effect
It is a directional dynamic microphone that has no proximity effect. In other words, its bass response is not accentuated when the distance between the microphone and the singer shrinks.
It was after years of testing that Shure’s engineers found the solution that attenuates the proximity effect and gives the microphone its consequent operating stability, even when the distance between it and the singer varies. This stability is based on reversing the airflow inside the microphone and on the presence of two ultra-thin diaphragms, one active and the other passive, which is part of the acoustics of the microphone capsule.
Sound arriving from the back of the microphone passes through the second diaphragm, which partially blocks low frequencies, before reaching the first one. This is, in essence, what controls the proximity effect. The sound then continues traveling through the microphone’s internal tube system, returning toward the second diaphragm and passing around it before finally being redirected toward the microphone handle, where the integrated pneumatic shock mount is located. It is, then, a complete reversal of the airflow inside the microphone.
This consistent performance of the KSM8 over such a wide range of working distances makes it an ideal microphone for performers with different mic techniques, who will also enjoy greater freedom when singing.
Cardioid polar pattern stability
The second great revolutionary feature of the Shure KSM8 is the striking stability of its cardioid polar pattern across frequency. Conventional cardioid microphones tend to have an increasingly omnidirectional polar pattern as frequency decreases. The KSM8, however, keeps its directionality practically intact. This translates into excellent, stable rejection of unwanted sounds that may come from elsewhere on stage during a live performance. Such accidental pickup can affect the phase relationships of the sounds reaching the microphone and compromise the quality of the sound source. The Shure KSM8 avoids these problems with a frequency-stable polar pattern that looks like it came straight out of a textbook. In fact, the KSM8 is the microphone with the purest cardioid polar pattern Shure has developed to date.
The other great innovation of the Shure KSM8, which once again relates to its stability, is its frequency response. Unlike conventional dynamic microphones, the response of the Shure KSM8 has no presence boosts. These boosts are typical in the frequency range around 4-5 kHz in cardioid dynamic microphones, to compensate for the bass boost that occurs, due to the proximity effect, when the singer gets very close to the microphone. Since the Shure KSM8 has no proximity effect, it doesn’t need this boost and has an extremely flat response designed to deliver a natural sound. This means the sound captured by the KSM8 doesn’t need EQ or further processing. The pickup is astonishingly faithful.
Developing Dualdyne technology meant completely reinventing the way Shure had made dynamic microphones until then. Shure’s engineers knew the only way to bring the Dualdyne concept to life would be to set aside all existing templates and design parts and start from scratch. It took more than seven years of engineering and development to create this new microphone the industry needed but had never achieved until now. As a result, we have an entirely new dynamic microphone in the world.
As with all Shure products, top-tier design and durability are present in every aspect of the KSM8.
To begin with, the hardened, impact-resistant carbon steel grille, combined with an interwoven hydrophobic fabric, provides exceptional protection against wind and plosives, while also offering virtually waterproof protection.
Noise reduction
For its part, the microphone capsule has acoustic properties that drastically reduce handling noise without affecting its bass response at all. This is achieved with an active diaphragm stabilization system (DSS™) that works together with the internal pneumatic shock mount to isolate and suspend the capsule. In addition to reducing unwanted movement, the moving piston and internal cavities have been designed with extreme precision to stabilize the diaphragm against mechanical vibration. Shure’s engineers patented this technology more than 50 years ago, and Shure is the only manufacturer that has implemented it successfully.
The elegant aluminum handle, available in nickel or satin black finishes, completes the KSM8’s clean, sophisticated design, which fits perfectly on any stage.
Wireless
The black-finish KSM8 is also available as a handheld transmitter option for use with Axient®, UHF-R®, ULX-D® and QLX-D® wireless systems. For the ULX-D and UHF-R systems, the KSM8 transmitter is also offered in a satin nickel finish. The wireless capsules, in black or satin nickel finishes, round out the Shure KSM8 system lineup.
The KSM8 has arrived to completely revolutionize the world of dynamic microphones for top-tier applications. Its elegant, exclusive and meticulous design, with two ultra-thin diaphragms and components machined to the highest precision, will delight musicians and engineers from now on. Never before has there been operating stability like that delivered by this new Shure model! With it, the proximity effect is no longer a common phenomenon and almost completely disappears, the cardioid polar pattern no longer becomes omnidirectional at low frequencies, and the frequency response doesn’t need midrange boosts, becoming flat and offering a natural, clean and faithful sound, the hallmark of the world’s first dual-diaphragm dynamic handheld vocal microphone: the Shure KSM8.
