Behringer Ultravoice XM8500 Dynamic Microphone

Highlights a lot of bass tones in your voice. I'm female so It works for me as I have a high pitch voice. I use it for both singing and regular voice recordings. It's a gain hungry dynamic mic so make sure to buy a good audio interface with that can supply high gain or a mic amplifier like Alctron(cheapest budget type), Cloudlifter, or Fethead to convert phantom power to more gain.Never turn on phantom power without a mic amplifier device on this mic. This is a dynamic mic.

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Amazing Value for $26

Coming off of a Blue Snowball, oh boy, this is an upgrade. That's saying something considering it cost me less than half the price of a Blue Snowball. The mic is a dynamic microphone with an XLR input.Dynamic mics are great at cutting background/ambient noise and have a pattern that focuses on picking up what's directly in front of them.The sound quality is easily comparable with an SM58 and has compared to popular (overpriced/overhyped) mics like the SM7B holding its own. Especially with a little EQ, this mic can sound fantastic given its low price point.As mentioned, this uses an XLR input and you will need an audio interface or equivalent. I am using this hooked up to a Behringer UMC202HD and I have the gain almost maxed out. It may vary from mic to mic or ... MoreComing off of a Blue Snowball, oh boy, this is an upgrade. That's saying something considering it cost me less than half the price of a Blue Snowball. The mic is a dynamic microphone with an XLR input.Dynamic mics are great at cutting background/ambient noise and have a pattern that focuses on picking up what's directly in front of them.The sound quality is easily comparable with an SM58 and has compared to popular (overpriced/overhyped) mics like the SM7B holding its own. Especially with a little EQ, this mic can sound fantastic given its low price point.As mentioned, this uses an XLR input and you will need an audio interface or equivalent. I am using this hooked up to a Behringer UMC202HD and I have the gain almost maxed out. It may vary from mic to mic or interface to interface but what I've found is the mic itself does need quite a bit of gain.(It does not need phantom power, please do not enable it when using, you will damage your mic)All in all, this is a fantastic mic at a steal of a price.

Better than it should be

Not as good as the "good mics" but certainly good enough for applications where you want to keep your more expensive mics in the case for whatever reason. Sound is crisp and clear enough for speech and ok for singers; and even then unless you have people in the audience who are audio savvy or gear snobs no one is going to know or complain about your budget microphone. I wanted a decent mic that's always accessible to less than experienced users (youth leaders etc) in my absence and to go along with a powered Harbinger speaker. Perfect combo for an ez pop-up system that anyone could use without me worrying over what might happen to it.

Fantastic mic at 5x the price!

I got one of these as part of the Postcaststudio USB kit years ago, and left it more or less in the box as I quickly opted to get back into gigging with some friends and needed more than that kit offered. I recently started pulling components from the kit including the XM8500 mic. Now I own a stack of Nady Starpower SP-5 mics that have worked fairly well over the years, a Shure SM58 has been in the rotation as well. And before anyone asks, NO this is NOT a Shure SM58 clone or anything like that. And to be fair, the Shure SM58 is no Behringer XM8500 either. They serve similar purposes, but where the Shure colors the vocals, the Behringer does so to a MUCH less extreme extent.I have been using this mic, on and off now for the last 4 years, with no issues at all. ... MoreI got one of these as part of the Postcaststudio USB kit years ago, and left it more or less in the box as I quickly opted to get back into gigging with some friends and needed more than that kit offered. I recently started pulling components from the kit including the XM8500 mic. Now I own a stack of Nady Starpower SP-5 mics that have worked fairly well over the years, a Shure SM58 has been in the rotation as well. And before anyone asks, NO this is NOT a Shure SM58 clone or anything like that. And to be fair, the Shure SM58 is no Behringer XM8500 either. They serve similar purposes, but where the Shure colors the vocals, the Behringer does so to a MUCH less extreme extent.I have been using this mic, on and off now for the last 4 years, with no issues at all. Applications have been voiceover work for Youtube videos / podcasting, and backing vocals for an infrequent gigging (average 1 / month gigs) party band.Perhaps if you are working on international tours through combat zones where the mic will be exposed to constant severe abuse, and the coloring of the signal that other mics do, or if you are the type that wants to impress others with the name brand logos on your stuff, you might want to step up your purchase to 5 times the cost and buy the Shure SM58 because, well that's just the way we've always done it right? For the other 90% of us out there trying to make good music, and vocals, this is a fantastic mic that won't break the bank. Absolutely best bang for the buck.In my band, we have the mix of the Behringer, and Nady mics. We are upgrading the Nady's to the Behringers and retiring the Nady mics to backup usage only...

Great mic for the money!

I am a full time musician that also runs live sound part time. I have recently been looking at adding a few affordable mics to my rig for a backup to my main lineup (Sure SM58s and EV767s). After a great deal of scouring reviews, youtube videos, and forums, I bought an XM8500 to use for a female vocalist in one of my bands who lost her mic. When I got it, I immediately plugged it into my PA and began AB testing against both a Shure SM58 and an EV767. I set all three channels exactly the same. Equal volume, same EQ, all across the board. I expected very little from the Behringer despite the high reviews.I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. Vs the 58, the Behringer actually won me over (no small feat, as the 58 is THE standard for a reason). The ... MoreI am a full time musician that also runs live sound part time. I have recently been looking at adding a few affordable mics to my rig for a backup to my main lineup (Sure SM58s and EV767s). After a great deal of scouring reviews, youtube videos, and forums, I bought an XM8500 to use for a female vocalist in one of my bands who lost her mic. When I got it, I immediately plugged it into my PA and began AB testing against both a Shure SM58 and an EV767. I set all three channels exactly the same. Equal volume, same EQ, all across the board. I expected very little from the Behringer despite the high reviews.I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised. Vs the 58, the Behringer actually won me over (no small feat, as the 58 is THE standard for a reason). The XM8500 is about the same volume wise, but seems to pick up Mid-Highs better, and while it does have a bit more handling noise than the 58 (not unreasonably so), it is actually more open and does not have the close proximity muddiness of the 58. VS the 767, it truly held it's own. The 767 will always win the low end battle vs pretty much any 58 type dynamic mic, but the volume was respectable and the clarity on the top end was actually pretty close.All in all, this is truly a hands down winner for a modest price. Behringer has made a truly budget friendly mic that will not disappoint live. I would not recommend using this microphone on instruments, mainly for the same reasons I would not recommend you use an SM58 on instruments. There are simply many mics better suited to that job. That said, it's not impossible by any standard. This is a vocal mic through and through, and I will be ordering more as the value of this microphone far exceeds the cost. It even comes with cheaper but thoughtful foam lined case (not super sturdy, but will hold up if you treat it carefully). The case really sold me, because at this price point, most manufacturers would not even give you a zippered bag. This is a no-brainer folks!

Great sounding mike - better than more expensive mikes.

I heard a ham radio operator using one of these and his audio was simply GREAT! Based on this, I decided to invest $20 for one. It came promptly as scheduled. I connected it to my Elecraft K3S {an absolutely awesome radio} in place of either my Heil PR-781 or Shure SM-58. I immediately got GREATsounding audio reports. In comparing the specs and frequency response of the Shure SM58 {basically a $100 mike} and the Behringer XM8500, the 8500 has a wee bit more high end. Otherwise they are identical I've listened to my station and my voice in a critical listening environment, and I agree, it is a good sounding mike. Correctly interfaced to the radio and with the radio properly adjusted, it should produce great sounding audio on yours as well. Of note - I find with many ... MoreI heard a ham radio operator using one of these and his audio was simply GREAT! Based on this, I decided to invest $20 for one. It came promptly as scheduled. I connected it to my Elecraft K3S {an absolutely awesome radio} in place of either my Heil PR-781 or Shure SM-58. I immediately got GREATsounding audio reports. In comparing the specs and frequency response of the Shure SM58 {basically a $100 mike} and the Behringer XM8500, the 8500 has a wee bit more high end. Otherwise they are identical I've listened to my station and my voice in a critical listening environment, and I agree, it is a good sounding mike. Correctly interfaced to the radio and with the radio properly adjusted, it should produce great sounding audio on yours as well. Of note - I find with many mikes, and this one is no exception, the correct mike technique is the single most important factor to getting great audio reports. You can equalize and compress and process until you run out of knobs to turn and settings to adjust. If you don't use the correct mike-to-mouth distance and correct mike position, you'll never get great audio!