Blue Encore 100

[bmf]

So does anyone have opinions on the blue encore 100. Seems most reviews rate these mikes on par or better than the sm58. I am a die hard sm58 user and have been for years. But the current buy one get one free promotion that blue is running on these has teased my interest. I just wondered if anyone had any hands on experience with them and what the resulting opinion was.

[Chris_Allen]

i dont think that the modern SM58's are a patch on the old ones. There are plenty of options for better mics within the price bracket, just depends on your needs and the type of response. I sold all my SM58's a few years ago.

[Grant Bunter]

On a few members advice here in the forum I bought Sennheiser e385's.
They are great mikes!

They out 58 a 58.

Still it always comes back to use. If 58's are specified in a rider, then most peeps don't want to know about anything else.
If they are just for you, go for it...

[David Raehn]

I run the Shure 588SDX almost exclusively for vocals. Good. Tough. Cheap. Just a rattle can away from a 58 for about half the price.

[bmf]

I don't have to deal with riders at this point. Not for the mics anyway. So this is strictly a me decision on what I go forward with.
All my 58's still work they just are VERY old. I know some people just repaint them and throw a new ball on top but at some point you have to start questioning them. Nothing lives forever.
I did a little playing around with the encores in the store and thought they were a little more prone to handling noise. Hard to say what they truly sounded like because of not being on my own system. I did think they had a little more clarity and didn't seem to need much to sound full and rounded without mudding up on the low mid.

I have used the senheisers (835) before and really liked them but would probably stay with the 58's if only because that is what I have. The reason for looking at the encores was due to them being half price right now and I could replace all my vocal mikes at a considerable savings.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I have an Encore, I don't recall which, and it's a very good mic, but a bit on the weighty side.

[Bruce Weldy]

All my 58's still work they just are VERY old.

Age doesn't really matter....if they work, they work.

I'm also not a huge fan of 58s, but I have a bunch and they work fine. I've always preferred EVs on my voice and am using some PL80s right now for my band. Less feedback and warmer.

Keep your 58s, buy a couple of the Blues. Do some side by side testing. Then when you do a show, offer the singer a 58, then let 'em know you have something better if they want to try it. Then you look like a "pro" by having the 58 and a hero by offering something better.......if it ends up being better.

[bmf]

Well I ordered 2 vocal mikes and 2 instrument mikes. I will follow up after using them a bit and let you know what I think.

[bmf]

We are playing a two night show this weekend where I started playing around with the Blue mics. Last night I did some testing with the vocal mics. We had set up and I had a regular 58 on our drummer (He does a lot of the singing). We did a straight A/B switch. The first thing I noticed was a slight drop in level. Nothing dramatic. Oddly this really wasn't an issue because we could draw much more gain from the Blue without any feedback and could actually run it much hotter in the monitors than the 58. The sound was a little brighter and very natural in comparison. Not that anything sounded boosted in the highs but rather the bottom wasn't as thick and was more detailed. This also wasn't an issue as 58's have more low end than needed and we usually cut them anyway. This might be a problem for someone using a small PA that doesn't project the bottom very well to begin with.
After testing the 58 I was interested to see how they matched up with the beta 58's we use. The results where exactly what I expected after hearing the first test. The sound was almost identical the the beta. The Blue just seemed a bit smoother. The highs seemed more rounded and consistent without having to chase out any shrillness or "biting" when the singer was loud in the upper register.
I didn't get a chance to test the instrument mics. When we play tonight I will try to switch one out on the lead guitar. This is the only real test I can do with them right now. We are running the acoustic and keyboard direct with monitor fold back and are running the base direct. We currently use a 57 on the guitar so this should be a good comparison.
At this point I can't comment on durability but I can say that a visual inspection shows them to be built like tanks. Both versions are much heavier than there Shure counterparts. The ball screens are thicker and the capsule seems to be mounted very well. Handling noise is an unknown because we have all our mics mounted in stands. This is something I should be able to test next week when I do a 4 day PA job for a local festival. I can also get a better idea of proximity effect. All of our singers have good mic habits but some of the speakers or less experienced performers at the festival will undoubtedly test the range. I don't know how many people I've seen hold a mic at there stomach and complain its not loud enough.
All things considered I am very impressed with these mics so far. With Blue running the manufacturer special for the remainder of the month the price is unbeatable for the quality. I am seriously considering switching to these as my standard if no pitfalls show up before the end of the month.

[Bruce Weldy]

Not scientific, but some info....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW4gAjnWZGQ

[bmf]

Nothing scientific about my post either

Everybody will have opinions about which mic is better. It's all relative to the environment, how you run your system, how the person uses the mic, what the voice sounds like, and personnel taste. I've tried a few different budget mics in the paste but other than the 835's this is the first one I've found that I like. And right now these things are dirt cheap. At least for about 15 more days. That makes them VERY attractive for hire out jobs that may see them abused.

[Bruce Weldy]

Nothing scientific about my post either

Everybody will have opinions about which mic is better. It's all relative to the environment, how you run your system, how the person uses the mic, what the voice sounds like, and personnel taste. I've tried a few different budget mics in the paste but other than the 835's this is the first one I've found that I like. And right now these things are dirt cheap. At least for about 15 more days. That makes them VERY attractive for hire out jobs that may see them abused.

I'm real tempted just because of the price. I don't ever use a 58 on my voice. Always an EV. But I like the lower end of the Blue.

Of course, I have 6 SM58s just because it makes me look professional.

And since I'm thinking about it .... and it's entirely off-topic.......

Two weeks ago at my weekly summer sound gig - outside with my whole setup, a lady who had driven 80 miles to scout the band that was playing that night for gigs at her venue commented on how clear the system was.

So, one more attaboy for Bill and the whole BFM line of cabs.

[Tom Smit]

[bmf]

Good to hear the compliments on your system Bruce. Really good considering the fact I am building 6 T39's (lab loaded) to pair with my 4 otops as soon as they are done. I am beta/asd loaded in the tops though so a little different than yours. I'm doing a festival all this coming week but hope to button the tops up by the end of the following week. I would love to hear your system but unfortunately the closest I will be to your area is Oklahoma for my sons graduation at FT. Sill.

[Bruce Weldy]

I am beta/asd loaded in the tops though so a little different than yours.

If you haven't pulled the trigger on the horns, you should consider stepping up to the NSD 2005 driver.