Shure SM98
Twelve grams of condenser mic that Shure built to hang off a snare drum and not flinch.
Overview
The microphone capsule weighs twelve grams - less than half an ounce, less cable - and measures 31.8 mm long by 11.9 mm in diameter. The Shure SM98 is a tiny unidirectional condenser designed specifically for instrument and amplifier miking. The company's own literature pitched it as combining "the convenience and adaptability of small size with outstanding performance capabilities." The preamp is a separate box, 112 mm tall by 60.8 mm wide by 27 mm deep and 320 grams with batteries. A detachable cable connects it to the capsule. Owners report the split design is what makes the mic practical. The heavy, battery-laden preamp clips to a stand or belt, and the capsule goes wherever the sound is.
The capsule is the interesting engineering. Shure integrated the cartridge with the outer case instead of floating it inside a separate housing. The manufacturer's documentation credits that integration with a nearly perfect cardioid polar pattern at all frequencies. That isolation matters most when you hang a mic inches from a snare head next to a hi-hat. Frequency response runs 40 to 20,000 Hz and is, per Shure, "extremely smooth" for faithful reproduction of acoustic instruments. Rated impedance is 150 ohms, open-circuit output 13 mV (-78.0 dB, 0 dB = 1V/mbar). Output noise is quoted at 32 dB SPL A-weighted, or 35 dB SPL weighted per DIN 45 405. That is genuinely quiet for a miniature condenser of the period.
The SM98 handles level without drama. Maximum SPL at 1,000 Hz is 153 dB with an 800-ohm load, which is why Shure positioned it for close-miking drums, brass, and amplifiers without overload anxiety. Hum pickup is specified at -7 dB equivalent SPL in a 1 millioersted field at 60 Hz. Power comes from two 9-volt alkaline batteries, roughly 300 hours of continuous use on fresh cells, or from 11 to 52 Vdc simplex (phantom) supply drawing 1.8 mA. The preamp also has a battery on/off switch and a 12 dB/octave low-end cutoff switch.
Mix (October 1985, p.135) documented the SM98's introduction in May 1985, describing it as a low-noise studio condenser with a cardioid pattern and a wide, extremely flat frequency response plus switchable low-end rolloff — the contemporaneous trade-press confirmation that this was a purpose-built instrument mic, not a repackaged vocal model. Mix (March 1987, p.165) made the case more bluntly in Shure's own advertising: building a very small condenser is easy, but building one that duplicates the low noise, frequency response, and SPL capability of larger condensers is hard, and the SM98 was billed as the first truly professional miniature condenser instrument mic. That is marketing copy, and it should be read as such — but the spec sheet behind it is not inflated.
What comes in the box matters for collectors. Shure shipped a windscreen and a swivel adapter that lets the miniature capsule mount on standard stands, booms, and goosenecks. The whole kit nests into a black hinged storage box with polyurethane inserts. Both microphone and preamp are finished in matte black. The detachable cable is a 15-foot two-conductor shielded run with 3-socket miniature Switchcraft Tiny Q.G. connectors on each end, mating mic output to preamp input. It is the part most often lost, and a complete, original-cable example is worth more than a bare capsule.
Reception was warm. Studio Sound (December 1987, p.60) ran the SM98 under the headline "Small Wonder." It called the mic a tiny condenser that outperforms larger, more expensive units, and reported it had been hailed as the best small microphone available, with a range of accessories tailored to problem-solving applications including drum mounting. Recording Engineer (February 1985, p.184) flagged it in new products as a microphone designed specifically for instrument and amplifier miking. By 1987 SM98s showed up in session documentation. Mix (June 1987, p.32) listed them on snare top and snare bottom in a tracking chart alongside far larger dynamics.
Collectors should note the practical realities. The SM98 is a battery-or-phantom design from the mid-1980s. On any example that has been gigged, the preamp's switches and battery compartment are the usual failure points. The capsule is tough but tiny. The Tiny Q.G. connectors are proprietary enough that replacement cables are the single most common missing accessory. Values sit well below the mic's original professional positioning. This is a working tool that has stayed a working tool, not a shelf piece. Buyers should confirm the preamp powers up on both battery and phantom, that the low-end cutoff switch detents cleanly, and that a cable is included or sourceable. Original storage boxes with intact polyurethane inserts are a bonus and rarely survive.
The company's own catalog index documents the SM98's place in the Shure line. It lists the mic on page 25 among the professional studio microphones, alongside the SM81, SM83, and SM94 condensers. It was never the flagship and never tried to be. It was the mic you clipped to a tom or a horn when a full-size condenser wouldn't fit and a dynamic wouldn't give you the top end.
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