Shure VP88

Two capsules, one point, and a switch that lets you dial in the width of the room.

Overview

The VP88 is Shure's single-point stereo condenser. Plenty of mics capture stereo. This one does it with two independent condenser cartridges in a coincident Mid-Side array: a forward-facing cardioid handles the Mid, and a perpendicular bidirectional capsule handles the Side. A built-in matrix converts those two signals into discrete left and right outputs, so the stereo image is generated electrically rather than by spacing capsules apart. The two channels never arrive out of phase with each other, so the result folds to mono cleanly. Owners who do a lot of location work tend to value that more than they expect to.

The matrix isn't fixed. A switch offers three selectable degrees of stereo spread, so the same microphone can give a tight image or a wide, ambient one without repositioning anything. For anyone who wants to do the decoding themselves, the VP88 also outputs a straight Mid-Side signal, which leaves width and ambience to the post-production chain. Mix (August 1991, p.45) aimed the mic at people who had been avoiding stereo field remotes for fear of hauling a fragile, expensive stereo microphone into the field, and noted the three spread positions as the way to control image width.

Power comes either way, phantom or battery, so the mic can live in a rack or go where the work is. The package ships with a windscreen, clip, case, and Y-cable, so it's usable out of the box. Shure's own catalog copy lists the VP88 at a manufacturer's list price of $995, and Mix (August 1991, p.45) reported the same $995 net figure including accessories when the mic was introduced. The company's advertising positioned it for video field production, stereo sampling, DAT recording, and on-stage instrument miking. That's a broad list, but it's how a coincident M-S mic actually gets used.

It works best on sources that need space around them. Shure's promotional material describes the VP88 handling everything from the softest strings to the most demanding percussion, and specifically touts its usefulness for live house tapes and for producing stereo DAT recordings. A working engineer quoted in EQ magazine's Shure feature listed the VP88 among favorite Shure tools for cymbals and percussion racks, and called it great for house tapes. That is exactly the application the marketing claimed. A coincident array captures a believable picture of a room without the hollow phase weirdness that spaced pairs can introduce when the room is less than ideal.

The caveats come with the topology. A Mid-Side mic gives you a stereo image, not a pair of independently aimable microphones. If a session calls for two distinct perspectives, this isn't the tool. The built-in matrix is convenient but it's a fixed set of choices - three spread settings or raw M-S - and anyone wanting finer control of width will end up running the discrete M-S output and doing the math downstream. None of that is a flaw so much as the nature of the design.

Shure's own advertising called the VP88 a remarkable value and claimed no other stereo microphone offered so much versatility and quality at such an affordable price. That's marketing copy, not an independent verdict. What independent period coverage does support is the core proposition: a rugged, portable, phantom-or-battery stereo condenser that produces a mono-compatible M-S signal with switchable spread. It suits video field work, DAT-era stereo recording, and instrument miking where a single point of capture is an advantage rather than a limitation.