I found this old post on rec.audio.pro from steve regarding snare mic's. Anyone know if shure released the mic steve is talking about in this quote from 2001?

"For a cracking, attack-strong sound, lately I've been using an Altec
175 or 165 with a 29a or 29b capsule. A good substitute for this is a
mic I'm trying out (as a prototype) from Shure -- it doesn't have a
name yet, but I'm sure you'll hear all about it when they're ready to
sell. I have had mixed (occasionally good) results with AKG C28, C60
and 451 mics, but they're not usually the first thing I try. I have
(in a pinch) used Shure SM98's by themselves."

you know what, i think it's the ksm141. Anyone tried this on a snare?

flemingL wrote: Anyone tried this on a snare?

Yep. It's one of my favorites. If I remember correctly, the equipment page here says that their KSM 141 is a prototype (or one of them is or something like that), so it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

ya, that was one of the things that led me to believe it was the ksm141 he was talking about. does it work for anything else?

At my school (Webster University in STL) I was in a constant campaign to make this a standard choice for snare. This is the thing that I've noticed - drummers hate it, because it makes their snare sound like their snare, not like that guy from insert band here. I've also had luck with it as an over/underhead for drums, on guitar, dulcimer, pedal steel, etc.
One of the reasons I enjoy small diaphragm condensers is their ability to flatter off-axis sources, most notably a hi-hat when the on-axis source is a snare (in a standard trap kit).

One thing I'm curious about is if Steve had something to do with the design of this mic, like he did with the e22s?

It's the KSM-141 which seems to get used at EA for snare drums often. It's a great snare mic because of it's ability to withstand high SPL (15 and 25 dB pads) and its sharp transient response. I just used it this past weekend as the mid mic (in omni mode) for an M/S pair to pick up the room ambience on an acoustic gtr/vocalist. It sounded great.

best,
mike

I have a pair of KSM-137's that I use as overhead mics for all my drum tracking. Well, all tracking since I got them, that is. It's the same mic as the KSM-141, except it doesn't have a switchable polar pattern. It's uni only. I haven't ever tried it on snare, but maybe I will someday. I love them as overheads. I wish I had 141's, but the 137's are much better than anything else I own, so...

thanks mtar,
i remember you used the ksm141 as the snare mic on your live recording. It did sound good. I just did an A/B/C/etc, with a bunch of my mics on snare. the clear winner was the AT 4051, but i'de like to keep those for the overheads. It's unbelievable how bad the sm57's really sound when you compare them to real mics, i can't believe anyone would recommend them, it sounded like i recorded the snare through my telephone.

I love the ksm141 on snare.

It buttfucks the SM57, prison-style.