Shure Nexadyne

Shure’s R&D department have delivered another breakthrough with the dual‑capsule Revonic transducer.

Over the years, Shure have produced microphones using all of the mainstream operating principles. Their current range includes the highly regarded KSM353 and 313 ribbon designs, as well as numerous large‑ and small‑diaphragm capacitor models. But if there’s a particular technology with which the Shure name will always be associated, it’s the moving‑coil dynamic mic. Many of the most important developments in dynamic mic design originated with the company, perhaps most notably the Unidyne cartridge — the first moving‑coil capsule to have a native cardioid response. All of the hundreds of millions of directional dynamic mics in daily use today owe their existence to this 1930s breakthrough by Shure designer Ben Bauer.

What’s more, unlike some contemporary manufacturers of dynamic mics, Shure are continuing to innovate. They don’t see the moving‑coil microphone as a mature technology to be endlessly repackaged, but as a field where development is still ongoing, and one where cutting‑edge research into electro‑acoustics and materials science can still yield measureable and audible benefits.

This research bore rich fruit in 2016 with the KSM8, a stage vocal microphone that debuted Shure’s novel Dualdyne capsule. As the name suggests, the Dualdyne capsule extended into the moving‑coil realm a concept that has long been standard in the design of large‑diaphragm capacitor mics: the addition of a second diaphragm at the rear of the capsule to help control directionality and proximity effect. As Hugh Robjohns explained in his review of the KSM8 this was an extremely impressive feat of engineering on Shure’s part, and one that required seven years of research.

All of the hundreds of millions of directional dynamic mics in daily use today owe their existence to this 1930s breakthrough by Shure designer Ben Bauer.

Doubling Up

Eight years on, we are now seeing the next stage in this development. The Nexadyne range employs another breakthrough Shure capsule design, which the company are dubbing Revonic. The rear diaphragm in the Dualdyne capsule is passive, in the sense that it modifies the acoustic properties of the system but does not itself act as a transducer. By contrast, the Nexadyne assembly actually includes two entire capsules: a conventional one at the front of the mic and a second one behind it.

With the standard Braunmühl‑Weber capsule used in most large‑diaphragm capacitor mics, it makes sense to think of the front and rear as being more or less independent cardioid elements, and indeed, variable‑pattern small‑diaphragm mics such as the Neumann KM88 and KM86 actually feature two completely self‑contained cardioid capsules mounted back‑to‑back. The directional qualities of the mic as a whole are modified by combining these in different amounts: for example, summing them equally delivers an omnidirectional response, whilst summing them equally in opposing polarity gives figure‑8 pickup.

The dual forward‑facing capsules are clearly visible in this cutaway view of the cardioid Nexadyne 8/C.

The two capsules in the Dualdyne assembly are summed in opposite polarities, but it would be misleading to think of them in the same way. For a start, both of them face forwards, and they’re not designed to be operated or addressed independently. Instead, they form a complete system that has a fixed polar pattern. Within this system, and in comparison to a conventional single‑element mic, the second capsule has several important functions. It plays a very significant part in defining said polar pattern, and especially in making this consistent throughout the frequency spectrum. Connecting it in reverse polarity eliminates the need for the humbucking coil found in single‑element mics, since any interference is picked up equally by both capsules’ voice coils and cancelled out. The same feature also helps to minimise handling noise: a knock or bump on the mic will set both capsules moving in very similar fashion, so the net output of the two capsules summed in reverse polarity should be quite low.

As with the Dualdyne, the Nexadyne engine is a supremely high‑tech affair. The internal acoustics are so complex that it would have been completely impossible to develop something like this without advanced computer modelling and simulation. It demands incredibly precise manufacturing to extremely fine tolerances, with individual parts such as diaphragms barcoded and traced through the production line, in order to be matched as accurately as possible.

Nex Level

The supercardioid Nexadyne 8/S and the cardioid 8/C are housed in the same shell, with the main visual difference being the extra ribs along the grille in the former.At launch, the Nexadyne range comprises cardioid and supercardioid models called, respectively, the Nexadyne 8/C and Nexadyne 8/S. These are available as wired mics with conventional XLR outputs, or as heads for wireless systems. The former were supplied for review. They come in compact, robust zip‑up cases, with a simple mic clip included. Commendably, the outer packaging has been designed with sustainability firmly in mind, and consists only of a simple printed card box.

You’d expect a new stage mic from Shure to be bulletproof in construction, and the Nexadyne models certainly appear to be. The die‑cast aluminium shells are finished in a very smart and hard‑wearing black, which is the only option for the wired mics; the wireless heads are also available in a nickel finish. Both mics adhere to the now‑standard ‘ice cream cone’ form factor, and coincidentally, are almost identical in size and shape to the Earthworks SR117 reviewed by Paul White in SOS May 2024. That means they are slightly on the large side as stage mics go, measuring around 200mm long by almost 50mm in diameter at their widest point. The supercardioid version is slightly the heavier of the two, at 294g to the cardioid’s 258g, but both sit very comfortably in the hand. Apart from the small gold logo near the base, the main visual identifier that distinguishes the two versions is the number of ribs that run along the side of the grille. The 8/S has four of these to the 8/C’s two.

The reason for the Nexadynes’ ample girth becomes apparent when you unscrew the tightly woven black grille. The shockmounted capsule assembly is considerably larger than those of most dynamic mics, in every dimension. The assembly in the supercardioid version is several millimetres longer than that of the cardioid; both have four rectangular, mesh‑covered ‘windows’ along the sides, and these again are larger in the supercardioid mic. Happily, there’s no foam to decay and cause problems down the line: the headbasket is lined instead with a flexible gauze‑like material.

As this exploded view of the 8/S suggests, the Nexadyne mics are highly complex and require cutting‑edge tooling and assembly.

In some ways, the Nexadyne specs are what you’d expect of a handheld dynamic mic. Sensitivity is quoted as 2mV/Pa for the cardioid and 2.8 for the supercardioid, and the on‑axis frequency response is familiar, being relatively flat through the low mids before a broad presence peak sets in. In the cardioid version, this reaches a 6dB climax at about 4kHz, with secondary peaks at about 6.5 and 9 kHz; in the supercardioid model, the primary peak is almost 8dB up at 3.5kHz. The high‑frequency roll‑off sets in at about 10kHz on the cardioid and 12 on the supercardioid, though both have usable response up to 20kHz.

Other specifications, however, are less typical. Both models are transformerless and have a higher than usual output impedance, with the 8/C quoted as 300Ω and the 8/S as 450Ω. But the most eye‑catching feature is the polar pattern graph. This is unusually consistent across the frequency spectrum, especially for the cardioid model, where the lines stay within a 5dB range for practically all angles of incidence except directly behind the mic. It’s a shame that Shure haven’t included a 125Hz plot, though, as it would be interesting to see what happens to the pattern at low frequencies.

Frequency response and polar pattern charts for the cardioid Nexadyne 8/C (above) and supercardioid 8/S.

On Point

I’ve never tried the KSM8, but by all accounts it’s notable for a relatively neutral sound without an obvious presence peak; some have even called it ‘condenser‑like’. Shure are clearly going for something different with the Nexadynes, however. That presence peak is readily apparent, and the on‑axis sound is crisp and bright. It’s what you might call a ‘mix ready’ sound, and unlikely to require much additional treble boost at the console. Indeed, the supercardioid version was actually a touch too lively on my voice, which usually welcomes plenty of help in the upper midrange.

It’s a familiar tonality, and if you stayed perfectly still at an optimum distance from the mic, and there was nothing else going on in the room, there perhaps wouldn’t be an obvious difference between the Nexadyne and many generic dynamic stage vocal mics. But as soon as you start to move around, you begin to appreciate the benefits of the Revonic dual‑capsule design. It doesn’t eliminate proximity effect, especially on the supercardioid version, but you can work the mic right up close without things becoming at all muddy, and you can pull back from it without losing all the body from the vocal sound. The cardioid version is also very tolerant of side‑to‑side movement, in a way that many stage mics aren’t. Whether you’re a singer who deliberately employs ‘mic technique’ or someone who simply moves around a lot on stage, I think the Nexadynes will prove a lot more forgiving than conventional vocal mics.

The cardioid model exhibits impressive rejection at the rear, with a large and even pickup zone at the front, just as it should.

As a point of comparison, I dug out my Shure Beta 57A, and the comparisons were enlightening. Both Nexadynes are a fair bit brighter than the 57A, and whereas the older mic can get muddy in the 200Hz area when used close, the newer ones stayed crystal clear. What was really eye‑opening, though, was the way the mics capture sound off‑axis. In many cases, descriptions like “cardioid” and “supercardioid” should really be paired with qualifiers such as “at some frequencies, sometimes”. Not so with the Nexadynes. The cardioid model exhibits impressive rejection at the rear, with a large and even pickup zone at the front, just as it should, while the 8/S likewise comes much closer to the theoretical ideal than the nominally supercardioid Beta 57A. At the angles of greatest rejection — 180 degrees for the 8/C and 126 degrees for the 8/S — the nulls are impressively deep.

The flip side of this is that, in relative terms, the presence peak around 3‑4 kHz is even more pronounced off‑axis, and such sound as is captured at the nulls isn’t terribly attractive. Nevertheless, I think the predictable and consistent polar pattern, strong rejection in the nulls and minimal proximity effect are absolutely a winning combination. Handling noise isn’t easy to measure objectively, and subjectively I didn’t perceive it as being lower with the Nexadynes, but I think that mainly reflects the fact that the Beta 57A is already very good in this department. The grille and gauze combo does an effective job of minimising plosive artefacts, though a singer who works the mic very close will still generate some pops.

The Keys Test

I don’t do live sound all that often myself, so to give the Nexadyne a proper workout in a real‑world situation, I lent the cardioid version to a friend who runs a hard‑working party band. One of the biggest challenges they face is finding a vocal mic that works for a singing keyboard player. When your hands are flying all over the keyboard as you crank out ‘Crocodile Rock’, it’s almost impossible to address the vocal mic in a consistent, close‑up way. The verdict on the Nexadyne 8/C? “Absolutely incredible. It’s a real cracker in a live situation. Very little EQ required, and had a really great capture area for the keys player.”

Price‑wise, the Nexadyne mics clock in at around twice as much as the Beta 57A and 58A, around the same as Shure’s Beta 87A capacitor vocal mic, and somewhat less than the aforementioned KSM8. If you’re choosing for your own voice, then obviously there’s no substitute for trying them out: the Nexadynes’ pronounced treble boost will work better for some singers than others, who might suit the KSM instead. But if you’re a live sound engineer or venue buying mics that will be put up on stage every day to deal with all‑comers, the Nexadynes have the potential to make your life a whole lot easier.

Information

£329 including VAT.

www.shure.com

$299

www.shure.com

When you purchase via links on our site, SOS may earn an affiliate commission. More info...

When you purchase via links on our site, SOS may earn an affiliate commission. More info...