Looking for a mic for a female singer in a band I do FOH for, I landed on the KSM8. I tried lots of condensers: kms104/105, DPA, ksm9, beta87, but none of them fit and I always went back to a good old sm58 to get what I needed. Problems were often to do with too much crosstalknfrom stage, and difficulty to reproduce both low and high registers.
Then this one came out, we demo'd it, and boom, instant match. We've been touring with the black version and now bought the chrome which is beautiful, the finish is just astounding.
It has the same focus as a sm58 but better detail, takes eq very well, and has the best off-axis response of all the mics I've tried. I get far less shrill cymbal bleed and can really push the vocal up without worries.
When the SE V7 came out, we compared it to that one. Also a good mic especially for the price. Very close in sound! The KSM8 took the edge over it in the low end (a bit more punch) and needs a lot less gain (the m7 needed loads, which makes it's performance more dependant of a good preamp). Also the KSM8 feels heavier and sturdier, the m7 seemed like a feather in comparison.
Quality has a price, and this is a premium product, a great design with unique features.
