the t.bone MB 78 Beta

I have been involved in sound-engineering, both live and recording for about 50 years. I am not a professional so have always worked on tight budgets. These days, I have a massive microphone collection which includes dozens of examples of mics from all the major manufacturers. I have searched endlessly in this time to find an affordable vocal mic with a high performance - and I have now found it! In fact I have found about 20 of them - all the same - all Thomann MB78 Betas!

In my opinion, the MB78 Beta is the best vocal mic available at anything like this price. OK, what's so good about it?

Firstly, the sound quality. Clean, sweet top end without the hard edge upper-mid boost that so many dynamic vocal mics deliver. I have never had any significant feedback problems with these mics in live work (though to be fair, I rarely work in an environment that needs massive volume). I have never tried an A/B test with a "famous" mic to see which will give the highest volume without feedback but my impression is that these would match any dynamic mic for feedback-free gain. This is probably due to a pretty flat frequency response. These mics certainly extend at the top end beyond the range of a dynamic mic.

I have used the mics for recording close-mic vocals and the results have been flawless.

Another thing I like about these mics is their almost zero handling noise. The shock protection is excellent and much better than any comparable mic I have ever used. A great bonus when performers want to hand-hold.

Low end is brilliantly curtailed with the on-board high-pass filter. I always use this switched in for close vocal work. This makes the mic almost pop-free. Once or twice, I have had to resort to using a foam pop-filter for particularly breathy performers but most of the time this is totally unnecessary.

These mics are pretty tough too. OK, I look after my stuff but I have had some of these mics for getting on for a decade and they still look as good as new.

They look pretty good too!

The verdict? Unless you want to pay three, four or even five times the price, you won't get much more for your money. These mics are brilliant! Thomann - please keep these in stock and hold the price!!

I am returning to live performance & needed a spare/back up mic. I had been told of the hand held condenser for live applications and so did a lot of research. I also have experience of T.Bone mics & own a stereo pair. As I was on limited budget (Under €200) I finally decided on this mic based on numerous online reviews.

When it arrived it was very well packaged and comes with a foam lined plastic case & a mic clip. Also includes a spec sheet. There is a recessed pad switch on it. The chassis is strong metal construction as is the grill. However, I would still not like to drop the mic as the capsule inside looks very delicate.

Plugging it in was easy with an XLR cable. You need phantom power to operate. I was astonished at how crystal clear the sound was. I only used it in a home studio set up and it remains to be seen how it will perform in the live scene. I compared it with my old SM58 & the difference is very noticable and astonishing. Especially given this mic is under €50. Highs & mids are crystal and just the right amount of low end. The SM58 is a little muddier.

I will return to comment when I try it out at a couple of gigs. But, if like me, you need a spare mic &/or want to try a new sound where everything just pops out a little more, then I strongly recommend this mic guys. Unbelievable value. If you get it & don't like you can always use Thomanns 30 returns.

I use this microphone for home recording a radio show.

It replaces my MB85 Beta that just lacked a little high end (being a dynamic microphone).

The MB 78 Beta definitely is a nice microphone. The proximity effect is a bit less than most handheld microphones I ever used, but it is a nice balanced clear sound.

A small negative to me was that it seems to record a lot more background noise, but that's more likely with a condenser, and since I use an expander to lower the background it is actually not an issue to me. I would not recommend this (or any other condenser) microphone in noisy environments for that reason. Compared to my other t.bone condenser microphones (large diaphragm SC-450 and SC-1100) the MB 78 Beta is noisier.

The handling noise is minimal and the low frequency roll-off switch is greatly appreciated.

If you want a handheld condenser this microphone is a lot cheaper than microphones of comparable sound quality. It is noiser than the Shure SM 87 Beta, but then again that one is a lot more expensive.