General Description; Performance Characteristics - Shure KSM353 User Manual

General Description

The KSM353 is a premium bidirectional ribbon microphone crafted for pristine audio in studio and
concert hall applications. It is hand-assembled from state-of-the art transducers, transformers and
metals as the pinnacle of Shure quality for prestigious vocal and acoustic performances.
Proprietary Roswellite
under extreme conditions. The Roswellite ribbon material replaces traditional foil ribbons with high
tensile strength, toughness, and shape memory that provides superior resilience at extreme sound
pressure levels (SPLs).
Features
• Legendary Shure quality and superior construction from hand-assembly of machined steel, silver,
gold and aluminum components
• Revolutionary Roswellite ribbon material replaces traditional foil ribbons with high tensile
strength, toughness and shape-memory that provides superior resilience at extreme SPLs
• Patented, custom ribbon motor assembly provides full low and mid ranges with superior upper
presence from a rising response
• 30 – 15,000 Hz frequency response ideal for capturing fast transients in vocals, acoustic
instruments and concert halls
• Uniform bidirectional polar pattern throughout the frequency range
• Custom-wound, double-shielded, full-size transformer minimizes signal loss and maximizes
output while reducing RF interference, positioned perpendicular to ribbon for best magnetic flux
rejection
• Military-grade, wire rope suspension mount surpasses traditional rubber and elastic cord mounts
in resilience and shock absorption

Performance Characteristics

Ribbon microphones perform optimally with the least amount of loading on the ribbon element as
practical. The higher the impedance input on the microphone, the better the low-end and mid-range
frequencies are represented in the output signal. Shure recommends using preamps with imped-
ance settings of 1000 Ohms or more, although different load impedances may be used for a desired
sound quality.
This is a low-noise microphone. The combination of its efficient transducer, robust shielding, and
custom transformer produces a low noise floor and output level equal to moving coil microphones.
Shure ribbon microphones have an exceptionally smooth, natural response and perform best with
preamps that provide simple, transparent gain. However, Shure encourages experimentation to find
the desired combination of color and transparency.
ribbon technology provides revolutionary ribbon resilience and durability
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