Worship Together Blog

Gear Corner: Blue Goes LIVE with the enCORE series

It has been a long time since a new competitor showed up in the live mic venue.  For the last 30 years the market has been dominated by the Shure SM58.  Recently Blue decided they wanted to challenge the status quo.  With Blue’s innovation and design in the studio, they have the tools they need to build a quality live mic.  The question is whether the enCORE delivers.

To build a great live mic it has to have quality sound, price, and robustness all summed into one product.  The enCORE is definitely robust.  It is heavier than the SM 58 and feels like a tank.  The mesh grill is very strong.  I guess only time will tell if it will last 30 years of being dropped and mouthed by countless people.  One definite is the price is great.  The enCORE 100 sells for $99 and the enCORE 200 sells for $149. With quality build and price both wins in my book, the big question is how does it sound?

We wanted you to hear the enCORE 100 and 200 next to the SM 58 and Beta 58 so we recorded vocals with all 4 microphones and put them back to back.

Click the links below to listen to full audio recording for each mic...

Blue Encore 200

Blue Encore 100

Shure SM 58

Shure Beta 58

Since the enCORE 200 was my favorite mic of the bunch, I wanted to highlight what makes it unique.  The 200 is an active dynamic meaning it requires phantom power.  The reason is because it has a transformer on the output.  This gives the mic a more “condenser” like quality.  The enCORE 200 is brighter and more detailed than the Shure microphones.  Beyond the recorded test we used the enCOREs in a couple church services as well as an artist showcase.  From the services I felt the enCORE 200 kept better presence and detail as the vocalist distanced themselves from the mic.   The 200 also cut through the mix better than a SM 58.  My church just built a 1400 seat sanctuary in a warehouse with concrete floors.  This is a very hostile sound environment.  Gaining vocal clarity without having to raise volume is extremely important.  The 200 definitely delivered.

One concern of mine was that with the added brightness and response there would be potential for excessive feedback.  We did a feedback test with a Beta 58 and the 2 enCOREs both rang equal or less than the Beta 58.

Blue has announced they will add an enCORE 300 to the lineup which will be a condenser microphone.  It will sell for $200 which is very exciting since my favorite live condenser (Neumann KMS 105) sells for $500.  We will definitely be adding it to this comparison in the future. 

I am a big fan of the enCORE line and think they are a fantastic newcomer to the live microphone venue.  Any microphone that can make the live music and worship experience better is a beautiful thing.

 

Church Gear Swiping

Dear church music gear swiper,

This is a plea. I am calling on your sense of kindness and compassion. Please stop swiping gear from different worship venues without letting someone know or bringing the item back once you are done.

When I was rehearsing for worship last Wednesday night I realized that the monitors weren't working, so I went to the soundboard to investigate. I noticed you had swiped 2 cables that connected the soundboard to the monitor sends on the snake.

I corralled one of the students who helps out with sound and blamed him for the swipe. He assured me that it was you and he went and swiped the 2 cables back that I needed from where you left them!

It seems like every time I lead worship, someone is scrambling around to find a music stand, guitar stand, mic cable, or a hundred other items. I'm beginning to think that you are a modern day church "Robin Hood" who is stealing from the ministries who have gear and giving the stuff to the ministries who don't.

About a year ago, you were swiping my music stand every week. I would find it in your Sunday School class and swipe it back, only to find it missing again the next week. I even put a "Do Not Remove" sticker on it, but you disregarded it.

Last Christmas, the church bought about 12 poinsettias to set along the front of the stage. By the time Christmas rolled around, we were down to about 6. Every week we would loose a couple of them. "Why? Why? Why?". If you needed a poinsettia, I would have bought you one!

I've been assured from season worship pastors that there is someone like you in every church, finding interesting things and moving them to places where no one can find them. Please stop before all my volunteers quit or the church has to purchase a gun vault to lock up everything between services! :)