Shure55SH Series II
microphone
New retail price (MSRP)
$219
Used market: $170*
Specifications
2 of 8 values have a recorded source- Connectors
- XLR 3-Pin Male·
- Built-in converter
- no·
- Transducer
- Dynamic Moving Coil·
- Sensitivity
- -58·
- Output impedance
- 270✓
- Phantom power required
- no·
- Connection
- XLR-Only·
- Indexable Locales
- ·
Expert Audio Engineering Commentary
Tonal profile
The Elvis microphone, still in production, still a cardioid moving coil with a 50 Hz to 15 kHz response and a lockable on/off switch. At -58 dBV/Pa it is the quietest Shure dynamic in this batch: two decibels below an SM57 and seven below a Beta 56A.
Gain staging
Low output into a genuinely high source impedance. Shure prints both figures on the same line - 150 rated, 270 actual - and the actual one is what the preamp input divides against. With a low-impedance input the 55SH loses top end before it loses level.
What the datasheet actually says
Quoted verbatim from the manufacturer’s own page, with the date we checked it. We state what is printed, not what anyone intended by it.
«EIA rated at 150 Ω (270 Ω actual)»
Two impedances in one row, and only one of them describes the microphone. The EIA rating is a classification bracket from an old standard, not a measurement; the 270 ohms in brackets is the source impedance the preamp input actually sees and divides against. Catalogues and shops quote the 150. Shure prints the same construction on the 565SD - 'EIA rated at 150 Ω (250 Ω actual)' - and, on the Beta 56A, prints 150 on the product page and 290 in the guide without ever saying that the two are different quantities.
checked 8/6/2026* Estimated with the depreciation fallback (~78% retained value).