ShureKSM9
microphone
New retail price (MSRP)
$769
Used market: $600*
Specifications
2 of 9 values have a recorded source- Connectors
- XLR 3-Pin Male·
- Built-in converter
- no·
- Self-noise
- 22✓
- Transducer
- Condenser Electret·
- Sensitivity
- -51·
- Output impedance
- 150·
- Phantom power required
- yes·
- Connection
- XLR-Only·
- Indexable Locales
- ·
Expert Audio Engineering Commentary
Tonal profile
A dual-diaphragm handheld condenser with a switch between cardioid and supercardioid. 22 dB SPL-A of self-noise and a 152 dB maximum are what separate it from a dynamic - the working range is wide enough that the same microphone handles a whisper and a shouted chorus without a pad.
Gain staging
The switchable pattern does not change the published level, and Shure prints one specification table for both the KSM9 and the KSM9HS. The clipping level - 6.7 dBV into 2500 ohms - is the number that actually limits you: at -51 dBV/Pa that is 152 dB SPL at the capsule, so nothing on a stage will overload it.
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.
«Polar Pattern Cardioid, Supercardioid (selectable)»
One specification table covers two microphones. The same guide states earlier that 'KSM9HS: Features hypercardioid and subcardioid polar patterns' and 'KSM9: Features cardioid and supercardioid polar patterns', and Shure sells both at the same price - but the single table's polar-pattern row names only the KSM9's two patterns. Every other row in that table, sensitivity included, is therefore printed once for two different capsule configurations without saying whether it applies to both.
checked 8/6/2026* Estimated with the depreciation fallback (~78% retained value).