Shure
PGA81
Small-diaphragm condenser · Cardioid · 40–18,000 Hz
- The budget pencil condenser: 186 g, phantom powered, no pad and no filter.
- 600 Ω out of a condenser is high — it wants a short cable and a decent input.
Frequency response
No response curve yet.
MicSense only draws a curve redrawn from a graph the manufacturer publishes — it never estimates one from the microphone’s class. No published graph has been redrawn for the PGA81 yet, so the numbers are in the spec table below.
Polar pattern
Generated from the first-order directivity formula for cardioid. It illustrates the pattern type — it is not a measurement of this individual model.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | Shure |
|---|---|
| Model | PGA81 |
| Type | Small-diaphragm condenser |
| Form factor | Stick / pencil |
| Polar pattern | Cardioid |
| Frequency range | 40–18,000 Hz |
| Sensitivity | 3.8 mV/Pa · -48.5 dBV/Pa |
| Max SPL | 129.5 dB SPL (THD not stated) |
| Self-noise | 22 dB(A) |
| Impedance | 600 Ω (output) |
| Connector | XLR3M |
| Powering | Phantom 48 V |
| Weight | 186 g |
Specifications: Shure specifications page · last checked 2 Oct 2026. These are the maker’s published figures for this model. A dash never means zero: “not published by the maker” means the maker’s documents give no figure; “not yet checked” means MicSense has not confirmed one yet. Spotted an error? Tell us.
MicSense notes
| Price tier | Budget |
|---|---|
| Introduced | — not recorded |
Price tier and “a rider regular” are MicSense’s own judgement, not the maker’s.
What it gets used for
- Overhead
- Hi-hat
- Acoustic instrument
MicSense tags microphones by the job on a live stage, not by studio category — so you can filter for “kick in” or “monitor vocal” instead of working backwards from “large-diaphragm condenser”.
PGA81 alternatives: closest in published specs
Based on published specifications only — always listen at soundcheck. These are the microphones in the MicSense library whose datasheet figures sit closest to the Shure PGA81’s for the same live job, with the reasons. It says nothing about how they sound.
Not compared for the Shure PGA81: response curve not redrawn yet.
-
Shure
SM81
- Same job: overhead, hi-hat, acoustic instrument
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same cardioid pattern
- Same form: stick / pencil
- Max SPL as high or higher (136 vs 129.5 dB SPL)
- ≈ 4 dB more output — about 4 dB less gain
-
sE Electronics
RN17
- Same job: overhead, hi-hat, acoustic instrument
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same cardioid pattern
- Same form: stick / pencil
- Max SPL as high or higher (131 vs 129.5 dB SPL)
- ≈ 4 dB more output — about 4 dB less gain
-
Sennheiser
e 914
- Same job: overhead, hi-hat, acoustic instrument
- Same type: condenser (small diaphragm)
- Same cardioid pattern
- Same form: stick / pencil
- Max SPL as high or higher (137 vs 129.5 dB SPL)
- ≈ 5 dB more output — about 5 dB less gain
Compare it against the alternatives.
MicSense lets you put up to four microphones side by side — spec table, overlaid response curves and polar diagrams on one screen. Free with a free Squaresmile account.