- Extremely affordable Shure SM58 clone
- Comes with evertything you need to start using right away
- Sounds great
- Very sturdy and roadworthy piece of gear
- There's no con as it's unbelivable to be able to purchase a microphone at this price tag!
Hello there! I’m back again with another article for you! This time, we will be looking at one of Thomann‘s most budget-friendly dynamic microphones, the t.bone MB85 Beta. I was recently looking for the quickest and easiest way to record ideas into DAWs, as I would often record musical ideas on my phone and then transfer them to my laptop. It was still easily doable, but since there are steps to do just to achieve a simple thing that would end up in my DAW, I thought I should get myself a cheap microphone.
Table of Contents
I’m not a singer or anything, but musical ideas usually come out while I’m humming them, just right after I hear them in my mind, or sometimes you may just want to record some audio directly into your DAW. So, I think there should be a working audio solution for anyone to record them instantly into their favourite DAW. For this reason, I started researching possible options at Thomann and discovered their exclusive brand called t.bone!
About t.bone
t.bone is actually one of Thomann’s in-house brands and features an excellent array of studio gear at unbeatable price tags for aspiring musicians! Thomann’s t.bone brand dominantly features vocals, instruments, large and small diaphragm condensers, wireless, headset, installation microphones, various microphone and studio accessories, acoustic treatment products, headphones and in-ear monitoring systems. 
Mind you, Thomann has many exclusive, in-house brands that can easily dominate the MI market, and I went through them all to come up with an analysis here in my separate article. Please do not forget to check it out below!
Check out Is It Worth Buying From Thomann in the USA & Canada? analysis here
They manufacture a lot of clone products at very affordable price tags while offering you the highest value for money! Since I was looking for an affordable and hassle-free solution, I started browsing t.bone’s dynamic microphone models. When I looked at the sales ranks with the user ratings, I immediately made my decision and went for the t.bone MB85 Beta microphone. 
t.bone MB85 Beta
As many of you may already be able to guess from the model name, MB85 Beta is a clone of the Shure SM58 🙂 These microphones are classified as dynamic vocal microphones, and if you look at the respective subcategory, you can see that t.bone is listed as the 6th best seller while Shure SM58 is the number 1, as well as sharing the top 5 with other varieties of it. So we can basically say that the Shure SM58 is the most popular dynamic vocal microphone in the universe! Even though the Shure SM58 is fairly priced at Thomann, for the reasons I have mentioned in this article, I went for the clone version, which costs almost 3 times less!
According to Thomann, it offers a clear, round sound with high signal levels. It also features a super-cardioid pattern for minimising feedback. There is also a set of technical specs for the microphone; please see below. 
Tech Specs
| t.bone MB85 Beta | Tech Specs |
|---|---|
| Transducer Type | Dynamic |
| Pattern | Super-Cardioid |
| Frequency response | 50 - 16000 Hz |
| Field Sensitivity | 2.4 mV/ Pa |
| Field Sensitivity | -52.4 dB re 1V/ Pa |
| Impedance | 415 Ohm @ 1 kHz |
| Connection | XLR |
| Measurements | 16.4 x 5.2 cm |
| Weight | 273 gr |
| Mount & Case | Included |
Review
Thomann’s t.bone MB85 comes with a really nice, sturdy case. There is no other box that wraps around the case, but just a nylon wrap.
Also, just wanted to share the labelling and barcode section on the case. As you can see, this is clearly a Thomann brand. I truly appreciate that Thomann features so many in-house brands, and it doesn’t hide the relation, unlike some companies do on the MI market.
The box content consists of the microphone, the microphone clamp, the instructions and the manual. Very simple, lean, yet extremely high-value purchase! For those who are concerned with the microphone clamp, don’t worry! 
It’s a standard thread clamp, so it will fit any microphone stand you should be adding to your cart on Thomann! 🙂 In case you want to use your camera tripod as a microphone stand, I also have a solution that I have just discovered as well. While you are ordering your MB85 microphone, you may also want to add a Manfrotto adapter to convert your tripod into a microphone stand.
I have also added the following 2 images regarding its pattern and frequency response graph below.
t.bone MB85 Beta Pattern
t.bone MB85 Beta Frequency Response
Sound Demo (no talking)
Unfortunately, I’m not a singer and won’t even try to provide a vocal demo with you! 🙂 There are really good samples recorded by Thomann, simply just visit the product page and listen for yourself. 
However, I have just used this microphone for recording my Creative GigaWorks T40 Series II speakers in a quick sound test/comparison video. I don’t think anyone else would spend their time making such videos, but hey! These fit my budget, working space and use cases, so why not feature them? 🙂 In this video, I have used my Schecter Hellraiser Hybrid PT-7, RME Babyface PRO interface, LePou Legion VST amp plugin with nadIR (factory IRs), Mokafix D-plus VST distortion plugin and Chicken Picks Badazz 3.2mm!
Unfortunately, when I purchased this microphone, I didn’t have much gear to test it. So, the demo is pretty limited. But I can confidently say that this is one of the best purchases I have ever made, as it costs barely anything!
Pricing & Availability
As you can guess, the only place you should be purchasing your t.Bone microphones are Thomann. As the t.Bone product line is priced so competitively that it doesn’t make much sense to look for one on the used market. However, there are sometimes 2nd listings on Reverb that you may want to check out regularly. 
Check out t.Bone microphones on Reverb here
For the entire product line that t.Bone offers, please check out Thomann’s brand page!
Check out t.Bone product line on Thomann here
Hope you have enjoyed my t.Bone MB85 Beta review! Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!
