Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran recorded his single "Bad Habits" on Shure SM7B.

The accompanying photo (from a Sound On Sound article from January 2012) shows the microphone that was used to record Ed Sheeran's guitars on his + album. The sE Electronics sE4400a Condenser Microphone was the mic of choice used to capture Sheeran's guitars by producer and co-writer Jake Gosling, at Gosling's Sticky Studios.

In the article, Gosling says, "I did a lot of the guitars using a pair of SE 4400as. The main vocals pretty much were all done on the SE Z3300a, but I've just got a new Telefunken U47, which is lovely."

The original source article can be found here.

Ed Sheeran can be seen singing into a Neumann U87 Condenser Mic in this video of him performing "Wayfaring Stranger" live in the studio. He is using the Nickel version of the U87 (a Matte Black version also exists).

In this video of Ed Sheeran performing his song "You Need Me, I Don't Need You," his vocals are being recorded by the sE Electronics Z3300A Multi-Pattern Studio Condenser Microphone. A great closeup of the mic can be seen at the 1:15 mark.

Sheeran's producer Jake Gosling has also used the Z3300A to record Ed in the studio. In a Sound On Sound interview from January 2012, Gosling says, "The main vocals pretty much were all done on the SE Z3300a" (referring to the vocals for Sheeran's + album). Other sources mention the Z3300A was also used on the recording of Ed's album Collaboration No.5.

This photo shows Ed Sheeran performing live and singing into a Sennheiser e 865 microphone. An article on the UK Sennheiser site confirms that Sheeran uses an 865 capsule with a Sennheiser 2000 Series wireless system.

Sheeran's Front of House engineer Chris Marsh says that before the 865, Ed was using the Sennheiser e945, which didn't respond as well to Sheeran's "cupping the microphone and holding it in the air at an awkward angle." He goes on to say, "The 865 is the capsule out of all those that I tried, and not just Sennheiser, that has consistency between the open mic and the cupped. And Ed likes it!"

The original article can be found here.

When asked what his preferred microphone for recording is, Ed Sheeran responded:

I’ve got to be honest man, this sounds so base, but an SM58. Seriously. And like, sometimes I’ll get on a nice Neumann or something like that and record but if I’m right in it I have an SM58 that I just put on the guitar and strum. And I know that sounds so basic, but it works.

"There are two vocal mics, a 2000-series radio mic fitted with a custom 5235 capsule, which is relayed through a Sennheiser EM2050 radio system straight to the front of the house and a Sennheiser e945 vocal loop mic, which again runs into the new loop system," reads this article. At 1:42 in this video, Sheeran can be seen using an e945.

At the 1:42 mark of this video of Ed Sheeran performing the song "Small Bump" live in the studio, the AKG C 451 B Condenser Microphone he is using to mic his acoustic guitar can be seen.

During the U.S leg of Ed's 2014 Multiply tour, front-of-the-house and monitor engineer Chris Marsh decided to swith both Ed's vocal and loop vocal mic for a pair of Sennheiser SKM 9000's. Simultaneously going wireless with his guitars as well using the Sennheiser SK 9000, Chris states: "From an audio point of view, his vocal became a lot more prominent and his guitar sounded more natural. On top of that we’ve been doing stadiums, so having something that has such strong RF capability made a real difference. It meant that Ed could be up to 50m away from the receivers and still have rock-solid reception. It’s made a really big difference to the show and to Ed’s ability to move around the stage.” (taken from interview with Sports Video Group, august 14, 2015)

Ed has been using the Sennheiser Digital 9000 system for both his last legs of the Multiply tour (including gigs at London's Wembley Stadium and Dublin's Croke Park) and will continue to use it for his Divide tour, starting 2017.

No, this is not the exact same microphone he uses, but it is really close. The reason why it can't be the same is, that he built a custom capsule with his sound engineer. But the body looks identical. At 1:13 you can get a great look of the side where you can see that it is the same. You can buy it here: http://www.thomann.de/de/sennheiser_ew_135_g3_a_band.htm?ref=search_rslt_Sennheiser+EW+135+G3+A-Band_294462_0 Last I've got to mention that it is a 865 condenser microphone capsule, mostly used for studio recording. But you can find variations for it. The reason why I chose this one is, that it was mentioned by Ed Sheeran's sound engineer, that he uses a custom 865 capsule. I don't know if it's a big difference.

This picture was posted by Ed Sheeran's guitar tech Trevor Dawkins, showing all four guitars used for the Multiply tour being equipped with Sennheiser SK 9000 transmitters, sending a clean digital guitar signal to the Sennheiser Digital 9000 system.

In an interview with Sports Video Group, front-of-the-house and monitor engineer Chris Marsh says: “Digital 9000 Series has changed our lives. We had been looking at ways of moving Ed’s guitar away from being wired, but we hadn’t found a good enough wireless system for him to lose the cable, which he’d been using since the very beginning. That was until we tried Digital 9000; unlike others we tried, we found it sounded even better than the cable."

Trevor, Ed's sound tech, says, "a 2000-series radio mic fitted with a custom 5235 capsule, which is relayed through a Sennheiser EM2050 radio system straight to the front of the house and a Sennheiser e945 vocal loop mic, which again runs into the new loop system," in this interview.

Used for vocals on "Perfect Symphony", as is visible in the music video starting at 0:41.

The 935 Capsule is used for Ed's Loop Vocal

I'm 100% sure that this is an e 835 painted orange.

At 5:38 in the YouTube video titled "Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran - Everything Has Changed live on BGT (HD)," Ed Sheeran is seen using the Shure PGXD14 Digital Wireless Guitar System.

During "X" tour, Ed was suggested to use Sennheiser new gear by the monitor engineer Chris Marsh: “Digital 9000 Series has changed our lives,” says Chris. “We had been looking at ways of moving Ed’s guitar away from being wired, but we hadn’t found a good enough wireless system for him to lose the cable, which he’d been using since the very beginning. That was until we tried Digital 9000; unlike others we tried, we found it sounded even better than the cable".

The 9235 Capsule is used for Ed's Main Vocal

In the YouTube video "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Ed Sheeran 'I See Fire' [HD]," Ed Sheeran is seen using the Sennheiser MZP 40 windscreen at 0:23.

In this Instagram post you can clearly see, Ed is using 2 Sontronics Aria microphones on the piano and a Shure 7B on his vocal.

AKG C451B is in this video. (1:45)

In the documentary Songwriter available on Apple Music, Ed Sheeran is observed using a Manley Reference Cardioid Tube Microphone to record vocals for the demo of the song "Love Yourself," which was later released by Justin Bieber. This usage is specifically documented at the timestamp 4:33 in a segment of the documentary shared on YouTube by Brady, under the title "Ed Sheeran and Benny Blanco - The Making of 'Love Yourself'". The documentary itself was created by Murray Cummings and his team, offering a credible source for the information on Ed Sheeran's gear preference during the recording session.

According to FOH | Front of House Magazine, Ed Sheeran has been using the Sennheiser SKM 6000 wireless microphone system since the Mathematics Tour.