Our baritone saxophone player used my Sennheiser E606 which is great for sax & brass but is even better for close miking my guitar amp. I wanted an economic replacement that could handle high sound levels and would still not be too bright. The CD 56 Beta is, I think, a Shure clone. I'm not sure (grin) how the original sounds, but I'm impressed with this microphone. For baritone saxophone it's defenitely better than a normal SM58.
Our baritone player uses it with a rim clamp on the cup of the sax. Even though it's slightly heavier than the E606, it is still lighter than most microphones. Specs state 180g, in my expercience it was a little heavier but not sure about that. All in all an excellent low cost solution for saxophone and brass. I'm sure it does a great job on snare drums & toms as well. Might even be good for close miking amps.
The sound compared to the E606 (which is almost 3x the price of the CD 56 BETA) was also better; not too bright (like many cheaper microphones), nice lows and compared to the E606 the "presence" was much improved; I think the frequencies around 4 kHz het a slight boost which makes saxes come alive. In comparison, the E606 is a bit dull sounding. Unbelievable a microphone of this quality with this price can be made for such a low price. Well done TBONE!!