Shure

The company also manufactures listening products, including headphones, high-end earphones, and personal monitor systems.

Among Shure's innovations in phonograph cartridge design was Ralph Glover and Ben Bauer's "needle-tilt" principle for minimizing record wear while improving sound reproduction, and Jim Kogen's engineering concept of "trackability".

In 1937, their 66A piezoelectric stethophone was designed to accurately reproduce chest sounds, and in the early 1960s, the SP-5, SP-5S and SP-6 stethoscope pickups were produced.

The 65,000-square-foot (6,000 m2) Technology Annex designed by Krueck and Sexton Architects,[8] opened in 2005, houses Shure's Performance Listening Center.

[10] In October 2020, Shure acquired Midas Technology, Inc., also known as Stem Audio, which specializes in table, ceiling and wall microphones as well as loudspeakers, control interfaces and hubs.

[11] In September 2023, it was announced Shure had acquired the Helsinki-headquartered software developer for theater, film, TV, broadcast, and content streaming applications, Ab Wavemark Oy.

It was notable for its single-element, unidirectional design, which was smaller, less susceptible to feedback, and less sensitive to ambient noise than other microphones of the time.

[18] In 2008, the Unidyne Model 55 microphone was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame,[19] and the following year, Shure released the 55SH Series II.

[20] A supercardioid version, the Super 55 Deluxe Vocal Microphone, was introduced in 2009, featuring high gain before feedback and excellent off-axis rejection and further extending Unidyne's 70-plus year legacy.

A cloth strap held the T-30 against the throat, capturing the user's voice box vibrations directly and avoiding the background noise of the airplane.

[23] The SM57 is well known for its durability and the versatile sound characteristics, much attributable to the Ernie Seeler-designed Unidyne III capsule.

[26] Shure later expanded the SM series, which now include such models as the now hard to find SM53 & SM54 (which were low proximity effect microphones), SM45, SM48, SM56, SM57, SM58, SM85, SM86, SM87A, SM94, and the SM81 which is a longtime recording studio standard.

These feature a supercardioid designs based on SM series microphones, but with neodymium magnet structures for higher output.

In 1973, the SM5 was updated and reduced in size to become the SM7, which was widely adopted by television and radio announcers, but occasionally used in recording studios to pick up vocals, horns, guitars or bass drums.

[31] The SM7B was radically redesigned in 2020, reduced in size and provided with active digital audio circuitry to become the MV7, with both XLR and USB connections.

While Shure continues to manufacture phono cartridges, the Phoenix facility was closed in the late 1980s due to declining demand.

In 1966, chief engineer Jim Kogen published a research paper entitled "TRACKability" in Audio magazine, defining the concept as the ability of a cartridge to maintain contact with a record groove through any modulation.

The M44-7 cartridge is renowned for its tracking and skip resistance, which has made it a popular choice of turntablists such as The Invisibl Skratch Piklz.

The V-15 Type V marked the introduction of a proprietary "ultra-thin wall beryllium" stylus shank with a stiffness-to-mass ratio several times that of other cartridges on the market.

Due to the scarcity of the raw materials required to manufacture V-15 cartridges, Shure discontinued the series in 2004, and in June 2009, the last remaining V-15 stock was purchased by the Library of Congress.

The Vocal Master system consisted of a combination of control consoles, speakers, amplifiers, mixers, and microphones.

Vocal Master was also utilized for installed sound applications in educational institutions and churches, as well as at the Rockefeller Center's Rainbow Room where it was used for performances by such artists as Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington, and at the London Palladium.

Its master section featured an adjustable threshold limiter to prevent overload distortion, and there was a separate microphone/line switch with low-cut filter on each channel.

Operating within a copper wire circle either suspended from the ceiling or laid on the floor, the system could transmit within an area of approximately 700 square feet.

The system consisted of a low-frequency FM radio transmitter and microphone, utilized five subminiature vacuum tubes, and was powered by two hearing aid batteries.

[42] The following year, The UHF-R series was introduced with audio reference companding as a main feature and "wireless workbench" software for computer coordination and control of frequency selection, customized settings, and synchronization of multi-system components.

[45] In 2011, Shure previewed Axient, a wireless management network, which includes features for spectrum management, interference detection and avoidance, frequency diversity, remote control (including remote configuration of wireless units via the 2.4 GHz "Zigbee" WPAN IEEE 802.15.4 based "Showlink" protocol) and the use of Li-ion rechargeable batteries to eliminate the use of ordinary AA and AAA batteries.

This was a desktop application for Mac and Windows designed to monitor and control networked Shure wireless systems, as well as provide tools to coordinate and deploy compatible frequencies.

Since its initial release, the application has received numerous updates, and is now available to download for free from Shure's website.

They started shipping Axient in January 2012 and it has been used in venues and events such as the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies in London.

Classic Shure "Circle S" logo from the 1930s, which graphically depicts an electronic circuit [ 1 ]
Shure 55S
Patti Smith singing into a Shure SM58 microphone
Shure Unisphere 565 used at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair
Shure V-15VxMR
Shure FP33 Field Mixer
A pair of Shure E2C earphones
'Shupu' knock-offs of Shure microphones in Hong Kong