Category: Tech Topic

In July 2026, the Rolling Stones released their newest record, “Foreign Tongues.” The album has musical contributions from Steve Winwood, Paul McCartney, Bruno Mars, and contains a song recorded prior to the death of drummer Charlie Watts. Here is the 60 second video teaser for the new recording: The Stones In The Studio. Shure microphones appear a minimum of twelve times in the footage. 0:02      SM7      Keith Richards0:05      SM7      Keith Richards0:10      SM7      Ron Wood0:12      SM58    Ron Wood0:20      SM7      Keith Richards0:23      SM7      Mick… -more-

Let’s take a trip back to 1956, seventy years ago, for the opening of the mid-century modern office headquarters and manufacturing facility of Shure Brothers Incorporated. This building at 222 Hartrey Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, served as the hub of our worldwide operations. Designed and engineered by A. Epstein & Sons, this structure served Shure for nearly fifty years. The manufacturing wing produced phonograph cartridges, microphones, magnetic tape recorder heads, and other audio devices. Shure Brothers headquarters, Evanston Illinois, 1956 Our… -more-

Introduced in 1964, the Shure M100L Portative Stereo System consisted of a DUAL model 1009 automatic turntable, a Shure V15 phonograph cartridge, a solid-state [transistorized] preamp/power amplifier, and two “total range loudspeakers.” Controls were Volume, Balance, Treble, Bass, Input Selector for Phono/Tuner/Microphone, and Stereo/Monaural switch. The M100L did not contain an AM/FM tuner, only an input for an external one. The microphone input [an RCA phono jack] was an unusual feature, perhaps meant to encourage the sale of a Shure… -more-

Is the KSM8 the first Shure unidirectional moving coil microphone with controlled/reduced proximity effect? It is not; that honor goes to the Model SM53 introduced in the early 1970s. Model SM53 Note the “porthole” openings near the XLR connector. By positioning these rear-entry acoustical ports far away from the mic element, proximity effect is reduced. Electro-Voice used a similar principle for its “Variable-D” microphones. Soon after the SM53 was introduced, the model SM54 debuted with the sole difference being a… -more-

Our Unisphere trademark dates to the mid-1960s when Shure was defining the appearance, language, and identity of professional vocal microphones. Unisphere was first used April 6, 1966. We then filed for a United States trademark on April 20, 1966; the trademark was registered August 1, 1967. As of June 2026, Unisphere remains registered to Shure Incorporated. The Unisphere trademark applied to a subset of our Unidyne family of products. Introduced in 1966 like the SM58, Unisphere models featured a ball-shaped… -more-

The title of today’s Tech Tip was written by Mark Brunner, departed friend and colleague, who created the Shure Historian role for your author. This eight-word sentence is my inspiring job description. “Own Shure History” = make certain Shure history is accurate via thorough ongoing research. “Build Roads To It” = establish methods to deliver Shure history to all who find it of interest. One of the many roads is YouTube which hosts videos describing aspects of our history. One… -more-

In May 2026, a vintage microphone collector generously donated a rare Model 50C, manufactured in 1940, to the Shure archive. The Model 50 line of “Rocket” microphones employed ribbon elements, though we called them moving conductors. Model 50 mic & S36 mic stand The interior of the Model 50 is simplicity defined. There is a metal ribbon (the moving conductor), a magnetic structure, a signal step-up transformer, and an output connector. Not much to fail. Model 50 ribbon element Thus, it was… -more-

Shure’s worldwide reputation for quality and reliability may be traced back to 1940s when we produced communication devices for the Allied Forces. Meeting “Mil-Spec” (Military Specifications) was only the first step to being considered one of the best manufacturers during World War II.  The U.S. Military celebrated outstanding materiel suppliers by the presentation of the Army-Navy “Excellence in Production” awards. Shure Brothers Company won this Army-Navy “E” Award three times. Magazine ad, 1942 To understand the “E” Award’s historical significance,… -more-

Today’s Tech Tip is the 615th issue. This numeral reminded your author of the long-forgotten Shure device, the M615AS. So, let’s go back in time nearly 50 years… In 1977, we introduced the M615AS Analyzer System, priced at $515, or $2,950 in 2026 currency. Developed to work in conjunction with our SR107 octave-band equalizer, the Analyzer System consisted of the M615 unit, the ES615 omnidirectional measurement microphone, and a rugged carrying case. According to the User Guide, the M615AS Equalization Analyzer… -more-

In addition to the utility patents (how a product operates) for the Unidyne III microphone, there was a design patent (the appearance of a product) for our Unidyne III, introduced in 1959 as the Model 545. Unidyne III design patent, July 1961 Bob Dechamps (day-shaw) created the appearance of the Model 545/SM57. Deschamps was not a Shure employee, but a partner at a product design studio located in a Chicago suburb. He provided industrial designs and architectural designs for Shure… -more-