Twenty-five years ago, our SM7B was unveiled at the 2001 National Association of Broadcasters convention.
Saturday, April 21 through Thursday, April 26, 2001. Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.
The NAB Marketplace and Conference showcases the world of TV and Web convergence.
There were three new aspects of the SM7B: 1) The model number; 2) The “plump” alternative foam windscreen; 3) The larger cardboard box to hold the additional windscreen. Functionally, the SM7B was still the SM7A from 1999 featuring a redesigned humbucking coil and an improved mounting yoke. Up to 1999, the SM7 had remained unchanged since its debut in 1973.
For its first thirty-five years of existence, sales of the SM7 were humdrum. Nothing like the successful SM58, but not poor enough to be discontinued. “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I won’t open the pod bay doors and let you jettison the SM7.” Thank goodness we did not give up on this sleeping beauty!
Inexplicably around 2006, podcasters discovered the SM7B and sales began to increase. Next streamers, then Tik-Tok creators, then gamers hungered for this voice-over mic. Sales climbed steeply over two decades. In 2026, the SM7B along with its much younger sibling, the SM7dB, are tremendous sellers. Quite the odyssey for a moving-coil microphone first sold fifty-three years ago.
Patience can be a virtue.
What follows is a gallery of selected SM7 visual history:
For readers unfamiliar with “The New Yorker” magazine, being featured in a New Yorker cartoon means having attained iconic stature in the U.S. Might an SM7B emoji be looming?
Happy 25th anniversary, SM7B!
Related information: First SM7 sales flier
Shure Apps Tech Tips #85, #101, #399, #519, #530, #544
Music of Gyorgy Ligeti heard in 2001: A Space Odyssey
Arcana – mysterious or specialized knowledge
To celebrate the fiftieth birthday of our SM7 in 2023, Shure produced fifty numbered Signature Edition SM7B Collector Box Sets. This special edition featured an engraved signature of S.N. Shure, a set of five backplates adorned with vintage Shure logos from 1925 to 1960, three pairs of knurled tightening knobs with different images, a cutaway SM7 poster, and a heritage booklet. To date, none of these special box sets have appeared on eBay or Reverb.
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The SM7 mic capsule is based on the same Unidyne III element used inside the SM57/SM58 but with key differences.
- SM7 diaphragm: It has the same shape and size as the SM57 diaphragm, but not as thick and more flexible (compliant).
- SM7 voice coil: It employs a thinner wire with three times as many turns as the SM57 voice coil.
- SM7 resonator: It looks like the SM57 resonator but is shorter in length.
With the thinner diaphragm and the heavier voice coil, the natural resonance frequency of the SM7 is lower than the SM57. These factors, combined with the large acoustic air space within the SM7 housing, provide a rich low-end response desired for voice-over work.
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An article about the SM57 and its history just appeared in Rolling Stone France. Your author is quoted in the text. My first appearance in Rolling Stone dates to 1977. Note that the photo is legitimate. Adobe Photoshop and A.I. did not exist in the 1970s.
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The vibration isolation mechanism inside the SM7 series is based on our A55M shock mount. Shure engineer Gerry Plice developed the SM7 and the A55M.
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Dear readers – if you have never viewed the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey,” or have not seen it recently, I encourage you to do so. With the rise of A.I., this film is prescient and terrifying…much more so than when it premiered in 1968.
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Is there a Shure phonograph cartridge aboard Voyager 1 and Voyager 2?
