Shure Inc. is an American corporation that specializes in developing and manufacturing audio equipment technology. It was founded by Sidney N. Shure in Chicago, Illinois, in 1925 as a supplier of radio parts kits. The company became a manufacturer of consumer and professional audio-electronics including microphones, wireless microphone systems, discussion systems, mixers, and digital signal processing. The company also manufactures listening products, including headphones, high-end earphones, and personal monitor systems.
History
Shure was founded by Sidney N. Shure in 1925 as "The Shure Radio Company", selling radio parts kits several years after completely manufactured radios became commercially available. The company's office was located at 19 South Wells Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The following year, Shure published its first direct mail catalog, which was one of only six radio parts catalogs in the United States at the time. By 1928, the company had grown to over 75 employees, and Sidney's brother, Samuel J. Shure, joined the company, which was renamed Shure Brothers Company. The company moved into new offices at 335 West Madison Street in Chicago. In 1929, with the advent of the Great Depression and the increased availability of factory-built radios, Shure Brothers Company was forced to greatly reduce their staff and became the exclusive U.S. distributor of a small microphone manufacturer. In 1930, Samuel J. Shure left the company.
In 1931, Shure and engineer Ralph Glover began development of the first Shure microphone, and the following year, the Model 33N Two-Button Carbon Microphone was introduced, making Shure one of only four U.S. microphone manufacturers. Shure's first condenser microphone, crystal microphone, and microphone suspension support system (for which they received their first patent) were all introduced that same decade. In 1939, Shure introduced the Model 55 Unidyne Microphone, which went on to become one of the world's most recognized microphones.
In 1941, Shure was contracted by the United States armed forces to supply microphones during World War II, and by the following year, the T-17B was the microphone most widely used by the U.S. Army and Navy. Shure also manufactured throat, headset, and oxygen mask microphones, and adopted the United States Military Standard for all Shure microphones.
By the mid-1940s, Shure was also manufacturing and supplying phonograph cartridges to major phonograph manufacturers including Philco, RCA, Emerson, Magnavox, Admiral, and Motorola, and was the largest producer of phonograph cartridges in the U.S. at that time. 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". Shure produced the first phonograph cartridge capable of playing both long-playing and 78 rpm records, the first cartridge with tracking force of only one gram, and the first cartridge meeting the requirements of stereo recording. At the peak of Shure's phonograph cartridge production, the company was producing approximately 28,000 cartridges per day, with 25,000 of those coming from a Shure phonograph cartridge plant in Phoenix, Arizona. After the introduction of compact discs in the 1980s reduced the demand for phonograph cartridges, Shure closed the Phoenix facility but continued manufacturing phonograph cartridges in Mexico. In 2018, Shure announced that they would exit the phonograph cartridge market..
Shure also developed and produced products for medical applications. 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. Shure also produced hearing aid cartridges used in hearing aid products from manufacturers like Maico, Telex, Dictograph, Otarian, Vocalite, and Trimm.
In 1956, Shure moved its corporate headquarters to Hartrey Avenue in Evanston, Illinois, where it remained for 47 years. Beginning in 1956, Shure manufactured magnetic tape recording heads and two years later, the company announced it was ready to mass-produce 4-ch recording heads. By 1964, however, Shure announced it would no longer produce tape recording heads due to increased competition.
In 1953, Shure introduced their first wireless microphone system for performers, and in 1959, they introduced the Unidyne III capsule based 545 Microphone, which was the predecessor to the SM57, which would be introduced, along with the SM58, six years later. Shure also produced portable equipment for broadcast field recording such as the M67, M267, FP31, FP32, FP42 portable mixers.
In 1990, Shure entered the wireless microphone market with the L-Series.
In 1981, James Kogen, executive vice president, operations, was promoted to president and general manager of Shure. In 1995, Sidney N. Shure died at the age of 93, and Rose L. Shure was elected chairman of the board of directors. In 1996, James Kogen retired; Santo (Sandy) LaMantia, Vice President of Engineering, was named president and CEO. Shure Brothers Incorporated was officially renamed Shure Incorporated in 1999. Rose Shure died in 2016 at the age of 95
In 2001, Shure acquired the Popper Stopper brand of studio pop filters from Middle Atlantic Products Inc.Shure Acquires Popper Stopper Brand, Mix Magazine, May 2001 In 2002, Shure adopted hearing conservation as the company's corporate cause, and established the Shure Bid for Hearing program. In 2003, Shure moved to new headquarters in Niles, Illinois, in a building designed by architect Helmut Jahn that was originally the headquarters of HA•LO Industries. The Technology Annex designed by Krueck and Sexton Architects,"Shure Technology Annex", Cheryl Kent, Architectural Record, Jun 2005 opened in 2005, houses Shure's Performance Listening Center. In 2008, Shure celebrated the opening of The S.N. Shure Theater and Interactive Display at their corporate headquarters. In 2016, Sandy LaMantia announced his retirement and Christine Schyvinck, vice president of global operations, marketing, and sales and chief operating officer, was promoted to president and CEO.
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.
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.
International offices 1991: Shure Europe GmbH opened in Heilbronn, Germany, to provide sales, service and support to Shure distribution centers in 34 European countries. 1999: Shure Asia Limited is opened in Hong Kong to serve Distribution Centers and distributors throughout Asia and the Pacific Rim. 2002: Shure Distribution GmbH established as a subsidiary of Shure Europe GmbH, to handle direct sales with Shure dealers in Germany. 2003: HW International, Shure's United Kingdom Distribution Center, acquired and renamed Shure Distribution UK. 2005: Sales and marketing office opened in Shanghai, China. 2006: Sales and marketing office opened in Tokyo, Japan. 2010: New subsidiary formed in the Netherlands 2011: Office for product development in Copenhagen, Denmark. 2014: Sales and marketing office for Middle East & Africa opened in Dubai, U.A.E. 2018: Shure Distribution GmbH Begins Direct Distribution of System and Consumer Retail Products in AustriaShure Distribution GmbH Begins Direct Distribution of System and Consumer Retail Products in Austria 2018: Shure Distribution Switzerland GmbH starts direct operationsShure opens new subsidiary in Switzerland
Production facility expansion 1982: Manufacturing facility opened in Wheeling, Illinois 1983: Phonograph cartridge manufacturing facility opened in Agua Prieta, Mexico 1984: Wired microphone manufacturing facility opened in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico 1989: Ciudad Juárez facility expanded 1994: Agua Prieta facility expanded in 1994 2005: Manufacturing facility opened in Suzhou, China
Products
Wired microphones
Shure first began manufacturing their own products in 1932 with the introduction of the 33N two-button carbon microphone. The Model 40D, Shure's first condenser microphone, was introduced the next year, and the first of a line of crystal microphone, the Model 70, was introduced in 1935. With the introduction of the 55 Unidyne microphone in 1939, the company's offerings included carbon, condenser, crystal, and dynamic microphones. Wired and wireless microphones together represent the largest category of Shure's overall business. Shure currently produces numerous series of microphones for various applications, including the SM, Beta, KSM, and PG series, as well as specialty consumer microphones, Microflex, and Easyflex (conferencing systems for commercially installed applications).
One of Shure's most visually iconic microphone series is the Unidyne series, seen in use by heads of state and popular recording artists and performers from the 1940s through the end of the twentieth century, including President John F. Kennedy, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra. The Model 55 Unidyne is pictured with Harry S. Truman in the photograph where he is holding the Chicago Tribune newspaper with the erroneous front-page headline "Dewey Defeats Truman". It is also pictured in front of Fidel Castro on the cover of the January 19, 1959, issue of Life magazine and in front of Martin Luther King Jr. as he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech during the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The original Shure 55 Unidyne microphone was designed by engineer Ben Bauer and first produced in 1939."Interview With Shure's Michael Petersen", Keith Clark, ProSoundWeb, Jan 2008 Shure designed the 55 Unidyne as a rugged public address microphone with good audio performance. 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. Several variants of the original Unidyne have been produced, most notably the 55S or "Baby Unidyne". The 55S is sometimes referred to as the "Elvis mic" due to its frequent use by Elvis Presley, and is the microphone depicted with Elvis on the commemorative first-class Elvis stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 1993. In 2008, the Unidyne Model 55 microphone was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame, and the following year, Shure released the 55SH Series II.Barry's Toolkit: The Shure 55 Microphone Has Deep Roots, But How Does It Hold Up Today?, Barry Rudolph, ProSoundWeb, Jun 2009 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."Shure Introduces Super 55 Deluxe Vocal Microphone", Mix Magazine, May 2009 The 55 Series microphones were given the "IEEE Milestone" award in 2014.