Shure 55SH#World image

File:One of six used by Elvis, Sun Studio.jpg

In 1931 Shure and engineer Ralph Glover began developing Shure's first microphone, and the following year the Model 33N two-button carbon microphone was introduced, making Shure one of only four microphone manufacturers in the US. Later on, in 1939, Shure introduced the Unidyne Model 55 microphone, The original Shure 55 Unidyne microphone was designed by engineer Ben Bauer and first produced in 1939.{{cite web |last=Clark |first=Keith |date=January 2008 |title=Interview with Shure's Michael Petersen |url=http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/interview_with_shures_michael_pettersen |work=ProSoundWeb]]}}

In 1941 the United States military contracted Shure to supply microphones during World War II, and by the following year, the T-17B was the most widely used microphone by the United States Army and Navy. Shure also manufactured throat microphones, headsets, and oxygen mask, and adopted the United States military standard for all Shure microphones.{{Cite web |title=History of Shure Incorporated |url=http://www.shure.com/americas/about-shure/history/index.htm |website=Shure }}

Shure began manufacturing its 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 following year, and the first in a line of crystal microphones, 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.{{Cite book |last1=Kouri |first1=Charles J. |last2=Shure |first2=Rose L. |last3=Blake |first3=Hayward |last4=Lee |first4=John |date=2001 |title=Shure: Sound People, Products, and Values |publisher=Shure |isbn=0971073805 |location=Evanston, Illinois }} Wired and wireless microphones together represent the largest category of Shure's overall business.{{cite web |url=http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/interview_with_shures_michael_pettersen |title=Interview with Shure's Michael Petersen |first=Keith |last=Clark |work=ProSoundWeb |date=January 2008 }}

File:Dan Hadani collection (990044604770205171).jpg]]

Visually one of Shure's most iconic Unidyne series, the 55S, has been seen in use by heads of state and popular recording artists and performers from the 1940s through the late 20th century, including President John F. Kennedy, Golda Meir, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra. The Model 55 Unidyne, or derivatives thereof, appear with Harry S. Truman in the photograph where he is holding the Chicago Tribune newspaper with the erroneous front-page headline "Dewey Defeats Truman".{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Tim |date=October 31, 2020 |title=Dewey Defeats Truman: The Most Famous Wrong Call in Electoral History |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/featured/sns-dewey-defeats-truman-1942-20201031-5kkw5lpdavejpf4mx5k2pr7trm-story.html |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=July 20, 2023 }} It also appears opposite Fidel Castro on the cover of the book Cuba: The Measure of a Revolution,{{cite web |last=Obrero |first=Archivo |date=December 11, 2022 |title=Lowry Nelson. Cuba: The Measure of a Revolution |url=https://archivo-obrero.com/lowry-nelson-cuba-the-measure-of-a-revolution/ |access-date=July 20, 2023 |website=Archivo Obrero |language=es }}{{cite web |date=November 15, 2019 |title=Fidel Castro Ruz, revolucionario cubano, retrato |url=https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/repositorio/islandora/object/fotografia%3A500652 |access-date=July 20, 2023 |website=Mediateca – Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia |language=es}} and on the cover of the January 19, 1959, issue of Life magazine.{{cite web |date=January 19, 1959 |title=Portada de la Revista Life |url=http://www.fidelcastro.cu/es/imagen/portada-de-la-revista-life |access-date=July 20, 2023 |website=Fidel soldado de las ideas |language=es }}

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.{{Cite magazine |last=Davis |first=Amanda |date=May 21, 2014 |title=Iconic Microphone Is Named an IEEE Milestone |url=http://theinstitute.ieee.org/technology-focus/technology-history/iconic-microphone-is-named-an-ieee-milestone |magazine=The Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529085352/http://theinstitute.ieee.org/technology-focus/technology-history/iconic-microphone-is-named-an-ieee-milestone |archive-date=May 29, 2014 |access-date=July 20, 2023 }} In 2008, the Unidyne Model 55 microphone was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame,[http://tecfoundation.com/hof/08techof.html TECnology Hall of Fame 2008] and the following year, Shure released the 55SH Series II.{{cite web |last=Rudolph |first=Barry |date=June 2009 |url=http://www.prosoundweb.com/article/print/barrys_toolkit_the_shure_55_microphone_had_deep_roots_but_how_does_it_hold_ |title=Barry's Toolkit: The Shure 55 Microphone Has Deep Roots, but How Does It Hold Up Today? |work=ProSoundWeb }}

Shure designed the 55 Unidyne as a rugged public address microphone with good audio performance. It was noted 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". 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.{{cite magazine |date=May 2009 |title=Shure Introduces Super 55 Deluxe Vocal Microphone |url=http://mixonline.com/news/shure_super55_microphone_1505/index.html |magazine=Mix}}

File:Frank Sinatra Billboard 4.jpg|Frank Sinatra, 1945

File:Benny Goodman with Sid Catlett (William P. Gottlieb).jpg|Benny Goodman, 1946

File:Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Milt Jackson, and Timmie Rosenkrantz, Downbeat, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1947 (William P. Gottlieb).jpg|Ella Fitzgerald in September, 1947

File:Dewey Defeats Truman.jpg|Dewey Defeats Truman, 1948

File:Kennedy_Giving_Historic_Speech_to_Congress_-_GPN-2000-001658.jpg|Kennedy Giving Historic Speech, Congress, 1961

• Frequency response: 50 to 15,000 hz
• Pattern: cardioid
• Sensitivity (at 1,000 Hz open circuit voltage): -58.0 dBV/Pa (1 Pa = 94 dB SPL)
• Impedance: EIA −150 Ω (270 Ω current)
• Polarity: Positive pressure on the diaphragm produces a positive voltage on pin 2 relative to pin 3
• Connector: 3-pin male XLR
• Switches: on off
• Weight: {{Cvt|0.624|kg}}{{Cite web |title=55SH-II |url=https://pubs.shure.com/guide/55SH-II/en-US |publisher=Shure |access-date=July 19, 2023 }}

• 1943–1946: Army-Navy "E" Award and 3 "E" Stars for Excellence in Production awarded to Shure
• The 55 Series microphones were given the "IEEE Milestone" award in 2014.

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Shure 55 series microphones}}

• {{Official website|www.shure.com}}
• {{cite web |date=April 2, 2021 |title=55SH Series II – Iconic Unidyne Vocal Microphone |url=https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/microphones/55sh|access-date=July 19, 2023 |publisher=Shure |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506065422/https://www.shure.com/en-US/products/microphones/55sh |archive-date=May 6, 2019 |ref={{sfnref | Shure USA | 2021}}}}
• [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/rose-shure Rose Shure] NAMM Oral History Interview (2005)

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