slinkp wrote:
I wondered why the 548 and 589 are long gone, but the 57 remains.
Probably for the same reason that all those wonderful omni handheld mikes
like the SM60 and 576 are gone. And the SM-11, a severely underrated tool
in the studio. And all of the Shure ribbons like the SM33, which were just
great mikes.
Found this at https://www.shure.com/americas/suppo...nswer/shure-5=
48-microphone-element
"The 548 had a Unidyne IV mic element. This element was never successful. =
It was difficult to manufacture and customers preferred the Unidyne III el=
ement (SM57 and SM58.) The Unidyne IV was not used in the SM mic line.
The Unidyne IV element was discontinued in the 1980's."
A lot of those mikes were difficult to make and very low profit. In 1995
when Sydney died, they swept through the whole line and eliminated all of the
lower production items.
I remember talking to the Shure rep at about that time, lamenting the loss of
the SM80. He said they had sold so many tens of thousands of SM81s that year,
and nine SM80s, and that you just can't keep inventory on a $200 item when you
are selling only nine a year.
While satisfying my curiosity on the 548, I was somewhat surprised to learn=
that the 545 is still sold! I'm sure you all knew that already.
The 545 is still sold because it is the number one microphone in the Japanese
karaoke market. It costs -more- than the SM57, not less... they charge extra
because the Japanese love the steel finish.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."