Shure FP-33
Three inputs, two outputs, 3.5 pounds. A field mixer that made a bag full of broadcast gear feel like a paperback book.
Overview
The FP-33 is a 3-input, 2-output portable stereo mixer. The weight says it all: 3.5 lbs, roughly the size of two video cassettes stacked together. Shure built it for people who carry their studio on their shoulder - remote audio recording, electronic field production, electronic news gathering, location film production. That's the job description printed in the company's own literature.
Power was the other half of the field equation. The FP-33 runs 8 hours on two 9V alkaline batteries, or off any 12 to 30 VDC supply. Shure's literature describes an improved battery switching circuit compared with the earlier FP32A. Running from a vehicle or a wall wart means the mixer doesn't strand a crew when the batteries die mid-shoot. The internal DIP switches allow over 4,000 customized set-ups, which sounds like marketing until you count how many broadcast and film workflows the box was expected to slot into.
The input stage is where the FP-33 earns its keep. Sealed, conductive plastic input potentiometers replaced the open pots of the FP32A, which matters to anyone who has watched a fader get gritty after a season of dust and rain. The mixer provides 48V phantom, 12V phantom, and 12V T (A-B) power for condenser microphones, so it covers everything from big-diaphragm condensers to the older T-powered broadcast types. Dynamic range is rated at over 100dB. Shure pitched the FP-33 as "quiet enough for DAT", with exceptionally low self-noise and wide dynamic range, aimed at the digital recording media that were becoming standard in field work. LED indicators cover input levels, output peaks, limiter action, and low battery, so the operator can see what's happening without taking their eyes off the subject.
The routing features are the ones field mixers actually argue about. Pop-up pan pots let you pan without knocking a knob out of position. A link switch couples inputs 2 and 3 into a stereo pair. A mix bus lets you gang an additional FP-33 or an FP32A for more inputs. Headphone monitoring includes an MS stereo matrix, handy for checking a mid-side rig in the field. The FP-33 also has durable 3.5mm jacks and internal headphone level adjustments for external program. These are small refinements, the kind that show up after someone has lived with the previous model for a few years.
The trade press noticed the update. Pro Audio Review (February 2003, p.40) listed the FP-33 in its consoles and mixers coverage as a three-into-two mixer for field, installation, broadcast, and video work. Studio Sound (September 1998, p.58) covered the portable mixer class in which the FP-33 competed, noting the cascade socket for ganging two mixers together.
The FP-33 is not a studio mixer with a handle bolted on. It's a purpose-built field box, and its limits follow from that. Three inputs is three inputs, so a four-mic interview setup needs a different tool or a second unit on the mix bus. The pan pots pop up rather than sit flush, which some operators love and others find fussy. The battery door and the sealed pots either hold up for a decade or become the first failure point, depending on how the unit was treated. Collectors and working engineers tend to judge these mixers on the condition of the pots and the battery compartment, because those parts decide whether the unit is still usable.
Values on the used market reflect that the FP-33 is a working tool rather than a collector's object. Clean examples with good pots and a functional battery circuit command more than cosmetically rough units, and units with documented service history are worth seeking out. The FP-33 was sold alongside the FP22 headphone amplifier and the FP42 four-input stereo mixer in Shure's portable line. It sits in the middle of that family, with more inputs than the FP22, fewer than the FP42, and a size meant for the bag rather than the rack.
For a field recording kit built around a period-correct Shure front end, the FP-33 is the sensible centerpiece. It's quiet, it's flexible on power, it has the phantom and T-power options that field mics need, and it weighs less than most laptops. The caveats are the ones that come with any 1990s portable mixer: check the pots, check the battery switching, and remember it only has three channels.
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