Shure FP16
A one-in, six-out distribution amplifier that treats splitting a signal as a job worth doing right.
Overview
Most distribution amps are utility boxes that fan one feed into several without asking questions. The Shure FP16 is a little more careful than that. Shure built it as a compact, self-contained audio distribution amplifier with one input and six outputs, and the company's own literature calls it the first portable distribution amplifier designed specifically for field production work. That claim is marketing, but the spec sheet is solid. Frequency response is +2 dB from 30 to 20,000 Hz, with a tight ±0.3 dB at 1 kHz, and equivalent input noise is down at −129 dBV. For a box that lives on a news van or a location shoot, those are serious numbers.
The reason for the FP16 is isolation. The input and all six outputs are transformer-coupled. That is the expensive way to do it, and it lets the unit handle common-mode signals and ground loops that cheaper splits choke on. Feed a dozen destinations off one microphone line without transformers and you get hum and buzz. Shure designed the FP16 to sit between a clean source and six downstream devices, and the transformer coupling is the whole point.
The gain structure is flexible for a field box. Voltage gain is 90 dB on the microphone path, 40 dB on line, and 20 dB on the link connection. The input and every one of the six outputs are individually switchable between mic and line level. So the same chassis can split a quiet condenser mic feed to a mixer, a recorder, and a broadcast line without an external pad or preamp. Phantom power is available at the input for condenser microphones. Input clipping is specified from −62 to −6 dBV on mic and −12 to +44 dBV on line, so the FP16 tolerates a wide spread of source levels. Output clipping lands at −33 dBV on the mic side and +17 dBV on line. Distortion stays under 0.4% THD from 30 to 20,000 Hz at +15 dBm.
Phantom power is 30 Vdc nominal through 3.3k series resistance. That is not the 48 V some studio engineers expect, but it keeps battery drain sane. The FP16 runs on AC at 120 or 240 Vac, 50/60 Hz, or on three internal 9-volt batteries for approximately 20 hours of continuous use. That dual-power arrangement is what makes it both a rack unit and a field unit. The chassis measures 82.5 mm high by 315 mm wide by 235 mm deep and weighs 2.75 kg (6 lbs. 1 oz.). A rack-mount kit, the A16R, is available as an accessory, so the same box that rides in an ENG van can be bolted into a 19-inch rack back at the station.
Shure also gave the FP16 link input and output jacks. These let several units be chained together, or let external processing such as equalizers, compressors and limiters be inserted into the chain. Recessed, screwdriver-adjustable gain controls keep the settings from being knocked around in transit, and power, normal, and overload LEDs show what the box is doing.
The FP16 sat within Shure's FP line of field production products, and the trade press of the era treated the whole family as purpose-built for ENG, EFP, film, and video work. DB Magazine (March 1986, p.74) described the FP line as compact, easy-to-use amps and mixers built specifically for those applications. An advertising run in Studio Sound (November 1987, p.51) positioned the FP16 as a one-by-six distribution amp with transformer balancing and link jacks, alongside the FP31 field production mixer that Shure called its original in the category. Those are manufacturer placements rather than independent reviews, but the product description matches the manual.
The FP16 is not a mixer. It has one input, and it splits that input six ways. Anyone who needs to combine sources should look at the FP31 or the stereo FP32.
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