Shure FP32A
A broadcast-field stereo mixer that Shure rebuilt around one number: thirty decibels less self-noise.
Overview
The FP32A is the second act. Shure's original FP32 was a three-channel portable stereo mixer — three mic/line channels with center-detented pan pots, a concentric clutched master stereo gain control, a slate mic and tone feature, and built-in simplex or A-B phantom powering, all packed with a carry case and shoulder strap and running on two 9V batteries (a third required for A-B power). It listed at $1,295. The FP32A kept that architecture and went after the thing that mattered once digital recorders arrived: noise. Distributor literature for the revised unit describes a 30dB reduction in self-noise, which is the sort of claim that sounds like marketing until you remember what a field mixer is actually competing against — the noise floor of the recorder behind it.
That revision is the whole story of this box. The FP32A is specified for a dynamic range of over 100 dB, and the same literature frames the redesign explicitly as making the mixer "quiet enough for any digital recording format." For critical field work, that is the difference between a mixer you tolerate and a mixer you trust. The original FP32's illuminated VU meters gave way to LED indicators for input levels, limiters, and low battery — a change that reads as a downgrade to meter purists and an upgrade to anyone who has tried to read a needle in a dark location van.
The channel count stays at three. Three XLR transformer-balanced inputs accept mic, line, and monitor sources, pannable to L/R XLR outputs at mic, line, or tape level, and inputs 2 and 3 can be linked as a stereo pair. Shure built in twelve internal DIP-switch-selectable functions, which is the kind of configurability that rewards the owner who reads the manual once and then never touches it again — and punishes the one who buys a used unit without checking where those switches were left. Phantom power is available in three kinds per input, including 48V, so the mixer will feed essentially any condenser you point it at.
Around the edges, the FP32A is a working tool rather than a showpiece: output level meters, battery or DC operation, LED indicators for input, peak out, limiter, and battery, a mix bus for combining units, and flexible headphone monitoring that lets monitor or mix inputs feed the headphones. Pan pots are recessed to prevent accidental movement — a small detail that tells you Shure had heard from people who'd had a pan setting nudged mid-take. Two 9V batteries run it, and the unit ships with case, strap, and mix bus cable. Manufacturer list price was $1,795, a $500 step up from the FP32.
Mix (July 1993, p.112) covered the FP32A as a development of the popular FP32, and Mix (July 1994, p.202) noted the updated version's introduction — the trade press treated it as an evolution rather than a new design, which is exactly what it was. The refinements were real, though: the lower noise floor, the LED status indicators, the recessed pan controls, and the wider phantom-power options all point at the same customer, the remote and ENG recordist who needs the mixer to disappear into the signal chain.
Collectors and field-recordist types tend to seek these out for the transformer-balanced inputs and the honest, repairable construction rather than for any cult status; it is a professional tool that did its job quietly and was then superseded. The practical cautions are the usual ones for battery-powered field gear: verify the DIP switch settings on any used example, confirm the phantom-power configuration matches the microphones you intend to use, and expect that a unit stored for years will need its battery compartment inspected before the first session. Parts and documentation for the FP-series turn up through professional audio channels rather than consumer ones.
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