Shure SM-83
A tie-clip condenser mic that deals with the chest problem in television news by way of a single dip at 730 Hz.
Overview
The SM83 is an omnidirectional lavalier condenser. Put a microphone on someone's chest and the chest becomes part of the instrument, and every broadcast engineer knows it. Shure attacked that directly. The wide frequency response is tailored with an electronically created dip at 730 Hz, paired with an acoustically generated high-frequency boost above 3 kHz. The stated goal was an extremely natural sound without boominess or excessive brightness. Studio Sound (July 1985, p.145) described the SM83 as specifically designed for superior-quality sound reproduction in professional broadcasting, film, and related sound reinforcement work, and named the 730 Hz dip as the fix for chest resonance.
The electronics are what separate the SM83 from a bare capsule. The mic runs through a compact amplifier that clips onto a belt or drops into a coat pocket. The pack takes power from a standard 9-volt battery or from simplex power fed from an external source. The low-frequency rolloff is controlled rather than merely absent, and Shure's own literature credits it with substantially reducing clothing, handling, and room noise. Shure's period advertising in DB-Magazine (January 1984, p.68) made a pointed comparison on the battery question: unlike its Japanese counterpart, the SM83 unplugs from the battery pack for easy storage.
The mounting hardware shows the SM83's production-line roots. Four clips came with the unit: a single-mount tie-bar, a dual-mount tie-bar for running two microphones at once, and two multi-purpose clips that can be connected to a lanyard or sewn, pinned, or taped onto clothing. Shure's advertising leaned hard on this versatility. It pitched the single clip as working either vertically or horizontally and the universal mount as adaptable to virtually any attachment requirement. The cable exits from the side, so the cord disappears behind a tie, shirt, or blouse instead of looping across the talent's collar. Shure's own copy in DB-Magazine (July 1984, p.56) framed the side-exit cord as a solution to "cable hiding" problems, and cited set directors as the ones who appreciated it most.
Serviceability is unusually good for a lavalier. The cartridge is accessible by unscrewing the end cap. Cable replacement takes only a screwdriver and tweezers, with no soldering, because the cable is field-replaceable and uses steel conductors for strength. Shure's advertising made the repair-technician angle explicit, noting that the cartridge comes out easily and that a cable swap needs nothing more than basic hand tools. Other listed features include very low noise, minimal RF and magnetic hum susceptibility, and a dark nonreflective finish. The finish matters on camera, where a chrome body would catch a key light and flare. A foam windscreen was supplied for outdoor use.
User net price of the SM83-CN was $210, which put it in professional broadcast territory rather than consumer hands. The amplifier pack measures 3¾ × 1 15/16 × 29/32 inches, small enough to disappear under clothing or ride a belt. Shure's advertising aimed the mic at the newsroom. The copy addresses on-camera talent, sound engineers, set directors, production assistants, repair technicians, and field crews in turn. The same campaign noted the SM83 unplugs from its battery pack for storage, and that the pack runs on phantom supply from a mixer when a battery isn't practical.
The SM83 has limits. Shure's own advertising pointed buyers toward the SM84 supercardioid when background noise was a factor, and described the SM83 as the omnidirectional choice for situations where noise wasn't the problem. Its omnidirectional pattern picks up from all directions. That suits a quiet set and does badly next to an air handler. The 730 Hz dip and the HF boost are the tailoring for chest-mount work, and Studio Sound (September 1984, p.59) repeated the same design description in a later issue: built for broadcast, film, and sound reinforcement, with the wide response tailored for natural sound and the electronic dip at 730 Hz handling chest resonance.
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