Which Broadcast Cartridge is This?

[alecm33]

The link below takes you to an aircheck of KROQ, Los Angeles, in 1982. The turntable and tonearm are definitely a Technics SP15 and an ATP-12t. But, I don't recognize the cartridge. At first, I thought it was a m44-7, but now I don't think so. Can anyone tell me? The profile is shown at 8:24. Front view at 15:56..

Thanks

https://youtu.be/Mk5Rpzqu11o

[circularvibes]

That looks like a run of the mill Shure M95.

[mark79]

Dear alecm33: That looks like a Shure M55E. At that time it was still in production. I'm surprised to see that cart in FM radio. From my days in radio, I would have seen a Stanton 680 or 681. The microphones are Sennheiser 441s-but I may be using the wrong model number. But those are Sennheisers great for broadcast use because of the round bass boost adjustment at the base of that mic. Great for on-air use because it gave your voice a very nice punchy sound. I may be wrong-but that looks like an M55E one of Shure's best. I use one at home but never on air. I wouldn't think it would hold up to back or slip cueing like a Stanton. Although the M44 was used by a lot of stations-it was all white later changed to dark brown. I've used that-an excellent cart. It had a thick cantilever and held up very well when handled roughly-which was most of the time. But, we're talking years ago. But I believe that is an M55E and those are Sennies their using. Regards; Mark79

[mark79]

I don't know how you would use a Shure M95E on air-it had a thin cantilever and wouldn't hold up well to all that cueing or rough handling. No disrespect meant at all. Those were very good carts but not for on-air use I would think. Excellent for home use though. Maybe I'm thinking of another similar cart. Regards; Mark79

[circularvibes]

If one is reasonably careful when cueing, an M95 would hold up reasonably well. On air cueing can be much kinder than club DJ cueing. If a DJ is properly trained, almost any cartridge can be gently cued. Top 40 jocks that are rough with cueing would not get through a broadcast this way though. Radio stations I have been familiar with always bought styli in bulk and had a spare headshell at the ready. If a jock were to use too many, questions on handling might be asked. Some community stations where proper training is not the norm can sometimes expect the jocks to supply their own carts and styli or pay the staion to set up their own personal shells that get guarded or abused at jocks cost.

[circularvibes]

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsIjWW-gy4fMkD0pTCezeDyvWs9o
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsIjWW-gy4fMkD8wHZpDKB3O_sQH
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsIjWW-gy4fMkD5JMjRTUHP54QR-
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsIjWW-gy4fMkEDnk3hkey8YR7Fn

I watched the whole video for hopes of seeing more equipment and cueing techniques. It seems the jock slip cues, not back cues as seen on Billy Idol. If so, then I could see an M95 being used. The screen grabs may help ID the cart.

[alecm33]

So, it looks like a M95 or 55E.. Okay. He does slip-cue in this video. In another video, another jock back-cues. Of course, I don't know the date of the other video, so a different cartridge might be used. Thanks for the screenshot! That helps. Thanks for all replies.

[Erin1]

Its definitely not a 55.
I own one.

Looks to me more like a 95.
They have a distinctive stylus.
The colour of the body doesn't look right for a 95. But I'm no expert about what Shure did in the 70's. Might be a custom broadcast version?

[Sunwire]

Definitely not an M44 or M55. The front of the cartridge is slanted back, unlike the vertical M44/M55 body.
Looks more like an M95. There were several versions with different styli.

[Collux]

Hard to tell from even the captured stills.......
M95's have V'd bases like the type III/IV/V
My M95ED pretty much has an all black body and has enclosed cartridge screws on the holder.
(M95 variants: ED/EJ/G/HE/3)

[alecm33]

I think both the Shure M55 and M95 used elliptical stylus, so would they be used here? Most stations used spherical stylus for back cueing. The only conical stylus were the M44 series, I believe (looking at 1976 catalog here). What is this mystery cart? :) Thank you everyone for the replies. I appreciate it!

[KentT]

Dear alecm33: That looks like a Shure M55E. At that time it was still in production. I'm surprised to see that cart in FM radio. From my days in radio, I would have seen a Stanton 680 or 681. The microphones are Sennheiser 441s-but I may be using the wrong model number. But those are Sennheisers great for broadcast use because of the round bass boost adjustment at the base of that mic. Great for on-air use because it gave your voice a very nice punchy sound. I may be wrong-but that looks like an M55E one of Shure's best. I use one at home but never on air. I wouldn't think it would hold up to back or slip cueing like a Stanton. Although the M44 was used by a lot of stations-it was all white later changed to dark brown. I've used that-an excellent cart. It had a thick cantilever and held up very well when handled roughly-which was most of the time. But, we're talking years ago. But I believe that is an M55E and those are Sennies their using. Regards; Mark79

In FM radio, with slower paced music formats, higher performance demanded, these cartridges did fine. And the operators for FM tended to be more careful, and stations then spared no expense for the best.

[BMRR]

The shape of the body and stylus grip definitely look like an M95. It's entirely possible Shure made a beige or yellow version. They had many, many variants over the years, some of which were "private label" versions and not included in Shure's catalogs. Often the stylus grip was a different color than the regular version and occasionally the body was a different color as well.

Assuming this is indeed a member of the M95 family, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a light tracking elliptical. The M95 was offered in light tracking spherical (M95G), heavy tracking elliptical (M95EJ), light tracking elliptical (M95ED), and light tracking hyperelliptical (M95HE). The M95EJ tracking at 3g is pretty comparable to a Stanton 680EL (maybe not quite as rugged, but almost certainly less expensive); maybe Shure briefly made a broadcast version in yellow/beige with exactly that in mind.

[alecm33]

Thanks for that. I didn't realize that the M95 series included a spherical stylus. Okay, that would make sense. Thanks for the input..

[BMRR]

They even had a spherical version of the V15 III called the V15 III-G. I doubt any of those ended up at radio stations, but anything's possible. ;)