AKG Acoustics
Encyclopedia
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n manufacturer of microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
s, headphones, wireless audio systems and related accessories for professional and consumer markets. The company was founded in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1947, and was acquired by Harman International Industries
Harman International Industries
Harman International Industries is an American-based international audio and infotainment equipment company. The company designs, manufactures and markets audio and infotainment products for the car, the home, theatres and venues, as well as electronics for audio professionals...
in 1994.
By the time Harman International, an American company, acquired AKG, AKG's United States subsidiary had been established (in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1985). AKG Acoustics USA, still headquartered in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
, also houses regional offices for Crown Audio, another Harman Industries subsidiary.
History
- 1945 – Dr. Rudolf Görike and Ernst Pless begin supplying movie equipment to theaters in postwar Vienna.
- 1949 – AKG begins producing headphonesHeadphonesHeadphones are a pair of small loudspeakers, or less commonly a single speaker, held close to a user's ears and connected to a signal source such as an audio amplifier, radio, CD player or portable Media Player. They are also known as stereophones, headsets or, colloquially, cans. The in-ear...
- 1953 – introduces the world's first dynamic cardioid microphone
- 1955 – founds a GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
subsidiary - 1985 – founds a USA subsidiary, based in Northridge, Los Angeles, CaliforniaNorthridge, Los Angeles, CaliforniaNorthridge is a community located in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States.The 1994 Northridge earthquake is named for the place based on early estimates of the location of the quake's epicenter; however, further refinements showed it to be technically...
- 1994 – becomes part of Harman International Industries
- 2006 – produces a limited 60th anniversary edition of the celebrated C414 LTD microphone.
- 2010 – AKG Acoustics received a Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for the work the company has done in the recording field. Dinesh PaliwalDinesh PaliwalDinesh C. Paliwal is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Harman International – a leading provider of premium audio and infotainment systems for the automotive, consumer and professional markets....
, the current Chief Executive Officer, picked up the award on behalf of the company.
Microphones
Among its professional products especially noteworthy is the first C 12 (introduced in 1953) and its successors and alternate versions, which include the TelefunkenTelefunken
Telefunken is a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft...
Ela M 250 and M 251 (1960), the C 24 stereo microphone, the C 412, and over a dozen different models which have carried the designation "C 414" in various forms.
AKG microphones have been used for shooting Hans Hass
Hans Hass
Hans Hass is a diving pioneer known mainly for his documentaries about sharks, the energon theory, and his commitment, later in life, to the protection of the environment. He was born in Vienna, Austria.-Early years:...
's movie Adventures in the Red Sea and were installed on the MIR space station
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
. They are also mentioned by Dan Brown
Dan Brown
Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories...
in his novels The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...
and Deception Point
Deception Point
Deception Point is a 2001 techno-thriller novel by Dan Brown. The plot concerns a meteorite found within the Arctic Circle that may provide proof of extraterrestrial life, and attempts by dark forces to prevent this finding from becoming public.-Plot:...
.
Some microphone models include:
- D12E
- D130 - an omnidirectional microphone often used by reporters
- D190
- D202 - a dual capsule dynamic microphone used at the despatch boxes of the UK parliament
- D220
- D330 - a high-end dynamic vocal microphone used by ABBA.
- D112 - a large diaphragm dynamic microphone, popular for bass drums and other bass instruments
- C12 - a valve condenser microphone - the original version is now a collectors' item selling for around $10,000
- C414 - a large diaphragm condenser with multiple variable pickup patterns
- C451 - a small diaphragm condenser microphone, originally made between the 1960s and 1980s, recently reissued
- C535 - a high-quality condenser vocal microphone. AKG made a gold-plated one for Frank Sinatra.
- D409
- D5
- C1000C1000 (microphone)The C1000 is a cardioid/hypercardioid condenser microphone produced by AKG Acoustics.It uses either phantom power or an internal 9-volt battery for when phantom power is inconvenient or unavailable. This flexibility is also useful when using consumer recording gear that frequently lacks phantom...
Headphones
The K-50 model, introduced in 1959 were the world's first supra-aural and open-back headphones.
The K-1000 was the flagship model, but is no longer being produced. It was an open back dynamic headphone.
The current flagship model for the AKG headphone line-up is the K701/K702/Q701, which are nearly identical. The K702 features a removable cord and is black, the K701 is white. The Q701 also has a detachable cable and comes in three color variants: white, black, and a flashy green. All three models are still in production. The K701s have been largely used by professional musicians and technicians in recording studios.
Many top recording studios use AKG K-240 headphones as a solution for best general use for both monitor and playback. They received particular notoriety from their prominent display in Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
's 1985 music video for "Party All the Time
Party All the Time
"Party All the Time" was a single originally recorded by comic actor Eddie Murphy in 1985, written and produced by Rick James and Kevin Johnston at James home studio in Buffalo, New York. The single reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, kept off the top by Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me"...
".
Another notable, yet short-lived model was the K-280 Parabolic – a multi-driver headphone which focused compression waves to a central point in the earcup.