AKG Acoustics

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An AKG C414 from the front showing the AKG logo.
An AKG C414 from the front showing the AKG logo.
An AKG C414 B-ULS from the back.
An AKG C414 B-ULS from the back.

AKG Acoustics (originally Akustische und Kino-Geraete Gesellschaft m.b.H.) is an Austrian manufacturer of audio electronics and accessories for professional and consumer markets. The company was founded in Vienna in 1947, and was acquired by Harman International Industries in 1994. AKG Acoustics' most important product categories are microphones, headphones and wireless audio systems.

Contents

[edit] History

  • 1945 - Dr. Rudolf Görike and Ernst Pless begin supplying movie equipment to theaters in postwar Vienna.[1]
  • 1949 - AKG begins producing headphones[2]
  • 1953 - introduces the world's first dynamic cardiod microphone[1]
  • 1955 - founds a German subsidiary[2]
  • 1985 - founds a USA subsidiary[2]
  • 1994 - becomes part of Harman International Industries[2]
  • 2006 - produces a limited 60th anniversary edition of the celebrated C414 LTD microphone.[3]

[edit] Microphones

Among its professional products especially noteworthy is the first C 12 (introduced in 1953) and its successors and alternate versions, which include the Telefunken 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's movie Adventures in the Red Sea and were installed on the MIR spacestation. They are also mentioned by Dan Brown in his novels The Da Vinci Code and Deception Point.[4]

Some microphone models include:

  • D12E
  • D220
  • D112
  • C414
  • C451B
  • D409
  • C1000

[edit] Headphones

AKG Stereo headphones K-66.
AKG Stereo headphones K-66.

AKG also manufactures a range of high-specification headphones. The K50 model, introduced in 1959 were the world's first supra-aural and open-back headphones. A particularly notable model is the K1000. It had an unconventional design with adjustable driver cages. When fully toed-out the headphone approximated a head worn set of speakers. The current flagship model for the AKG headphone line-up is the K701.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b AKG history
  2. ^ a b c d AKG history milestones Last accessed March 30, 2007
  3. ^ AKG press release
  4. ^ AKG notable events

[edit] External links

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