| Industry | Manufacturer, Acoustics |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1947 |
| Headquarters | Vienna, Austria |
| Products | Microphones, Headphones, Digital WiFi Systems |
| Employees | about 250 |
| Website | www.akg.com |
AKG Acoustics (originally Akustische und Kino-Geräte Gesellschaft m.b.H., English: Acoustic and Cinema Equipment) is an Austrian manufacturer of microphones, headphones, wireless audio systems and related accessories for professional and consumer markets. The company was founded in Vienna in 1947, and was acquired by Harman International Industries in 1994.
By the time Harman International, an American company, acquired AKG, AKG's United States subsidiary had been established (in Los Angeles in 1985). AKG Acoustics USA, still headquartered in the San Fernando Valley, also houses regional offices for Crown Audio, another Harman Industries subsidiary.
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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 space station. They are also mentioned by Dan Brown in his novels The Da Vinci Code and Deception Point.[5]
Some microphone models include:
AKG also manufactures a range of high-specification 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's 1985 music video for "Party All the Time".
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.