AKG Acoustics
AKG Acoustics is an Austrian manufacturer of microphones and headphones for professional users ( stage and studio art) and the home.
History
The company was founded in 1947 as Audible and theater devices mbH founded by Ernst Pless and Rudolf Görike in Nobilegasse in Vienna. First was the core business of 16- mm film projectors, speakers, delay devices and microphones.
In 1963 the company was awarded the National Award, which the Austrian State coat of arms may be performed in commercial transactions.
In the 1970s, Pless sold his share of the Dutch Philips group that the proportion of the holding company for the industrialist Josef Taus sold in the 1980s. During this time, AKG was the Austrian distributor for many well-known hi-fi brands such as Marantz or Revox.
1991 come under the Austromir research project AKG products in space are used. The Austrian astronaut Franz Viehböck working on AUDIMIR experiment to investigate the orientation assets through sound.
With the aggressive expansion policy and the new corporate headquarters in Vienna, the company came in economic difficulties. Many employees were laid. However, the bankruptcy could be averted by the interest in Sidney Harman AKG by the founder of the Harman group at the last moment. 1993 AKG Acoustics has been adopted as part of the company Harman International Group for the symbolic amount of one shilling.
AKG made since the company was founded traditionally in Austria; this has since been discontinued in favor of a more favorable production in China. Meanwhile, almost all products are manufactured in China to a few individual exceptions.
Products
In 1953, the tube large-diaphragm condenser microphone C12 was presented. With an initial print run of 50 units per month, this model quickly established a popular studio microphone of his time. Recordings of the BBC in London and also the Beatles at Abbey Road Studios EMI were made with the C12, which was built until 1962.
Also in 1953, AKG launched the first moving coil microphone, the D12, on the market. It was the first dynamic cardioid microphone. Also, this microphone is still used today as an efficient kick drum and ( e ) guitar amp mic.
At the present AKG products include not only professional microphones for studio and stage use, gooseneck and boundary layer microphones, in-ear monitoring and wired studio headphones and digital surround sound wireless headphones.
In professional recording studio finds the C414, a large-diaphragm condenser microphone technology, application frequently. Especially due to its versatile application possibilities it is very popular among audio engineers. Since the year of 1971, it was constantly improved and is now before the seventh generation. It offers outstanding technical properties and can for example handle sound pressure levels up to 158 dB.
AKG is used worldwide by leading artists also used. Frank Sinatra sat well on AKG products such as musicians of our time, including Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel and Stevie Wonder, stars like ABBA on tour in 1979 and 1975 with D330BT D1000E, the Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart and pop stars such as Anastacia, Eros Ramazzotti, Kanye West or Simply Red Austria's most famous pop star Falco sang with AKG microphones - like Christina Stürmer.
Awards
Trivia
1955 exclusively for AKG are used in the first Salzburg Festival, which will take place after the Second World War. A microphone is designed specifically for Herbert von Karajan.
In the same year the diving pioneer Hans Hass uses AKG products for its underwater sound film adventure in the Red Sea. The film won first prize at the Venice Biennale.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC puts the British post 1972 stamp worth 3 pence on the BBC -standard microphones, in this case, only AKG products, shows.
U.S. best-selling author Dan Brown mentioned in two of his books The Da Vinci Code and Deception Point headphones from AKG.