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(stylized as audio-technica) is a Japanese company that designs and manufactures professional microphones,
Audio-Technica was established in 1962 in
One of their most famous products was a battery-operated, portable record player called
headphone
Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an au ...
s, turntables, phonographic magnetic cartridges, and other audio equipment.
Company history
Audio-Technica was established in 1962 in Shinjuku
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...
, Tokyo, Japan, by Hideo Matsushita as a phonograph cartridge
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
manufacturer. Its first products were the AT-1 and the AT-3 MM stereo phono cartridges. Business rapidly developed and Audio-Technica expanded into other fields. The headquarters and factory moved in 1965 to the current address in Naruse, Machida, Tokyo. In 1969, the company began exporting phono cartridges worldwide and launched the first microcassette recorders.
In 1972, Audio-Technica established its US arm in Fairlawn, Ohio
Fairlawn is a city in western Summit County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of Akron. The population was
7,710 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area.
Geography
Fairlawn is located at (41.129555, -81.618103).
Acco ...
, and started shipping VM phono cartridges to European manufacturers. In 1974, the company developed its first headphones, the AT-700 series, launched the same year. The AT-800 series of microphones were introduced in 1978 and in the same year the UK establishment in Leeds began operation.
In the 1980s, with the growth in digital music formats threatening their core business of phonograph cartridges, Audio-Technica begun a period of diversification. Employee suggestions were solicited, with sushi machines among the ideas selected for further development.
In 1984, Audio-Technica introduced the ASM50 Nigirikko, a nigiri-forming appliance for home kitchens, which incorporated a turn-table like mechanism to deposit the nigiri onto. The market success of this product led the company to develop a range of sushi machinery for commercial and industrial use. Audio-Technica remains one of the largest manufacturers of sushi machines globally today, with products marketed under the brand AUTEC.
In 1986, the company developed RCA cables with high-purity copper produced from the continuous metal casting process (PCOCC), invented and developed between 1982 and 1985 by Atsumi Ohno. In the same year, the company launched the AT33ML/OCC phono cartridge, the first made with PCOCC materials. In 1988, another Audio-Technica subsidiary is founded in Taiwan.
In 1990s, Audio-Technica introduced several large-diaphragm condenser microphones for studio use: the AT4033 cardioid microphone in 1991, the AT4050 multi-pattern in 1995, and the AT4060 vacuum tube cardioid microphone in 1998; the AT895, a DSP-controlled five-element microphone array providing adaptive directional audio acquisition, was introduced in 1999. In 1996, the Southeast Asian establishment began operation in Singapore.
In 2008, the company celebrated the 20th anniversary of supplying microphones for US Presidential Debates. For their 50th anniversary, Audio-Technica celebrated at Consumer Electronics Show
CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...
2012, debuting their AT-LP1240-USB USB DJ Turntable and ATH-CKS55i.
In 2017, Audio-Technica Pure Digital Drive Wireless Headphone ATH-DSR9BT received CES Innovation Honoree Awards by using Trigence Dnote Technology.
Audio equipment supplier
Since the late 1990s, Audio-Technica supplied microphones and headphones for US television shows such as the ''Big Brother
Big Brother may refer to:
* Big Brother (''Nineteen Eighty-Four''), a character from George Orwell's novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''
** Authoritarian personality, any omnipresent figure representing oppressive control
** Big Brother Awards, a sat ...
'', '' Deal or No Deal'', the ''Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
'' inductions and several international events:
Technology
One of their most famous products was a battery-operated, portable record player called Mister Disc
The Sound Burger (AT770; marketed in the United States as the Mister Disc) is a portable record player that was sold starting in 1983 by Audio-Technica. It was battery operated and meant to be used away from home, and it came with a set of fold- ...
that was sold in the U.S. in the early 1980s.
In 2005, Audio-Technica developed "Uniguard", a method for making microphones resistant to radio frequency interference from cell phones, Bluetooth devices, wireless computer networks and walkie-talkies. 13 patents were involved in bringing the feature to fruition, as company engineers modified many different elements of microphone construction and operation. Over 50 existing Audio-Technica microphone models have been upgraded with the new RFI-resistant technology.
See also
*Sound Burger
The Sound Burger (AT770; marketed in the United States as the Mister Disc) is a portable record player that was sold starting in 1983 by Audio-Technica. It was battery operated and meant to be used away from home, and it came with a set of fold-aw ...
* List of microphone manufacturers
* List of phonograph manufacturers
References
External links
* {{Authority control Audio equipment manufacturers of Japan Headphones manufacturers Microphone manufacturers Phonograph manufacturers Japanese brands Electronics companies established in 1962 Japanese companies established in 1962 Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo