is an electronics company that manufactures

loudspeakers A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an Acoustical engineering#Electroacoustics, electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often ...

and audio equipment for other companies or sells them under the trade name Fostex. It is traded on the

Tokyo Stock Exchange The , abbreviated as Tosho () or TSE/TYO, is a stock exchange located in Tokyo, Japan. It is the third largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, and the largest in Asia. It had 2,292 listed co ...

Overview

Foster Denki supplies audio equipment as an

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

: *

speakers Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

and

headphones 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 ...

for

Sennheiser Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG (, ) is a German privately held audio company specializing in the design and production of a wide range of high fidelity products, including microphones, headphones, telephone accessories and aviation headse ...

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

Denon is a Japanese electronics company started in 1910 by Frederick Whitney Horn, an American entrepreneur. Denon produced the first cylinder audio media in Japan and players to play them. Decades later, Denon was involved in the early stages of de ...

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

and Beats *

earphones 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 ...

for

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...

and iPhone * television speakers for the

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

REGZA television brand * in-vehicle speakers for

Clarion Clarion may refer to: Music * Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages * The register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6 * A trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave above unison pitch * "Clarion" (song), a 2 ...

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

, GM,

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

and others

History

Foster Denki was founded in 1948 and became one of the largest OEM manufacturer of loudspeakers and

transducer A transducer is a device that converts energy from one form to another. Usually a transducer converts a signal in one form of energy to a signal in another. Transducers are often employed at the boundaries of automation, measurement, and contr ...

products worldwide. Fostex was then established in June 1973 to brand components manufactured by Foster Electric. In 1978, Foste

started to develop speakers for professional use, becoming very well known in both consumer High fidelity, hi-fi and professional fields. Fostex 6301B was the company's most small powered monitor speaker for broadcast and professional use.

1980s: Analog multitrack recorders

From 1981, Fostex and TASCAM pioneered affordable

multitrack recording Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking or tracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a ...

equipment producing the A-2 and the A-4

reel-to-reel Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...

recorders; the A-8 was the first eight-track recorder that used affordable ¼ inch tape, becoming a popular choice in the freelance and home recording field. Another popular product was the Fostex 250 four-track cassette multitracker: it used standard cassettes running at double speed (3¾

ips IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle * Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells * Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique * Intraparietal sulcus, ...

), which improved high frequency response and

dynamic range Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of signals, like sound and light. It is measured either as a ratio or as a base-1 ...

. To obtain four tracks from a standard cassette, all the four tracks available were used in one direction (normally, two tracks are used in each direction).

Dolby C A Dolby noise-reduction system, or Dolby NR, is one of a series of Audio noise reduction, noise reduction systems developed by Dolby Laboratories for use in analog audio tape recording. The first was ''#Dolby A, Dolby A'', a professio ...

noise reduction was used. In 1983, Fostex released the X-15, a portable, battery-powered, cassette-based four track recorder and the B-16, a very compact recorder which fitted 16 tracks onto ½ inch tape running at 15 ips speed. Dolby C was built into the machine as an option to overcome the technical limitations due to the narrow track format. The B-16 was followed by the E-16 in 1986 and the G-16S in 1990, being the first recorder implementing the

Dolby S A Dolby noise-reduction system, or Dolby NR, is one of a series of noise reduction systems developed by Dolby Laboratories for use in analog audio tape recording. The first was '' Dolby A'', a professional broadband noise reduction sy ...

noise reduction system. The G-24S was the last analogue multitrack machine, which fitted 24 tracks onto 1 inch tape and included built-in

SMPTE The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and executives working in the m ...

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

synchronization and a removable front panel remote control and meter bridge.

1990s: Digital multitrack recorders

As digital technology progressed in the audio field, Fostex moved from analogue tape-based recorders to digital, drive-based recorders. The Fostex DMT-8, released in 1995, was the first portable and affordable digital recorder. It provided eight tracks of

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mos ...

, 44.1kHz audio recorded to hard disk,

non-destructive editing Non-linear editing is a form of offline editing for audio, video, and image editing. In offline editing, the original content is not modified in the course of editing. In non-linear editing, edits are specified and modified by specialized soft ...

capabilities, a built-in metronome and MIDI clock output for synchronization with other machines. The FD-4 and FD-8 were variants which added support for Zip and SyQuest removable drives.

Present

Fostex's current product range includes digital

equipment,

loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or " ...

drivers,

studio monitor Studio monitors are loudspeakers in speaker enclosures specifically designed for professional audio production applications, such as recording studios, filmmaking, television studios, radio studios and project or home studios, where accurate ...

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

s, and

. Some

production sound mixer A production sound mixer, location sound recordist, location sound engineer, or simply sound mixer is the member of a film crew or television crew responsible for recording all sound recording on set during the filmmaking or television production u ...

s for

motion pictures A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

use the Fostex Field Memory Recorder (FR-series and PD-series), which records audio and stores recordings as

WAV Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE, or WAV due to its filename extension; pronounced "wave") is an audio file format standard, developed by IBM and Microsoft, for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is the main format used on Microsoft Wind ...

files, as their recording device for sync sound. Fostex has expanded its offering of hi-fi based products to include high-end headphones (TH-series), digital audio converters (HP series) and devices for portable listing. Fostex's T50RP model has become popular in headphone modification circles.

References

Top Headset Reviews and buying guides
Headset Reviews

External links

Official international website

(archive.org)

(archive.org)

(archive.org)

(archive.org) Audio equipment manufacturers of Japan Loudspeaker manufacturers Headphones manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Tokyo Japanese brands Electronics companies established in 1973 1973 establishments in Japan {{japan-corp-stub