The document chronicles the history of audio engineering, highlighting significant inventions and milestones from Thomas Edison’s phonograph in 1877 to the introduction of the compact disc in 1983. Key developments include the patenting of stereo technology, emergence of magnetic recording, and advancements in microphone and loudspeaker designs. It also notes the evolution of recording formats and the growing influence of digital technology in audio production.

1. AU D I EN G I EERI G TI ELI E
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2. 1877
Thomas Alva Edison, working in his lab, succeeds in recovering Mary's Little
Lamb from a strip of tinfoil wrapped around a spinning cylinder.
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He demonstrates his invention in the offices of Scientific American, and
the phonograph is born.
1878
The first music is put on record: Cornetist Jules Levy plays "Yankee Doodle."
1881
Clement Ader, using carbon microphones and armature headphones,
accidentally produces a stereo effect when listeners outside the hall
monitor adjacent telephone lines linked to stage mikes at the Paris Opera.
1887
Emile Berliner is granted a patent on a flat-disc gramophone, making the
production of multiple copies practical.
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3. 1888
Edison introduces an electric motor-driven phonograph.
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1895
Marconi achieves wireless radio transmission from Italy to America.
1898
Valdemar Poulsen patents his "Telegraphone," recording magnetically on
steel wire.
1900
Poulsen unveils his invention to the public at the Paris Exposition. Austria's
Emperor Franz Josef records his congratulations.
Boston's Symphony Hall opens with the benefit of Wallace Clement Sabine's
acoustical advice.
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4. 1901
The Victor Talking Machine Company is founded by Emile Berliner and
Eldridge Johnson.
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Experimental optical recordings are made on motion picture film.
1906
Lee DeForest invents the triode vacuum tube, the first electronic signal
amplifier.
1910
Enrico Caruso is heard in the first live broadcast from the Metropolitan
Opera, NYC.
1912
Major Edwin F. Armstrong is issued a patent for a regenerative circuit,
making radio reception practical.
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5. 1913
The first "talking movie" is demonstrated by Edison using his Kinetophone
process, a cylinder player mechanically synchronized to a film projector.
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1916
A patent for the superheterodyne circuit is issued to Armstrong.
The Society of Motion Picture Engineers (SMPE) is formed.
Edison does live-versus-recorded demonstrations in Carnegie Hall, NYC.
1917
The Scully disk recording lathe is introduced.
E. C. Wente of Bell Telephone Laboratories publishes a paper in Physical
Review describing a "uniformly sensitive instrument for the absolute
measurement of sound intensity" -- the condenser microphone.
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6. 1919
The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is founded. It is owned in part by
United Fruit.
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1921
The first commercial AM radio broadcast is made by KDKA, Pittsburgh PA.
1925
Bell Labs develops a moving armature lateral cutting system for electrical
recording on disk. Concurrently they Introduce the Victor Orthophonic
Victrola, "Credenza" model. This all-acoustic player -- with no electronics --
is considered a leap forward in phonograph design.
The first electrically recorded 78 rpm disks appear.
RCA works on the development of ribbon microphones.
1926
O'Neill patents iron oxide-coated paper tape.
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7. 1927
"The Jazz Singer" is released as the first commercial talking picture, using
Vitaphone sound on disks synchronized with film.
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The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) is formed.
The Japan Victor Corporation (JVC) is formed as a subsidiary of the Victor
Talking Machine Co.
1928
Dr. Harold Black at Bell Labs applies for a patent on the principle of
negative feedback. It is granted nine years later.
Dr. Georg Neumann founds a company in Germany to manufacture his
condenser microphones. Its first product is the Model CMV 3.
1929
Harry Nyquist publishes the mathematical foundation for the sampling
theorem basic to all digital audio processing, the "Nyquist Theorem."
The "Blattnerphone" is developed for use as a magnetic recorder using steel
tape.
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8. 1931
Alan Blumlein, working for Electrical and Musical Industries (EMI) in London,
in effect patents stereo. His seminal patent discusses the theory of stereo,
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O N N M N both describing and picturing in the course of its 70-odd individual claims a
coincident crossed-eights miking arrangement and a "45-45" cutting system
for stereo disks.
Arthur Keller and associates at Bell Labs in New York experiment with a
vertical-lateral stereo disk cutter.
1932
The first cardioid ribbon microphone is patented by Dr. Harry F. Olson of
RCA, using a field coil instead of a permanent magnet.
1933
Magnetic recording on steel wire is developed commercially.
Snow, Fletcher, and Steinberg at Bell Labs transmit the first inter-city
stereo audio program.
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9. 1935
AEG (Germany) exhibits its "Magnetophon" Model K-1 at the Berlin Radio
Exposition.
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BASF prepares the first plastic-based magnetic tapes.
1936
BASF makes the first tape recording of a symphony concert during a visit by
the touring London Philharmonic Orchestra. Sir Thomas Beecham conducts
Mozart.
Von Braunmühl and Weber apply for a patent on the cardioid condenser
microphone.
1938
Benjamin B. Bauer of Shure Bros. engineers a single microphone element to
produce a cardioid pickup pattern, called the Unidyne, Model 55. This later
becomes the basis for the well known SM57 and SM58 microphones.
Under the direction of Dr. Harry Olson, Leslie J. Anderson designs the 44B
ribbon bidirectional microphone and the 77B ribbon unidirectional for RCA.
RCA develops the first column loudspeaker array.
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10. 1940
Walt Disney's "Fantasia" is released, with eight-track stereophonic sound.
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O N N M N 1941
Commercial FM broadcasting begins in the U.S.
Arthur Haddy of English Decca devises the first motional feedback,
lateral-cut disk recording head, later used to cut their "ffrr" high-fidelity
recordings.
1942
The RCA LC-1 loudspeaker is developed as a reference-standard
control-room monitor.
Dr. Olson patents a single-ribbon cardioid microphone (later developed as
the RCA 77D and 77DX), and a "phased-array" directional microphone.
The first stereo tape recordings are made by Helmut Kruger at German
Radio in Berlin.
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11. 1943
Altec develops their Model 604 coaxial loudspeaker.
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O N N M N 1944
Alexander M. Poniatoff forms Ampex Corporation to make electric motors
for the military.
1945
Two Magnetophon tape decks are sent back to the U.S. In pieces in multiple
mailbags by Army Signal Corps Major John T. (Jack) Mullin.
1946
Webster-Chicago manufactures wire recorders for the home market.
Brush Development Corp. builds a semiprofessional tape recorder as its
Model BK401 Soundmirror.
3M introduces Scotch No. 100, a black oxide paper tape.
Jack Mullin demonstrates "hi-fi" tape recording with his reconstructed
Magnetophon at an Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) meeting in San
Francisco.
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12. 1947
Colonel Richard Ranger begins to manufacture his version of a
Magnetophon.
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Bing Crosby and his technical director, Murdo McKenzie, agree to audition
tape recorders brought in by Jack Mullin and Richard Ranger. Mullin's is
preferred, and he is brought back to record Crosby's Philco radio show.
Ampex produces its first tape recorder, the Model 200.
Major improvements are made in disk-cutting technology: the Presto 1D,
Fairchild 542, and Cook feedback cutters.
The Williamson high-fidelity power amplifier circuit is published.
The first issue of Audio Engineering is published; its name is later shortened
to Audio.
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13. 1948
The Audio Engineering Society (AES) is formed in New York City.
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O N N M N The microgroove 33-1/3 rpm long-play vinyl record (LP) is introduced by
Columbia Records.
Scotch types 111 and 112 acetate-base tapes are introduced.
Magnecord introduces its PT-6, the first tape recorder in portable cases.
1949
RCA introduces the microgroove 45 rpm, large-hole, 7-inch record and
record changer/adaptor.
Ampex introduces its Model 300 professional studio recorder.
Magnecord produces the first U.S.-made stereo tape recorder, employing
half-track staggered-head assemblies.
A novel amplifier design is described by McIntosh and Gow.
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14. 1950
Guitarist Les Paul modifies his Ampex 300 with an extra preview head for
"Sound-on-Sound" overdubs.
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IBM develops a commercial magnetic drum memory.
1951
The "hot stylus" technique is introduced to disk recording.
An "Ultra-Linear" amplifier circuit is proposed by Hafler and Keroes.
Pultec introduces the first active program equalizer, the EQP-1.
The Germanium transistor is developed at Bell Laboratories.
1952
Peter J. Baxandall publishes his (much-copied) tone control circuit.
Emory Cook presses experimental dual-band left-right "binaural" disks
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15. 1953
Ampex engineers a 4-track, 35 mm magnetic film system for 20th-Century
Fox's Christmas release of "The Robe" in CinemaScope with surround sound.
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Ampex introduces the first high speed reel-to-reel duplicator as its Model
3200.
1954
EMT (Germany) introduces the electromechanical reverberation plate.
Sony produces the first pocket transistor radios.
Ampex produces its Model 600 portable tape recorder.
G. A. Briggs stages a live-versus-recorded demonstration in London's Royal
Festival Hall.
RCA
RC introduces its polydirectional ribbon microphone, the 77DX.
Westrex introduces their Model 2B motional feedback lateral-cut disk
recording head.
The first commercial 2-track stereo tapes are released.
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16. 1955
Ampex develops "Sel-Sync" (Selective Synchronous Recording), making audio
overdubbing practical.
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1956
Les Paul makes the first 8-track recordings using the "Sel-Sync" method.
The movie Forbidden Planet is released, with the first all-electronic film
score, composed by Louis and Bebe Barron.
1957
Westrex demonstrates the first commercial "45/45" stereo cutter head.
1958
The first commercial stereo disk recordings appear.
Stefan Kudelski introduces the Nagra III battery-operated transistorized
field tape recorder, which with its "Neo-Pilot" sync system becomes the de
facto standard of the film industry.
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17. 1959
EMI fails to renew the Blumlein stereo patent. Hello - anybody home?
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1961
3M introduces the first 2-track closed-loop capstan-drive recorder, the M-23.
The FCC decides the FM stereo broadcast format.
1962
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) sets the
standard for the time code format.
3M introduces Scotch 201/202 "Dynarange," a black oxide low-noise
mastering tape with a 4 dB improvement in s/n ratio over Scotch 111.
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18. 1963
Philips introduces the Compact Cassette tape format, and offers licenses
worldwide.
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Gerhard Sessler and James West, working at Bell Labs, patent the electret
microphone.
The Beach Boys contract Sunn Electronics to build the first large full-range
sound system for their rock music concert tour.
1965
The Dolby Type A noise reduction system is introduced.
Robert Moog shows elements of his early music "synthesizers."
Eltro (Germany) makes a pitch/tempo shifter, using a rotating head
assembly to sample a moving magnetic tape.
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass tour with a Harry McCune Custom Sound
System.
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19. 1967
Richard C. Heyser devises the "TDS" (Time Delay Spectrometry) acoustical
measurement scheme, which paves the way for the revolutionary "TEF"
AU D I EN G I EERI G TI ELI E
O N N M N (Time Energy Frequency) technology.
Altec-Lansing introduces "Acousta-Voicing," a concept of room equalization
utilizing variable multiband filters.
Elektra releases the first electronic music recording: Morton Subotnick's
Silver Apples of the Moon.
The Monterey International Pop Festival becomes the first large rock music
festival.
The Broadway musical Hair opens with a high-powered sound system.
The first operational amplifiers are used in professional audio equipment,
notably as summing devices for multichannel consoles.
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20. 1968
CBS releases "Switched-On Bach," Walter (Wendy) Carlos's polyphonic
multitracking of Moog's early music synthesizer.
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1969
Dr. Thomas Stockham begins to experiment with digital tape recording.
Bill Hanley and Company designs and builds the sound system for the
Woodstock Music Festival.
3M introduces Scotch 206 and 207 magnetic tape, with a s/n ratio 7 dB
better than Scotch 111.
1970
The first digital delay line, the Lexicon Delta-T 101, is introduced and is
widely used in sound reinforcement installations.
Ampex introduces 406 mastering tape.
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21. 1971
Denon demonstrates 18-bit PCM stereo recording using a helical-scan
video recorder.
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RMS and VCA circuit modules introduced by David Blackmer of dbx.
1972
Electro-Voice and CBS are licensed by Peter Scheiber to produce
quadraphonic decoders using his patented matrixes.
1974
D. B. Keele pioneers the design of "constant-directivity" high-frequency horns.
The Grateful Dead produce the "Wall of Sound" at the San Francisco Cow
Palace, incorporating separate systems for vocals, each of the guitars, piano
and drums.
3M introduces Scotch 250 mastering tape with an increase in output level of
over 10 dB compared to Scotch 111.
DuPont introduces chromium dioxide (CrO2) cassette tape.
Du
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22. 1975
Digital tape recording begins to take hold in professional audio studios.
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O N N M N Michael Gerzon conceives of and Calrec (England) builds the "Soundfield
Microphone," a coincident 4-capsule cluster with matrixed "B-format"
outputs and decoded steerable 2- and 4-channel discrete outputs.
EMT produces the first digital reverberation unit as its Model 250.
Ampex introduces 456 high-output mastering tape.
1976
Dr. Stockham of Soundstream makes the first 16-bit digital recording in the
U.S. at the Santa Fe Opera.
1978
The first EIAJ standard for the use of 14-bit PCM adaptors with VCR decks is
embodied in Sony's PCM-1 consumer VCR adaptor.
A patent is issued to Blackmer for an adaptive filter (the basis of dbx Types I
and II noise reduction).
3M introduces metal-particle cassette tape.
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23. 1980
3M, Mitsubishi, Sony and Studer each introduces a multitrack digital
recorder.
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EMT introduces its Model 450 hard-disk digital recorder.
Sony introduces a palm-sized stereo cassette tape player called a
"Walkman."
1981
Philips demonstrates the Compact Disc (CD).
MIDI is standardized as the universal synthesizer interface.
IBM introduces a 16-bit personal computer.
1982
Sony introduces the PCM-F1, intended for the consumer market, the first
14- and 16-bit digital adaptor for VCRs. It is eagerly snapped up by
professionals, sparking the digital revolution in recording equipment.
Sony releases the first CD player, the Model CDP-101.
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24. 1983
Fiber-optic cable is used for long-distance digital audio transmission,
linking New York and Washington, D.C.
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1984
The Apple Corporation markets the Macintosh computer.
1985
Dolby introduces the "SR" Spectral Recording system.
1986
The first digital consoles appear.
R-DAT recorders are introduced in Japan.
Dr. Gunther Theile describes a novel stereo "sphere microphone."
1987
Digidesign markets "Sound Tools," a Macintosh-based digital workstation
using DAT as its source and storage medium.
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25. 1990
ISDN telephone links are offered for high-end studio use.
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O N N M N Dolby proposes a 5-channel surround-sound scheme for home theater
systems.
The write-once CD-R becomes a commercial reality.
3M introduces 996 mastering tape, a 13 dB improvement over Scotch 111.
1991
Wolfgang Ahnert presents, in a binaural simulation, the first digitally
enhanced modeling of an acoustic space.
Alesis unveils the ADAT, the first "affordable" digital multitrack recorder.
Apple debuts the "QuickTime" multimedia format.
Ampex introduces 499 mastering tape.
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26. 1992
The Philips DCC and Sony's MiniDisc, using digital audio data-reduction,
are offered to consumers as record/play hardware and software.
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The Nagra D is introduced as a self-contained battery-operated field
recorder using Nagra's own 4-channel 24-bit open-reel format.
1993
In the first extensive use of "distance recording" via ISDN, producer Phil
Ramone records the "Duets" album with Frank Sinatra.
Mackie unveils the first "affordable" 8-bus analog console.
1994
Yamaha unveils the ProMix 01, the first "affordable" digital multitrack
console.
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27. 1995
The first "solid-state" audio recorder, the Nagra ARES-C, is introduced. It
is a battery-operated field unit recording on PCMCIA cards using MPEG-2
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O N N M N audio compression.
Iomega debuts high-capacity "Jaz" and "Zip" drives, useful as removable
storage media for hard-disk recording.
1996
Record labels begin to add multimedia files to new releases, calling them
"enhanced CDs."
Experimental digital recordings are made at 24 bits and 96 kHz.
1997
DVD videodiscs and players are introduced. An audio version with 6-channel
surround sound is expected to eventually supplant the CD as the chosen
playback medium in the home.
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28. 1998
The Winter Olympics open with a performance of Beethoven's "Ode to
Joy," played and sung by synchronizing live audio feeds from five
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O N N M N continents with an orchestra and conductor at the Olympic stadium in
Nagano, Japan, using satellite and ISDN technology.
Golden Anniversary celebration held in New York on March 11, the exact
date of the first AES meeting in 1948, with ten of the original members
present.
MP-3 players for downloaded Internet audio appea
appear.
1999
Audio DVD Standard 1.0 agreed upon by manufacturers.
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29. CAMPU S LO CATI NS
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