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The evolution of headphones

Headphones have become one of the most popular gadgets that accompany a modern person at home, at work, while playing sports or walking.

Today we can see these devices everywhere: in subway cars, on passersby, in professional studios, on radio and television. The market offers thousands of models in a wide variety of modifications: wired and wireless, open and closed, dynamic and electrostatic. By design, the headphones are plug-in, on-ear, on-ear, and full-size. How did the evolution of headphones come about, in what year was the first prototype designed, who created the first model for listening to music, and what technologies are used in modern devices? You will find the answers to these questions in our article.

Early samples
The device for individual listening to sound was first patented in 1891. The device, then called a “bi-telephone”, looked like two interconnected receivers. Ezra Gilliland, an employee of Bella, proposed to fix a 3 kilogram structure on the head in the form of parts of a telephone and a metal rod (to facilitate the work of telephone operators). It was this decision that became the prototype for modern headphones. In the same 1891, the Frenchman Ernest Mercadier proposed his version of the headphones, which were much smaller and had rubber earplugs used for noise cancellation. Thomas Edison also did not stay away from the new trend: his version of the device was called the “kinetophone.” At the heart of this device was a medical stethoscope,

The beginning of mass use
Nathaniel Baldwin presented in 1910 the drawings of the first headphones with an upper arch instead of underneath. The device, which was intended to be used in the military, was twice as sensitive as existing analogs at the time and could be adjusted in height. In the 1920s, the CW-834 headphones were popular in the United States and were sold with a Western Electric radio. In the 30s, the device was actively used to listen to radio broadcasts. At the same time, by adapting well to speech, the device transmitted music in a very distorted form. Also, the design of headphones from those years remained poor, being too massive and uncomfortable for long-term use.

The appearance of models to listen to music
The first headphones suitable for listening to high-quality music were introduced to the market by the Swedish inventor Eugen Bayer. While still very young, he started a company that produced microphones, and in 1937 he proposed a largely revolutionary model of the Beyerdynamic DT 48 headphones. The product gained great popularity only in the mid-1950s: music lovers turned their attention to the device when its stereo version appeared … It is interesting that you can buy DT 48 in the original design and with the original technical characteristics even today.

John Koss Headphones
John Koss, who started his business with the rental of televisions, in the 60s of the last century, together with his partner Martin Lange, began to develop a portable vinyl player. In the context of the mass interest in music production, this project looked quite promising at the time. In order for the product to be radically different from the models offered by the competition, it was decided to equip it with headphones. It was possible to improve the sound of these devices with the help of spare parts for old televisions. The opportunity to hear the sound individually was received with optimism in the market. Headphones were no longer seen as an element of a communication system, but as a musical attribute. The first production model of the Koss & Lange company, the Koss SP-3, operated on the same principle as modern channel devices. The sound was sent to the ear canal, and not to the pinna. Thanks to this, a “presence effect” was created for the listener.

First open headphones
In 1968, Sennheiser came up with another revolutionary idea. A wide range of users were introduced to the world’s first model of Sennheiser HD 414 open-top headphones. Such a device allowed them to follow what was happening while listening to music. At the same time, the discs being played were partially audible to others. The technology, patented by the company, continues to generate revenue in the form of payments from manufacturers that produce open headphones. Subsequently, the Sennheiser brand has repeatedly offered innovative solutions in this area. So in 1977, the company released the world’s first Unipolar 2000 electret hearing aids, distinguished by their fast response and high detail