According to Smithsonian. The Navy offered Baldwin some suggestions for a few tweaks, which he promptly incorporated into a new design that, while still clunky, was comfortable enough for everyday use. After producing a few dozen headphones, the head harness was further improved as its design was reduced to only two leather-covered, adjustable wire rods attached at each end to a receiver that supposedly contained a mile of copper wire.
Indeed, the entire history of the headphone seems to be one of incremental improvements on existing designs, starting as early as the s, with the single over-ear receivers worn by telephone operators. Dynamic headphones differ from other headphone technologies in that they rely on a stationary magnet and a moving cone to create sound, much the same way that speakers generate audio.
Fast-forward a few decades and we come to one of the most popular innovations yet. In , John C. Koss forever changed the music industry with the introduction of the first stereo headphones in response to the first commercially available stereo recordings, introduced the year before.
As a result, headphones became less of a tool for the military and telecommunications industries and more of a personal music listening device. And the rest, as they say, is history.
But hang on a minute. The next big innovation in headphone design came after the second World War, with the onset of stereophonics and the popular commercialization of the technology. Record label EMI pioneered stereo recordings in and the first commercial stereo headphones were created a year later by musician and entrepreneur John Koss, founder of the Koss Corporation. The only problem was that there were no commercially available headphones that were compatible with his new phonograph.
They were all made for communication or warplanes. Koss talked with an audio engineer about this and they quickly rigged up a pair of makeshift prototype headphones.
The design was refined built from two vacuum-formed brown plastic cups containing three-inch speakers protected by a perforated, light plastic cover and foam ear pads. These were connected by a bent metal rod and the Koss SP-3 headphones were born. Music lovers embraced the stereophonic headphones due to their enhanced sound quality, which was made possible by the use of different signals in each ear that could closely approximate the sounds of a concert hall.
The design was well received when it debuted at a hi-fi trade show in Milwaukee in and was almost immediately copied by other manufacturers, standardizing the design of headphones around the world for years to come.
An interesting footnote to this story is the suggestion from media theorist Friedrich Kittler that, while Koss may have created the first truly stereo headphones, the first people to actually experience stereophonic sound through headphones were the members of the German Luftwaffe during World War II.
In his book Gramophone, Film, Typewriter , Kittler describes the innovative radar system used by the German Airforce during World War II, which allowed headphone-wearing pilots to reach the destinations and bombers to accurately drop payload without visually seeing their targets:. As a result, any deviation from the assigned course results in the most beautiful ping-pong stereophony. When the pilots reached their target, the two radio signals merged into one continuous note.
Apple changed the game again in with a major change in the design of their iPhone and earbuds, moving away from their wired earpods. After their huge success among consumers, more manufacturers and brands have come up with their own versions of AirPods, with some even copying their style outright.
For example, who saw the loss of 3. Other companies might follow that trend, moving exclusively to wireless headphones. Some headphones can now even act as heart rate monitors, hearing protection devices, or even personal coaches for training or workouts.
What about going even one step further, and removing the audio source completely? The earbuds or headphones of the future could become an all-in-one device to both store, stream, and play music.
And, with the emergence of VR, surround-sound capabilities will become increasingly popular, even outside of gaming. It might seem crazy to think of today, but what if the headphones of the future looked more like hearing aids — more of a permanent device than one we carry around with us and have to put on and take off?
Again, the future is unknown. Over the years, we can expect greater things and additional functions for headphones in our day-to-day lives. Headphones as we know them have a long history going back over years. The industry has continued to innovate to keep up as technology has evolved and consumer interests have changed.
What did you find most interesting about the history of headphones? Was there a big year or development we missed?
Let us know in the comments below and share your big predictions for the future of headphones. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Operator headphones. From: patents. Watch out, world! In Sony helped headphones get out of the house for the first time with the revolutionary Walkman.
The Walkman was small enough to carry anywhere you went, and extremely lightweight. This essentially filled the need for portability in headphones. The history of noise-canceling headphones started years earlier, with various designs and patents dating back to the s. Amar Bose. You might recognize him as the founder of popular audio company Bose. Over the past 20 years, various Bluetooth versions and upgrades have been released, allowing users to connect to their music wirelessly.
Filed Under: headphones. By Simon Tompson. By Gregor Jakob. By Trav Wilson. By Chief Editor. By Teo Yong Shun. By Gab L.
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