The History of Microphones
A microphone is a device for converting acoustic power into electric power with essentially similar wave characteristics. Today, microphones are most often associated with the music and entertainment industries, but the devices date back as far as the 1600s when scientists began seeking out ways in which they could amplify sound.
The 1800s
Sir Charles Wheatstone coined the phrase “microphone”
- Emile Berliner invented the first modern microphone while working with Thomas Edison
- David Edward Hughes developed the first carbon microphone a couple years after Berliner and Edison created their microphone
- The Bell Telephone Company bought Berliner’s microphone patent for $50,000
Sources
Leslie, Clara Louise, “Who Invented the Microphone?” Radio Broadcast, 1926
The 20th Century
The development of the vacuum tube amplifier helped improve the volume output for devices, including microphones
- 1916
- The condenser microphone, often referred to as a capacitor or an electrostatic microphone, was patented by E.C. Wente
- As broadcast radio became one of the premier sources for news and entertainment around the world, the demand for improved microphone technology grew
- In response, the RCA Company developed the first ribbon microphone, the PB-31/PB-17
- 1928
- In Germany, Georg Neumann and Co. was founded and rose to fame for its microphones.
- 1931
- Western Electric marketed the 618 Electrodynamic Transmitter
- 1957
- Raymond A. Litke, an electrical engineer with Educational Media Resources and San Jose State College invented and filed a patent for the first wireless microphone
- 1959
- The Unidyne III microphone was the first uni-directional device designed to collect sound from the top of the microphone
The 21st Century
2000s: MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) microphones begin making inroads in portable devices including cell phones, headsets, and laptops
- 2010: The Eigenmike was released, a microphone that is composed of several high-quality microphones arranged on the surface of a solid sphere, allowing the sound to be captured from a variety of directions
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