The History of Microphones

The history of microphones is actually pretty interesting. The first person to use the word microphone was Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1827. In 1876, Emily Berliner was the person to invent the first microphone which was used as a voice transmitter, known as a telephone today. She did not invent the telephone, but improved it with the microphone.

By the time 1878 came around, David Edward Hughes invented the carbon microphone which was later developed during the 1920s. With the invention of the radio, new broadcasting microphones also were invented. There would not be a history of microphones if these things did not take place.

James West and Gerhard Sessler of Bell laboratories played a big part in the history of microphones in the year 1964 as they received patent number 3,118,022 for their transducer which is an electric microphone. It offered something previous microphones had not, greater reliability and higher precision with something all consumers loved, a lower price.

This part in the history of microphones revolutionalized the industry and made it possible for general consumers to obtain the product. Almost one billion of these microphones were manufactured each year. Dynamic and condenser microphones were developed in the 1970s because they offer a great amount of sensitivity perfect for broadcasting with. To this day they are used by broadcasters worldwide.

Microphone history dates back to the 1800s so it is possible to see why we have come to such great lengths in offering top of the line, high quality products by many different manufacturers.

Old Fashioned Microphone

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