founded 1947 founder dr. rudolf g rike and engineer ernst pless headquarters vienna austria products microphones headphones digital wifi systems number of employees about 170 parent harman international industries since 1994 website www.akg.com the akg c214 condenser microphone akg acoustics originally akustische und kino ger te gesellschaft m.b.h. english acoustic and cinema equipment is an austrian manufacturer of microphones headphones wireless audio systems and related accessories for professional and consumer markets . contents 1 history 2 timeline 3 microphones 4 headphones 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit the company operates in austria and was founded in vienna in 1947 by two viennese physicist dr. rudolf g rike and engineer ernst pless . 1 originally its main business was to provide technical equipment for cinemas loudspeakers film projectors and light meters . 2 the business slowly expanded and akg started selling car horns door intercoms carbon capsules for telephones headsets and cushion speakers . the first akg microphone was used by radio stations theaters jazz clubs and cabarets . about this time the company developed its first patents the moving coil technology and the principle of mass load membranes allowing its products to have extended frequency ranges . 3 with the creation of the d12 microphone in 1953 akg achieved international fame setting the standard for voice transmissions . being the world s first dynamic cardioid microphone it possessed excellent sonic qualities for that time making its way into radio stations and recording studios from across the world . 4 5 the product was improved through subsequent upgrades spanning the famous c414 and c12 microphones . in 1984 akg became a public company listed on the vienna stock exchange . as a blue chip company it was one of the most traded stocks . 6 the company was acquired by the american company harman international industries in 1994 . 5 by this time akg s united states subsidiary had been established in los angeles in 1985 . akg acoustics usa still headquartered in the san fernando valley also houses regional offices for crown audio another harman industries subsidiary . in 2010 the company received the prestigious technical grammy award . 7 in 2016 akg vienna facility will be shut down in 2017 . timeline edit 1945 dr. rudolf g rike and ernst pless begin supplying movie equipment to theaters in postwar vienna . 8 1949 akg founded by g rike and pless as akustische und kino ger te gesellschaft m.b.h. 1 1949 akg begins producing headphones 9 the first model being the k120 dyn . 1953 introduces the world s first dynamic cardioid microphone 8 1955 founds a german subsidiary 9 1985 founds a u.s subsidiary based in northridge los angeles california 9 1991 produces its first wireless microphones the wms100 and wms900 1994 becomes part of harman international industries 9 2006 produces a limited 60th anniversary edition of the celebrated c414 ltd microphone . 10 2010 akg acoustics received a grammy award for the work the company has done in the recording field . dinesh paliwal the current chief executive officer picked up the award on behalf of the company . 11 2010 akg announces a partnership with quincy jones to manufacture a signature line of headphones featuring stylized designs and modified drivers . 12 13 2012 akg announces its partnership with disc jockey ti sto to start manufacturing headphones under ti sto s name . 14 15 2016 harman decided to shut down all facility in vienna in 2017 . microphones edit among its professional products especially noteworthy is the first c 12 introduced in 1953 and its successors and alternate versions which include the telefunken ela m 250 and m 251 1960 the c 24 stereo microphone the c 412 and over a dozen different models which have carried the designation c 414 in various forms . those microphones are equipped with the famous ck12 large diaphragm capsule designed by akg s engineer konrad wolf . the ck12 was a milestone in transducer technology and the first to offer constant frequency response and sensitivity for all polar patterns omni to figure eight . akg microphones have been used for shooting hans hass s movie adventures in the red sea and were installed on the mir space station . they are also mentioned by dan brown in his novels the da vinci code and deception point . 16 some microphone models include d12e d130 an omnidirectional microphone often used by reporters d19c dynamic cardioid mic . often used by norman smith and geoff emerick as drum overheads on ringo starr s drums on beatles recording sessions 1964 1967 17 d190 d222 a dual capsule dynamic microphone used at the despatch boxes of the uk parliament d220 d330 a high end dynamic vocal microphone used by abba . citation needed d112 a large diaphragm dynamic microphone popular for bass drums and other bass instruments c12 a valve condenser microphone the original version is now a collectors item selling for around 10 000 c12vr the c12 vr is an enhanced version of the original c12 from the capsule sound to the original 6072a vacuum tube carefully handcrafted in vienna austria . 18 c214 a large diaphragm condenser with single cardioid pickup pattern c414 a large diaphragm condenser with multiple variable pickup patterns c451 a small diaphragm condenser microphone originally made between the 1960s and 1980s recently reissued c535 a high quality condenser vocal microphone . akg made a gold plated one for frank sinatra . 19 d409 d5 c1000 a small diaphragm condenser c2000 a side address small diaphragm condenser . c3000 a large diaphragm condenser headphones edit this section needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message akg stereo headphones k 66 akg also manufactures a range of high specification headphones . the k50 model introduced in 1959 were the world s first supra aural and open back headphones . the k1000 was the flagship model but is no longer being produced . it was an open back dynamic headphone . the current flagship model for the akg headphone line up is the k812 . the k702 features a removable cord and is black the k701 is white . the q701 also has a detachable cable and comes in three color variants white black and a lime green . all three models are still in production . the k701s have been largely used by professional musicians and technicians in recording studios . many top recording studios use akg k240 headphones as a solution for best general use for both monitor and playback . 20 they received particular notoriety from their prominent display in eddie murphy s 1985 music video for party all the time which features the k240 monitor . another notable yet short lived model was the k280 parabolic a multi driver headphone which focused compression waves to a central point in the earcup . as well as studio headphones akg also manufactures a range of hi fi headphones and earphones for domestic use . see also edit list of headphone manufacturers list of microphone manufacturers crown international references edit a b tulga beyerle ; karin hirschberger 1 january 2006 . a century of austrian design 1900 2005 . walter de gruyter . pp. 181 . isbn 978 3 0346 0889 3 . history . akg by harmans . retrieved april 2 2014 . http www.prosoundweb.com article akg acoustics celebrates 65th company anniversary retrieved april 2 2014 http www.soundonsound.com sos oct12 articles akg d12vr.htm retrieved april 2 2014 a b tina grant 2004 . international directory of company histories . st. james press . isbn 978 1 55862 507 5 . http www.prosoundweb.com article akg acoustics celebrates 65th company anniversary retrieved on april 2 2014 http www.tvtechnology.com audio etc. 0193 akg to receive technical grammy award 256921 retrieved on april 2 2014 a b history of akg acoustics gmbh fundinguniverse . fundinguniverse.com . a b c d akg history milestones last accessed march 30 2007 akg press release http www.newstin.co.uk tag uk 166676972 kamakshi . harman akg comes out with a quincy jones signature line of headphones . luxurylaunches . page not found . akg.com . ti sto collaborates with audio manufacturer akg for a new range of headphones magnetic magazine . magnetic magazine . 1 akg notable events brian kehew ; kevin ryan 2006 . recording the beatles . curvebender publishing . pp. 180 181 . isbn 978 0 9785200 0 7 . c12vr on akg s website . akg.com . harman harman international opens new headquarters in stamford connecticut . harman.com . best studio headphones for professionals and beginners . scanzoom.com . retrieved may 20 2015 . external links edit akg acoustics wikimedia commons has media related to akg acoustics . akg brass ck12 capsule akg vienna facility shut down in 2017 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title akg 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