 | This article needs to be updated.(April 2016) |
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| Industry | Audio equipment |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1918 |
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | |
Number of employees | 75 ±25  |
| Website | Official website |
Ortofon is a Danish manufacturer of electronic audio equipment. It is the world's largest producer of magnetic cartridges for phonograph turntables, with 500,000 cartridges sold annually. [1]
Engineers Arnold Poulsen and Axel Petersen founded Ortofon in 1918. Initially focusing on sound film technology, Ortofon began to diversify into gramophone record playback and cutting equipment towards the end of World War II. The firm pioneered the use of moving coil technology in phonograph equipment; the first cutting head based on this technology was introduced in 1945. [2] Ortofon's first moving coil magnetic cartridge, the AB model, [3] was launched in 1948, and similar variations of that product are still manufactured today due to demand from enthusiasts. [1] In 1959, the first Stereo Pick-Up SPU, which aimed at professionals, appeared. [4] This pick-up is produced in different versions until today, for example SPU Meister in 1992, SPU 95th Anniversary in 2015. [4] When Ortofon turned 80 years old, the MC Jubilee was introduced, marking the first time Ortofon used a metal housing manufactured with Metal injection molding. [4] [5] In 2000, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the death of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach, an MC-Series "Kontrapunkt" was presented. The models were named b, a, c, and h, wherein the b has a cantilever made of ruby. [6] For the frame of the housing stainless steel was used. Successor of these pickups became the Cadenza-series in 2009. [7] In 2019, a new cantilever appeared, the Anna Diamond, with a cantilever made of diamond. [8]
The first Moving magnet-pickup M-15 was launched in 1969; here Ortofon used for the first time the patented Variable Magnetic Shunt (VMS) generating system which was offered until the 1980s. [9] In 1979 Ortofon presented the DJ-pickup Concorde in a new design. [4] In 2007 Ortofon introduced the moving magnet-series 2M. Its design resembles facets of a diamond and was created in collaboration with Moeller Jensen. [4] [10] In 2018 the 2nd generation of the Concorde was released. [4]
DJs currently account for three-quarters of Ortofon's cartridge sales, the remainder being sold for audiophile and consumer audio use. [1] Low-cost Ortofon cartridges, such as the OM-5E, are often supplied as standard on budget-priced consumer turntables, including the Pro-Ject Debut range. The Ortofon OM series stylus assemblies are interchangeable, allowing users to easily mount a more expensive stylus on a cheaper cartridge.
The 2020 presented Revox Studiomaster T700 is delivered with an Quintet Bronze MC. [11]
In 2004 the company was taken over by a group of private investors. [12]
Since 2010 Ortofon Microtech has manufactured custom-made high-precision TPE and Technical Rubber components and components for hearing aids. [13] [14] In 2013 Ortofon Microtech was certified for ISO 13485. [4]
As recently as August 2024, an article for the Wall Street Journal called out Ortofon's cartridge as a key reason for recommending record players that include it. [15]
A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physical deviations of a helical or spiral groove engraved, etched, incised, or impressed into the surface of a rotating cylinder or disc, called a record. To recreate the sound, the surface is similarly rotated while a playback stylus traces the groove and is therefore vibrated by it, faintly reproducing the recorded sound. In early acoustic phonographs, the stylus vibrated a diaphragm that produced sound waves coupled to the open air through a flaring horn, or directly to the listener's ears through stethoscope-type earphones.
The .50 BMG, also known as 12.7×99mm NATO, and designated as the 50 Browning by the C.I.P., is a .50 in (12.7 mm) caliber cartridge developed for the M2 Browning heavy machine gun in the late 1910s, entering official service in 1921. Under STANAG 4383, it is a standard service cartridge for NATO forces. The cartridge itself has been made in many variants: multiple generations of regular ball, tracer, armor-piercing (AP), incendiary, and saboted sub-caliber penetrator rounds. The rounds intended for machine guns are made into a continuous ammunition belt using metallic links.
A laser turntable is a phonograph that plays standard LP records using laser beams as the pickup instead of using a stylus as in conventional turntables. Although these turntables use laser pickups, the same as Compact Disc players, the signal remains in the analog realm and is never digitized.
A direct-drive turntable is one of the three main phonograph designs currently being produced. The other styles are the belt-drive turntable and the idler-wheel type. Each name is based upon the type of coupling used between the platter of the turntable and the motor.
A magnetic cartridge, more commonly called a phonograph cartridge or phono cartridge or (colloquially) a pickup, is an electromechanical transducer that is used to play phonograph records on a turntable.
A record changer or autochanger is a device that plays several phonograph records in sequence without user intervention. Record changers first appeared in the late 1920s, and were common until the 1980s.
Richard Quitevis known by his stage name DJ Qbert or Qbert, is a Filipino American turntablist and composer who has heavily influenced the History of DJing. He was awarded America's Best DJ in 2010, was DMC USA Champion 1991 (solo) and achieved titles as DMC World Champion in 1992 and 1993.
Shure Inc. is an audio products corporation headquartered in the USA. It was founded by Sidney N. Shure in Chicago, Illinois, in 1925 as a supplier of radio parts kits. The company became a consumer and professional audio-electronics manufacturer of microphones, wireless microphone systems, phonograph cartridges, discussion systems, mixers, and digital signal processing. The company also manufactures listening products, including headphones, high-end earphones, and personal monitor systems.
ReVox is a brand name, registered by Studer on 27 March 1951 for Swiss audio equipment.
Roksan is a British manufacturer of high fidelity audio products for domestic use, based in Rayleigh, Essex. It is best known for its influential and innovative design for hi-fi equipment, and in particular its Xerxes platform for playing LP records.
Audio-Technica Corporation is a Japanese company that designs and manufactures professional microphones, headphones, turntables, phonographic magnetic cartridges, and other audio equipment.
Stanton Magnetics, doing business as Stanton, is a business unit of inMusic Brands that designs and markets turntables, cartridges, DJ mixers, DJ media players, and DJ controllers.
Elektromesstechnik (EMT) is a manufacturer of phonograph turntables and professional audio equipment, including a well-regarded line of artificial reverberation devices beginning with the EMT 140 plate reverb. The company was founded by Wilhelm Franz.
Luxman is a brand name of Japanese Luxman Corporation (ラックスマン株式会社) that manufactures luxury audio components. Luxman produces a variety of high-end audio products, including turntables, amplifiers, receivers, tape decks, CD players and speakers.
Pro-Ject Audio Systems is a manufacturer of audiophile equipment, founded in 1991 by Heinz Lichtenegger and located in Mistelbach, Austria. Pro-Ject Audio Systems designs the products in Austria and produces them in plants located in Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
SME is a brand name of an English company that produces high end tonearms and turntables, whose name has become synonymous with the industry standard detachable headshell mount.
Goldring is an audio equipment manufacturing company that was established in 1906. In 1906, the Scharf brothers started manufacturing phonographs in Berlin, Germany. The company moved to England in 1933 and continued manufacturing cartridges and turntables. The "Juwel Electro Soundbox" phonograph was their own creation and was released in 1926. The Goldring logo was as indication of quality.
The Tefifon is an audio playback format, developed and manufactured in Germany, that utilizes cartridges loaded with an endlessly looped reel of plastic tape. It is somewhat similar to the later 4-track and 8-track magnetic audio tape cartridges, but with grooves engraved into the tape, like a phonograph record. The grooves were engraved in a helical fashion across the width of the tape, in a manner similar to Dictaphone's Dictabelt format. The grooves are read with a stylus and amplified pickup in the player's transport. A Tefifon cartridge, known as a "Tefi", can hold up to four hours of music; therefore, most releases for the format are usually compilations of popular hits or dance music, operas, and operettas. Tefifon players were not sold by television and radio dealers in Germany, but rather sold directly by special sales outlets affiliated with Tefi.
Norman C. Pickering was an American engineer, musical instrument designer, inventor and co-founder of the Audio Engineering Society. His most famous inventions are the modern Pickering magnetic cartridge, a high-fidelity, jewel-tipped phonographic cartridge, and the Pickering pickup. After leaving the audio technology company he founded, Pickering & Company, he developed ultrasound diagnostic techniques, studied violin acoustics, and constructed 37 violins.
The Revox B215 is a cassette deck manufactured by Studer from 1985 until around 1990. A professional version with different control layout and audio path electronics was manufactured concurrently as the Studer A721. A later improved version was marketed as the Revox B215S. Because it was expensive compared to other consumer models and had exceptionally good mechanical performance and durability, the B215 was used primarily by professional customers—radio stations, recording studios and real-time cassette duplicators.
