Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG (/ˈzɛnhaɪzər/, German pronunciation:[zɛnˈhaɪ̯zɐ]) is a German audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Wedemark. Sennheiser specializes in equipment for both the consumer and professional audio markets, including microphones, headphones, and loudspeakers.
Founded in 1945 by Fritz Sennheiser, the company's professional media division has been under the leadership of third-generation co-CEOs Daniel Sennheiser and Andreas Sennheiser since 2013. The Sennheiser Group has over 2,800 employees worldwide, and reported total sales of €756.7 million in 2019.[1] Sennheiser's consumer audio division was acquired by Sonova Holding AG in May 2021.
History
Labor W products at a radio show in 1950
The company was founded in 1945 shortly after the end of World War II by Fritz Sennheiser[2] and seven fellow University of Hannover engineers. Originally named Laboratorium Wennebostel (shortened as "Labor W"), named after the village of Wennebostel in the municipality of Wedemark, where it had been relocated during the war, the company's first product was a voltmeter.[3][4]
In 1946, the company began building microphones designed for broadcast reporting, beginning with its first original design, the DM 2, soon followed up by the DM 3 and DM 4. In 1953 the company introduced the MD 21 dynamic microphone, which became established as the standard microphone for radio and television reporting.[5]
Sennheiser mm26 magnetic microphones were used as covert listening devices by the Stasi, the official state security service of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
By 1955 the company had 250 employees and had begun production of many products, including geophysical equipment, noise-compensated microphones, microphone transformers, mixers, and miniature magnetic headphones, and introduced the MD 82, one of the world's first commercially-produced shotgun microphones, in 1956.[6] The following year, the company introduced "Microport," a wireless microphone system for television production.
In 1958 Labor W was renamed Sennheiser electronic.[7] In 1960, Sennheiser introduced the cardioid successor to its popular MD 21, the MD 421; this microphone was also quickly adopted for professional broadcasting applications, music recording studios, and live concert performances. Still in production more than 60 years after its introduction, the MD 421 is considered an industry standard, with more than 500,000 units having been produced.[5] In the early 1960s, Fritz Sennheiser tasked Thomas Schillinger with establishing the company's presence in the United States, and the distribution company Sennheiser Electronics Corp. was founded in 1963.
In 1968, the company introduced the world's first open-back headphones, the HD 414,[8] and in 1971, Sennheiser introduced the MD 441. Sennheiser transformed into a limited partnership (KG) in 1973.
In 1980, the company entered the aviation market, supplying Lufthansa with aviation headsets.[9][10] The company began producing modern wireless microphones in 1982, the same year founder Fritz Sennheiser handed the management of the company over to his son, Jörg Sennheiser.
In 1991, Sennheiser Electronic GmbH acquired studio microphone manufacturer Georg Neumann GmbH, and moved Neumann microphone production into a newly-built level 100 cleanroom factory in Wedemark, while maintaining Neumann's official headquarters in Berlin.[8]
In 2003, Sennheiser entered into a joint venture with Danish company, William-Demant-Holding, a specialist in hearing aids, diagnostic technology, and personal communication, establishing Sennheiser Communications A/S.[12] In 2005, Sennheiser acquired speaker manufacturer Klein + Hummel.[13]
Co-CEOs Andreas Sennheiser (left) and Daniel Sennheiser (right)
Daniel Sennheiser, grandson of the founder, joined the company in 2008,[14] as did his brother Andreas Sennheiser two years later. Both are company shareholders.[15] On 1 July 2013 Daniel and Andreas Sennheiser were promoted to the position of co-CEO, responsible for Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG.[16][17][18][19]
In 2014, Sennheiser founded the new subsidiary Sennheiser Streaming Technology GmbH (SST), which develops streaming solutions for software and hardware.[20] In March of the same year, Sennheiser assumed sponsorship of Shanghai Concert Hall, which was renamed Sennheiser Shanghai Concert Hall. At the same time, the company launched the Sennheiser Media record label with the release of A Bu's first album.[21][22] Sponsorship of the concert hall continued until August 2017.
In 2019, Sennheiser acquired a majority stake in Dear Reality, a company that specializes in spatial audio algorithms and VR/AR audio software.[23]
In May 2021, Sonova Holding AG, a Swiss cochlear implant and hearing aid manufacturer, acquired Sennheiser's consumer audio division, which produces a range of headphones and home entertainment speakers, for €200 million.[24][25]
Sennheiser's professional audio division continues to produce for live music, studio, broadcast, video, and film production, as well as spatial audio audio and AR/VR/XR. The professional audio division also produces solutions for business communication, such as presentations, conferences, meetings, visitor guidance, hearing support, and the education sector.[26] The company manufactures wireless microphones; aviation, multimedia and gaming headsets; micro-Hifi systems; conferencing systems; speakers; amplifiers, and high-end audiophile headphones like the HD 800 S and Orpheus.[27]
The Sennheiser Innovation Campus is located at the headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover.A Sennheiser-produced flagship open-back headphone, the HD800S
Sennheiser is headquartered in the municipality of Wedemark, Germany (near Hannover). Its United States headquarters are located in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Sennheiser has a total of 21 sales subsidiaries and trading partners and is active in more than 50 countries.[31]
Sennheiser has research and development sites in Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Singapore, and the United States. In addition, the Innovation Campus in Wennebostel opened in 2015 with 7,000 m2 of space.[32] The company invested 60.5 million euros in research and development in 2018.[33]
The company has factories in Wennebostel (Wedemark, near Hannover); Tullamore, Ireland (since 1990); Albuquerque, New Mexico (since 2000), and Brașov, Romania (since 2019).[34] The factory at its Wennebostel headquarters focuses on products for the high-end consumer and professional audio markets. The Tullamore facility manufactures acoustic transducers for headphones and headsets. The Albuquerque facility manufacturers wireless systems and components for the US market,[8] and the Brasov facility is focused on the assembly of products for both the professional and consumer markets.[35] Some consumer products are made in China.
The company opened its first Sennheiser store in 2016. Sennheiser now has seven stores in Berlin, San Francisco, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, and Sydney and at its headquarters in Wedemark. In 2016, a temporary store was located in New York City.[36]
Ambeo 3D Audio
The AMBEO Soundbar
Ambeo is a family of Sennheiser products dealing in 3D audio technologies. Sennheiser has been recording 9.1 music since 2010 and has developed an upmix algorithm that generates 9.1 music from conventional stereo recordings. The AMBEO Music Blueprints provide information about the recording, mixing, and playback of live music in 3D audio.[37] The first AMBEO product to be introduced in 2016 was the AMBEO VR Mic for professional VR/AR/XR sound recording.[38] Sennheiser created the first augmented audio listening accessory for Magic Leap’s AR/VR goggles, the AMBEO AR One.[39]
In July 2022, the company began collaborating with Netflix to produce "spatial audio" tracks for its original productions, downmixed to stereo from the original multi-channel versions. In February 2023, Netflix expanded this support to over 700 films and television series.[40][41]
Binaural recording is a method of recording sound that uses two microphones, arranged with the intent to create a 3D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being in the room with the performers or instruments. This effect is often created using a technique known as dummy head recording, wherein a mannequin head is fitted with a microphone in each ear. Binaural recording is intended for replay using headphones and will not translate properly over stereo speakers. This idea of a three-dimensional or "internal" form of sound has also translated into useful advancement of technology in many things such as stethoscopes creating "in-head" acoustics and IMAX movies being able to create a three-dimensional acoustic experience.
THX Ltd. is an American audio company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is known for its eponymous suite of high fidelity audiovisual reproduction standards for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, video game consoles, car audio systems, and video games. The THX trailer that precedes compliant films is based on the Deep Note, with a distinctive glissando up from a rumbling low pitch.
Shure Incorporated 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.
Denon is a Japanese electronics company dealing with audio equipment. The Denon brand came from a merger of Denki Onkyo and others in 1939, but it originally started as Nippon Chikuonki Shoukai in 1910 by Frederick Whitney Horn, an American entrepreneur.
Sonova Holding AG is an internationally active Swiss group of companies headquartered in Stäfa that specializes in hearing care. The Sonova group operates through its core business brands Phonak, Unitron, Advanced Bionics, AudioNova and Sennheiser (Licensed). It is one of the largest providers in the sector worldwide. The group and its brands hold 24% of the global hearing aid market in sales. As of 11 September 2022, Sonova was a component of the Swiss Market Index.
Beyerdynamic GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of microphones, headphones, wireless audio systems, and conference systems. Headquartered in Heilbronn, Germany, Beyerdynamic has been family-owned since its founding in 1924.
Harman International Industries, Inc., commonly known as Harman, is an American audio electronics company. Since 2017, the company has been operating as an independent subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.
Georg Neumann GmbH is a manufacturer of professional recording microphones. It was founded by Georg Neumann and Erich Rickmann in 1928 and is based in Berlin, Germany. Its best-known products are condenser microphones for recording, broadcast, and live music production purposes. For several decades Neumann was also a leading manufacturer of cutting lathes for phonograph disks, and even ventured into the field of mixing desks. Today Neumann also manufactures preamplifiers, studio monitors, headphones, and audio interfaces.
Audio-Technica Corporation is a Japanese company that designs and manufactures professional microphones, headphones, turntables, phonographic magnetic cartridges, and other audio equipment.
AKG Acoustics is an acoustics engineering and manufacturing company. It was founded in 1947 by Rudolf Görike and Ernest Plass in Vienna, Austria. It is a part of Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics since 2017.
Røde Microphones is an Australian-based audio technology company specializing in the design and manufacture of microphones, headphones, audio interfaces, and audio software. The company's product range focuses on applications such as music recording, location sound recordings, broadcast and podcasting, filmmaking, and content creation, for the consumer, producer, and professional markets.
Fritz Sennheiser was a German inventor and entrepreneur who founded and served as chairman of Sennheiser Electronic, a manufacturer of audio equipment.
Blue Microphones is an American audio production company owned by Logitech that designs and produces microphones, headphones, recording tools, signal processors, and music accessories for audio professionals, musicians and consumers.
Crystal River Engineering Inc. was an American technology company best known for their pioneering work in HRTF based real-time binaural, or 3D sound processing hardware and software. The company was founded in 1989 by Scott Foster after he received a contract from NASA to create the audio component of VIEW, a virtual reality based training simulator for astronauts. Crystal River Engineering was acquired by Aureal Semiconductor in 1996.
Beats Electronics LLC is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded in 2006 by music producer Dr. Dre and record company executive Jimmy Iovine. Since 2014, it has been an Apple subsidiary.
Dolby Atmos is a surround sound technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. It expands on existing surround sound systems by adding height channels, interpreted as three-dimensional objects with neither horizontal nor vertical limitations. Following the release of Atmos for the cinema market, a variety of consumer technologies have been released under the Atmos brand. The initial cinema Atmos systems used in-ceiling speakers, then upward-firing speakers were introduced as an alternative for consumer products. Atmos is also used on some devices that do not have a height channel, such as headphones, televisions, mobile phones, and tablets.
Goji Electronics, Inc. is a producer of computer, smartphone, audio products and equipment headquartered in Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom. The audio division of the company was founded by grime artist and entrepreneur Rav and DSG International plc president Lord Kalms, and primarily produces products under the brand Goji-Rav.
Dear Reality GmbH is a German company specialising in 3D audio software and Virtual acoustics. They have developed Software tools for professional audio production of linear and interactive content in Augmented reality, Virtual reality, Video games, Sound design and Music.
The Sennheiser MD 421 is a German cardioid dynamic microphone, widely used for speech in broadcasting and for music in live concerts and the recording studio. Introduced in 1960, the internal large-diaphragm transducer element of the MD 421 is still produced unchanged by Sennheiser. The MD 421 is considered a classic, an industry standard. More than 500,000 units have been sold.
↑ Frangoul, Anmar (19 November 2014). "Family Affair: Rise of the Mittelstand: How Sennheiser kept it in the family". cnbc.com. NBCUniversal. Retrieved 23 March 2023. Trying to get yourself heard in the global audio equipment market is a hard job when you're struggling against giant brands such as Beats, Sony and Bose. But German company Sennheiser has built up an enviable reputation in the market since it was started in the aftermath of the Second World War, when Fritz Sennheiser founded Laboratorium Wennebostel in Wedemark, north of Hanover, Germany.
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€507,4 million (2022) [1] 
