History of headphone development

The truth is that each person has their musical taste. Not everyone can easily accept other people’s music. It won’t be very nice when someone turns on loud music in public, especially those who love music. The genre you don’t like. Therefore, headphones were born and became an indispensable part of daily life. The history of headphones goes back a lot longer than Steve Jobs introduced the earbud model, and Dr.Dre launched the Beats line of headphones. To help readers have a better view of the headphones from the beginning to the present, we would like to take the liberty to tell the long-standing story of this inseparable item.

Note in this article that the writer only introduces the milestones where there is a big change in the headset’s appearance, design, and usage, neither going into technology nor offering new products. Typical and best product at the time.

In 1881, before the mp3 or electronic music format appeared, the headset appeared. Headphones were not intended for listening to music, but they were used mainly for telegraphers. The first headphones were sounding earpads worn on the user’s neck and weighed about 4.5 kg (like wearing a cassette on the shoulder).

By 1895, thanks to the telegraph system, music lovers could enjoy the melodies coming from the theater from the comfort of their homes. Subscribers to this “upmarket” service will enjoy their favorite sound through a headset. They are more like a doctor’s stethoscope than a headset, but they still do their job well: they can deliver sound from the theater to the door.

The year 1910 marked a turning point in the headphone’s timeline. A young man named Nathaniel Baldwin started producing the first modern headphones. He made them in his kitchen and sold them to the US Navy. For the first time in the world, two cans could be made into the kind of gadget we see today. Baldwin didn’t patent his invention, which would have made him a huge fortune.

In 1937, the DT-48 headset from Beyerdynamic was the first dynamic headset on the market. A few decades ahead of electrostatic headphones, this is a huge step forward in the history of headphones. Dynamic earphones, until now, are still the most popular products on the market.

In 1949, AKG produced its first headset, the K120 headset. Out of stock is the best word to describe their consumption. This model and several subsequent models were so profitable that AKG abandoned the movie equipment business and focused on developing audio products.

In 1958, John C. Koss hit the market in a way that even made Dr. Dre jealous. Koss released the first stereo headset model (Koss SP-3) and launched a massive assault on the market. Several decades later, Koss dominated the industrial headphone market. Interestingly, Koss didn’t need to go to college or receive equivalent training. Breakthroughs can be achieved without a degree; that’s the lesson we learned from Koss.

In 1959, at a show in Tokyo, Stax introduced the first model of electrostatic headphones. The SR-1 went into production a year later. This model is becoming extremely rare these days, just like an original Nike Air Mag team or a hard-of-hearing headphone user.

1968, a decade after releasing the first stereo headset model, Koss continues to mold the Made in US electrostatic earphones successfully. The ESP-6 model weighs about 1 kg, not as good as the earbud models, but has gone a lot further than the previous generation headphones.

In 1979, if we had to choose the most important headset model in the history of headphones, we would hardly have any other choice but Sony’s Walkman headset. A huge step forward, the headset is compact enough to carry around every day, wherever you go with the first Walkman. Sony comes with the MDL-3L2 headset model, making it possible and trending to enjoy music while skateboarding.

In 1980, two types of headphones were available to people who had problems with their hair when wearing headphones, the in-ear, and the earbud. However, success in the commercial market has not reached the expected level; their time has not yet come. They had to wait years later when Steven Paul Jobs jumped into the game.

In 1997, the neckband model was born by Sony. They think they will be a great product for people who don’t like over-ears but still want better soundproofing than earbud style. However, this type of headset was not very successful.

In 2000, environmental noise won’t disturb headphones users as much as before. Bose sets a new limit for comfort when it comes to headphones with noise cancellation technology. Although jet pilots used this technology decades ago, their customers are also saved from annoying demonic noises.

In 2001, the iPod completely changed the world of music. It is very easy to see people walking on the street with a white wire from the shirt pocket up to the ears. Since its launch in 2001, more than 300 million iPods have been sold with the legendary white headphone cord.

In 2008, Dr.Dre and Jimmy Iovine joined in, and together with Monster, the debut product created the very famous Beats by Dr.Dre brand. Designed with a deep bass range and excellent sound quality, Beats quickly grabbed a sizable market share. The image of NBA basketball players with Beats headphones stepping out of the bus into the ring symbolizes Beats’ success.