Vintage Microphones, Part 1: The Neumann U47
This article is the first segment of a multi-part series detailing the history and technology behind some of the industry's most beloved and treasured vintage microphones. The author—the late Stephen Paul—founded Stephen Paul Audio, a firm that continues to offer specialized services in the restoration and hot-rodding of classic microphones.

Vintage Microphones, Part 2: Neumann M49, M50, U67 and U87
This article is the second segment of a multi-part series detailing the history and technology behind some of the industry's most beloved and treasured vintage microphones. The author—the late Stephen Paul—founded Stephen Paul Audio, a firm that continues to offer specialized services in the restoration and hot-rodding of classic microphones.

Vintage Microphones, Part 3: AKG C-12, C-24 and Telefunken 250/251
This article is the final segment of a multi-part series detailing the history and technology behind some of the industry's most beloved and treasured vintage microphones. The author—the late Stephen Paul—founded Stephen Paul Audio, a firm that continues to offer specialized services in the restoration and hot-rodding of classic microphones.

AKG Turns 50—Austrian Microphone-Maker Celebrates Golden Anniversary
In pro audio’s digital era, 50 years is both a half-century and an epoch. But it’s also a useful vantage point from which to take stock of a very changed industry and the unique position AKG—whose entire diverse product line is analog—occupies. First, though, a bit of history.

Audio-Technica—Forty Years of Innovation
In 1952, Hideo Matsushita, a 32-year-old art and music lover, came from the province of Fukui on Japan's west coast to work at the Bridgestone Museum of Art in Tokyo. During the 1950s, money and resources were scarce in Japan — even in the capital city—and Matsushita began to organize “record concerts” at the museum, where people would gather to sit and enjoy LP playbacks of great performances—a sort of symphony without the symphony. These concerts were quite popular in Japan, especially with the introduction of the first stereo records in the late '50s.

Neumann Celebrates 75 Years—Ni-Cad Batteries to Classic Microphones
For the past three-quarters of a century, the Neumann name has been synonymous with excellence in audio, but the influence of company founder Georg Neumann goes far beyond the famed microphones that bear his name.

Sennheiser Electronics Corp.–40 Years of Innovation
SEC—the U.S. wing of Sennheiser—began in 1963 by Thomas Schillinger as a small independent distributor, selling MKH shotgun mics and the (still classic) MD421 dynamic to a few dealers, mostly in the film biz. Now headquartered in Old Lyme, Conn., SEC serves more than 1,500 pro and consumer dealers in the U.S. and Latin America, with lines including Sennheiser, Neumann, Turbosound, Chevin, True Audio and InnovaSon.