[Ishcabible]

Quote:

 
For Beyer:
DT = Dynamic Transducer ET = Electrostatic Transducer
Yes, Beyerdynamic made an electrostat, the ET-1000
 
DUH.

No, telephone.
 
"The DT 48 was the first dynamic headphone in the world. It served as a basis for all hi-fi stereo headphones throughout the world.
In 1937 nobody, however, knew that this headphone was suitable as a hi-fi headphone. Therefore, Eugen Beyer called the DT 48 not headphone, but "Dynamic Telephone" which is abbreviated as "DT". It was in 1950 that the headphone and its inventor showed what was really going on: the first public demonstration of an artificial head with the DT 48 took place and the stereophonic DT 48 proved to be the world's first hi-fi stereo headphone! This was an acoustic sensation after 13 years. The DT 48 is still in production and one of the most popular professional headphone for reporters throughout the world! "
 
And I'd guess the K in AKG means Kopfhorer

 

[JeckyllAndHyde]

K in akgs is probably "Kopfhörer" - also headphones

 

[Mochan]

I always thought MDR was Mobile Dynamic Range.

 

[Mochan]

Quote:

So what about the others?
 
ATH = Audio Technica Headphone?
 
AH-D = Audiophile Headphone-Denon?
 
HD = High Fidelity?
 
DT = Dynamic Telephone?
 
SR (both Grado and STAX) = Suck Really

 
Speaking of ATH, Audio Technica's Ax00 and ADx00 range are they:
 
AD = Air Dynamic
A = Art
 
?
 

 

[jjmai]

Quote:

one easy way to find out: info-cic_(AT)_sony.co.jp
 
they speak perfect english.

I wrote to them and this is the reply:
 

 Dear Sir or Madam, Your message has been received by Sony Customer Service, Japan. Thank you for your E-mail message. Firstly, we sincerely appreciate your patronage of Sony products for years. In reply to your inquiry, our comment is as follows, We avoid the repetition of the same model number of similar line of other companies and have decided the model number of the product. When the headphones were released at first, the model number had the acronym "DR-" (it means "[b]Dynamic Receiver[/b]"). And WALKMAN came out, the model number of headphones were changed to "MDR-" (we guess M stands for "[b]Micro[/b]" or "[b]Music[/b]"), and it came to be able to carry to the outside. Regrettably we could not find the concrete reason. Please understand. We hope you would kindly understand the above. Also, your continual attention to Sony products would be highly appreciated. Sincerely yours, Sony Customer Service(Japan) Inc., SCSJ

 

[classakg]

MDR is "Mort De Rire (=LOL in French) 

 

[leeperry]

very nice jjmai! so not even SONY knows

 

[Ham Sandwich]

I'm grateful that DR doesn't officially stand for Digital Reference.  Dynamic Receiver is a much more appropriate designation for a headphone.

 

[krayzie]

MDR stands for Micro Dynamic Receiver. I believe the first ever model to bear that prefix is the MDR-3 that came with the first ever Walkman TPS-L2.
 
If you ever owned some Sony headphones from the early 80's it tells you that on the Japanese packaging.

 

[Biswamohan]

MDR stands for Micro Dynamic Range, as stated in Sony website.... (sorry for not giving the link)

 

[Hamuraii]

Necro this thread,

Micro Dynamic Range Z1R

What does Z1R stand for ?

 

[Andrew_WOT]

R2-D2, C-3PO.

 

[digitalreferee]

From this interview with Koji Nageno who designed the MDR-CD900ST (among other things):

Editor: By the way... What is the meaning behind the name "MDR-CD900ST"?

Nageno: MDR is an acronym for Micro Dynamic Receiver. Headphones had their roots in telephone handsets, which were also called "receivers," but when the small drivers used in today's headphones were introduced, we added the word "Micro" to mean a different kind of small driver. The subsequent CD stands for the pursuit of CD-era sound, and ST stands for Studio Model.

編集部：ちなみに…。「MDR-CD900ST」の製品名には、どのような意味が込められているのでしょうか？

投野：MDRというのは、Micro Dynamic Receiverの頭文字を取っています。ヘッドフォンのルーツは電話の受話器で、「Receiver」とも呼ばれていたのですが、今のヘッドフォンでも使われている小型ドライバーが登場した際に、これまでとは違った小型なドライバー、という意味を込めてMicroと付けたんです。その後に続くCDはCD時代音を追求するという意味で、STはスタジオ・モデルの略です。

Pretty interesting justification he gives for the meaning behind the acronym I think.