[jfalford]

I remember back before headphones were available putting my speakers right next to my ears. Sort of my pre-audiophile nearfield listening environment. Did anyone else( and I'm probably speaking predominantly to those of middle-age like myself) ever create their own pseudo-phones like that? Darn, I should have patented that earspeaker idea.

 

[ojnihs]

Nope, I never actually thought about doing that ever. I guess maybe I'm not old enough to say that I remember a time when there weren't headphones available for me to go out and buy to use. I did use a stereo system for a long time and thought that that was the best sound I could achieve and the most personal. After getting into the world of audophile headphones, I realize how much more I enjoy headphones than speakers.

 

[stark23x]

Well, I'm not old enough to remember a day before headphones, but I did do that as a kid/teen with every system / boombox w/detachable speakers I owned. It's what has led me to the tinnitus I have today. I wasn't smart enough to keep the volume down.

In specific, three years of Metallica's"Master of Puppets" on 9.5/10 with the speakers 2 inches from either ear. REAL stupid.

 

[jfalford]

I'm sorry to hear about your ears. Metallica wasn't around when i started listening to music.

 

[MD1032]

I'm too young, but I known they used to used telegrams... j/k

Anyway, I can't imagine a world without headphones. I mean, even if we were still using speakers now people would be figuring out how to make them more portable. We already have portable speakers and they would probably invent them. I can't imagine how the concept of headphones would escape us after that.

Anyway, I think headphones are great. You can get better sound than speakers for less money in many cases. Also, you can create your own listening environment, without bothering others.

I wonder who invented headphones anyway?

 

[iamdone]

When did headphone 1st come out. I know they started getting big in the early 70's when many albums seem to have made for them.


I had a Zenith stereo as a kid (early 70's) and it had quadraphonic records and even quadraphonic headphones (2 speakers a piece in them). I think we only had about 4 records that had this ability. It was basically the predecessor of dolby surround sound. My dad still has this stereo and it still works. He also still uses his Apple IIC computer. I'll have to give it a listen when I go back and visit this summer.

 

[markl]

Go to KR's headphone lust page, he's got lots of images of stuff from as far back as the '30s, IIRC (they look like Grados, BTW

). These were probably used by military for communications, not music. Good question, when were headphones invented, and when were they first used for music reproduction? I wonder if anyone here knows?

 

[smeggy]

Hehe, yeah, I used to stick my speakers either side of my head while lying on the floor

My firset of 'phones were Pioneers in the late 60's. They were big, closed and had a small volume control knob on each of the cans. I think my first set of decent cans were Koss A4's or something like that in the mid 70's. Real head vices they were, you could feel your skull warping under the pressure

I guess the light came with my first set of senn 414, that was when I permanently switched to open cans. I went through dozens of headphones after that. Wharfedale isodynamics, Mico-seiki electrostatics, Beyer dynamics, AKG's, more sennheisers etc. I dread to think how much they musta cost me over the years.

My music tastes haven't changed all that much over the years though. Back in the 60's it was Led Zep, Hendrix, Black sabbath and Deep Purple. Now it's Disturbed, Godsmack Korn and a bucket of other metal stuff.

Middle age ain't taming this boy, I still like it way too loud and way too obnoxious or anything other than headphones

 

[Mr.Sneis]

it was bliss

 

[OneMalt]

Quote:

Originally posted by jfalford ( and I'm probably speaking predominantly to those of middle-age like myself)

I'm your age and I don't ever remember a time when there were no headphones.

 

[pspivak]

I remember putting my FM clock radio on one side of my head and an FM transistor on the other side, making the volume as equal as possible and becoming hypnotized by being immersed in the music.

 

[JeffL]

Well, I've always been *exposed* to this stuff, but I never really caught on.

My grandfather on my Mom's side of the family was HEAVILY (read: LOTS) into ham radios and records. In fact, he has a huge collection of vinyl, in pretty good shape, still to this day, although with his alzheimers I REALLY regret not getting to experience more of it. Anyway, he had, for a long time, a record player setup in the living room of the house he lived in. (BTW, he was born in the same house he still is in today, never moved once.) Those speakers were huge, 2 giant things on either side stacked up. They were horn loaded, with very large bass/midrange cones (I want to think 15 inch).

I remember one time he showed me an organ amplifier he got, and hooked up to a set of speakers, with the tubes! Yupp, he always had plenty of stuff lying around, and probably still does perhaps. I don't think his stuff was really "audiophile" though. I know at one time he ran a major radio station, and up until the last 10 years had a huge antenna on the back of the house. Since most of the family on my Moms side grew up there, she remembers it well. (My aunt recalls climbing out the window and climbing down the mast at the back porch to sneak out at night

)

According to Mom, my Grandfather used to get death threats because of the EMI interfering with TV and such.


Anyway, I got my first set of *real* headphones about 2 months ago, as I had started visiting the site on GSFerrari's note from the Sagerforums. What can I say, I am hooked, since I had always been naturally encouraged to this sort of thing.

Anyway, I am now pursuing a degree in Radio/Television, and love it so far. I'd like to get some Technics SL1200 turntables and learn to scratch as well. Not really an audiophile thing, but cool nontheless.

Also, yes, I remember my Panasonic Ghettoblaster boombox. I remember quite vividly the "Ambience" switch it had that made the music seem "more stereo" than it was. I had this boombox for years, at least 5. My dad gave it to me when I was about 4 or 5ish. Eventually the tape player died, although I should've fixed it. Those ghettoblasters are worth money now!

Anyway, that is my story for whoever gives a hoot!

 

[iamdone]

Here's what I found on headphone history:

In 1924 Eugen Beyer founded a small company for
electronic components in Berlin, Germany. He developed
“dynamic transducers“ for cinema loudspeakers and
modified them for other similar loudspeaker applications.
One of his brilliant ideas was to take the sound to the
location where people finally perceive it - the ear. He
developed small loudspeakers and mounted them to a
band, which was placed onto the people’s head. Thus the
first headphone was born.
On 18th August 1937 Eugen Beyer made history in Berlin.
What happened?
On that day he invited friends for a celebration to his
“studio“ where he played a shellac record of the opera
“Aida“. But how! The gramophone had no speaker.
Instead there were cables running to an amplifier, which
was connected to an inconspicuous semicircular piece of
metal with two ear cups. It was from these ear cups that
the music was reproduced in superb quality. There was no
screeching of a usual telephone receiver, no thin chirping
of the strings and deadened kettle drums. Eugen Beyer
was playing real music!
In Eugen Beyer’s “Studio“ the world’s first dynamic high
fidelity headphone transmitted the best performance of
Aida since the invention of the record. “This my friends”,
explained Eugen Beyer to the astonished audience, “is my
contribution so that people can finally enjoy the real sound
of music.” Since this notable day thousands of music
enthusiasts all over the world made up their mind for a
Beyer headphone.
In 1950 for instance there was a public demonstration
of artificial head in Bremen, Germany where Eugen Beyer
presented the world’s first stereophonic high fidelity
headphone - the DT 48 S. Well, of course stereo does not
automatically mean high fidelity. However, in this case it
did, since the DT 48 headphone that was used for this
stereophonic presentation had already been developed 13
years before as the world’s first high fidelity headphone.
The DT 48 in a revised shape and design is still in production
at beyerdynamic and over the years made history in
professional radio stations, recording and film studios.
Whoever buys nowadays a headphone from beyerdynamic
gives not only trust to the decades of experience in
headphone manufacturing, but also acquires one of the
most popular and recognized headphones in the world.
This popularity is finally based on the excellent and exact
reproduction of music that all beyerdynamic headphones
incorporate. beyerdynamic headphones have become the
secret best-sellers among music friends all over the world.
A legend in the history of headphones.

 

[markl]

Wow, that's awesome iamdone. I had no idea that Beyer invented the headphone. That should be a sticky for a while, it's damn interesting. Thanks.

 

[Music Fanatic]

It is simply untrue. QST is a ham radio magazine; the first issue appeared in December 1915. The first illustration in the first issue appears on page 6. I've attached a copy below. Notice the headphones?