History and Development of the Microphone (1827 1962)

Late 1920s Omni-directional dynamic mic 1827 Microphone

Sir Charles Wheatstone coined the phrase Microphone The omni-directional dynamic microphone was developed by Wente and Thuras and called The Westenr Electric 618A

Mid 1920s Electronic Vaccum Tube Amp 1876 First Microphone

Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone transmitter. The Bell company later bought Berliners microphone patent for $50,000 to improve their own telephone device. The invention of the electronic vacuum tube amplifier gave greater volume output for devices such as the microphone.

1942 Ribbon Microphone

The Ribbon microphone was invented for the new format of radio broadcasting. The most popular were the 44BX and the 77DX developed by Harry Olson at RCA. The first ribbon microphones were fragile and needed to be handled with care to maintain their high quality sound.

1916 Condenser Microphone 1878 Carbon Microphone

The carbon microphone was invented by David Edward Hughes. Hughes carbon microphone forms the basis to many of the microphones still in use today. The condenser microphone was invented at Bell Labs by E.C Wente and can also be referred to as a capacitor or electrostatic microphone.

1962 Electret Microphone

Bell Laboratories researchers James West and Gerhard Sessler patented the Electret microphone which offered greater reliability, higher precision, lower costs and smaller size and revolutionized the microphone industry.