Sennheiser

Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG (/ˈzɛnhaɪzər/, German pronunciation: [zɛnˈhaɪ̯zɐ]) is a German audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Wedemark, Germany, near Hanover. Sennheiser specializes in high-fidelity and Media production audio equipment, including microphones, headphones, and loudspeakers and serves both the consumer and professional audio market.

Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG
TypePrivate
IndustryAudio electronics
Founded1 June 1945 (1 June 1945) (as Labor W)
FounderFritz Sennheiser
HeadquartersWedemark, Hanover Region, Lower Saxony, Germany
Key people
Daniel Sennheiser and Andreas Sennheiser (CEOs)
ProductsAudio equipment
RevenueIncrease €756.7 million (2019)[1]
OwnerSennheiser family
Number of employees
2,801 (2019)[1]
Websitesennheiser.com

Sennheiser was founded in 1945 by Fritz Sennheiser, and the professional media division is still an family business. Since 2013, Daniel Sennheiser and Andreas Sennheiser have been third generation co-CEOs. In May 2021, Swiss Sonova Holding AG acquired Sennheiser’s consumer audio division. According to its own figures, the Sennheiser Group has around 2,801 employees worldwide. In 2019, the total turnover amounted to €756.7 million.[1]

History
Labor W products at a radio show in 1950
Sennheiser mm26 magnetic microphones were used as covert listening devices by the Stasi, the official state security service of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).

The company was founded in 1945, shortly after the end of World War II by Fritz Sennheiser (1912–2010)[2][3] and seven fellow engineers of the University of Hannover in a laboratory called Laboratorium Wennebostel (shortened, "Labor W"). The laboratory was named after the village of Wennebostel in the municipality of Wedemark, where it had been relocated during the war. Its first product was a voltmeter.[4] Lab W began building microphones in 1946 with the DM1, and began developing them in 1947 with the DM2. By 1955, the company had 250 employees, and had begun production of many products, including geophysical equipment, the noise-compensated microphones (DM4), microphone transformers, mixers, and miniature magnetic headphones. Labor W was renamed Sennheiser electronic in 1958.[5]

In the late 1950s to early 1960s, Sennheiser met Thomas Schillinger, who was tasked with starting Sennheiser's presence in the United States. Sennheiser transformed into a limited partnership (KG) in 1973. In 1980, the company entered the aviation market, supplying Lufthansa with headsets.[6][7] The company began producing modern wireless microphones in 1982, the same year founder Fritz Sennheiser handed the management of the company over to his son, Jörg Sennheiser. In 1987, Sennheiser was awarded at the 59th Academy Awards for its MKH 816 shotgun microphone.

Also in 1991, Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin, which builds studio microphones, became a part of Sennheiser.[8][9]

In 2003, Sennheiser entered into a joint venture with Danish company, William-Demant-Holding, a specialist in hearing aids, diagnostic technology, and personal communication. Sennheiser Communications A/S was founded.[10]

In 2005, Sennheiser acquired speaker manufacturer Klein + Hummel.[11]

Daniel Sennheiser, grandson of the founder, joined the company in 2008. In 2010, his brother Andreas Sennheiser also did so. Both are shareholders of the company.[12]

On July 1, 2013, Daniel and Andreas Sennheiser were promoted to the position of CEO, responsible for Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG.[13]

In 2014, Sennheiser founded the new subsidiary Sennheiser Streaming Technology GmbH (SST), which develops streaming solutions for software and hardware.[14]

In 2019, Sennheiser acquired a majority stake in Dear Reality, a company that specializes in spatial audio algorithms and VR/AR audio software.[15]

In May 2021, Sonova Holding AG, a Swiss cochlear implant and hearing aid manufacturer, acquired Sennheiser's consumer audio division for €200 million.[16]

Familiy business
Co-CEOs Andreas Sennheiser (left) and Daniel Sennheiser (right)

Andreas Sennheiser is a German business executive, known for serving as chief executive officer of Sennheiser.[17][18] He took over as CEO along with his brother Daniel Sennheiser on July 1, 2013.[19] Andreas Sennheisrwas born in 1974 in Zurich, and earned a doctorate in supply-chain management from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in 2004.[17] Sennheiser electronic was founded by his grandfather, Fritz Sennheiser, and he joined the family business with his brother Daniel.[20] In 2013, both Daniel and Andreas were promoted to the position of CEO. Andreas focused on gaming handsets and affordable wireless headphones including Sennheiser PC350. Along with his brother Daniel, they entered the music business in 2014.[21]

Products

Sennheiser consisted a long time of two independent business units - its consumer division and the professional audio division. The consumer devision is now sold to Sonova ans produced a range of headphones and home-entertainment speakers.[22] The professional audio division produces products for live music, DJing, theater, studio, broadcast, film, and video, as well as three-dimensional (3D) audio and AR/VR/XR. It also includes solutions for business communication, such as presentations, conferences, meetings, visitor guidance, hearing support, and the education sector.[23]

Microphones
Martin Luther King Jr. speaking, 1965 using a Sennheiser MD21 Microphone

From 1953, Sennheiser sold the MD 21 reportage microphone. It established itself as the standard microphone for radio and television reports. Its successors as reportage microphones are the Sennheiser directional microphone MD 421 with cardioid and the Sennheiser MD 441 with supercardioid characteristics.Sennheiser developed the directional MD 421 in 1960; this microphone was also quickly adopted for professional broadcasting applications, music recording studios, and live concert performances. The MD 421 is an "industry standard"; more than 500,000 units have been produced.[24]

Headphones
A Sennheiser-produced open-back headphone, the HD650

Sennheiser was mainly known for its consumer headphones and professional headphones and microphones, such as the MKH 416 short shotgun, which came to be the Hollywood standard shotgun microphone;[25] and the 816, similar in design with longer reach. It also makes the Orpheus headphone set;[26] wireless microphones; aviation, multimedia and gaming headsets; micro-Hifi systems; conferencing systems; speakers; and amplifiers.[27][28][29][30]

Production and locations

Sennheiser is headquartered in the municipality of Wedemark, Germany (near Hannover). Its United States headquarters are located in Old Lyme, Connecticut. The company has factories in Wennebostel (Wedemark, near Hannover); Tullamore, Ireland (since 1990); Albuquerque, New Mexico (since 2000), and Brașov, Romania (since 2019).[31] Some consumer products are made in China. Sennheiser's R&D facilities are located in Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Singapore, and San Francisco, California.

Sennheiser has a total of 21 sales subsidiaries and trading partners and is active in more than 50 countries.[32] The company opened its first Sennheiser store in 2016 to make products accessible to customers. Sennheiser now has seven stores in Berlin, San Francisco, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, and Sydney and at its headquarters in Wedemark. In 2016, a temporary store was located in New York City.[33]

Research and development

Overview
The Sennheiser Innovation Campus is located at the headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover.

Sennheiser has four research and development sites in Germany, Switzerland, the US, and Singapore. In addition, the Innovation Campus in Wennebostel opened in 2015 with 7,000 m2 of space.[34] The company invested 60.5 million euros in research and development in 2018.[35]

AMBEO 3D Audio
The AMBEO Soundbar

The AMBEO technology program is supposed to cover immersive audio products and activities from recording through processing and mixing to playback. According to the company, the technology is applicable in areas such as realistic live concert broadcasts, sports broadcasting, 3D recordings, exhibition installations, VR/AR/XR applications, and 3D audio for the home.[36]

Sennheiser has been recording 9.1 music since 2010 and has developed an upmix algorithm that generates 9.1 music from conventional stereo recordings. The AMBEO Music Blueprints provide information about the recording, mixing, and playback of live music in 3D audio.[37] The first AMBEO product to be introduced in 2016 was the AMBEO VR Mic for professional VR/AR/XR sound recording.[38] Sennheiser created the first augmented audio listening accessory for Magic Leap’s AR/VR goggles, the AMBEO AR One.[39]

See also

References
  1. "Annual Report – Sennheiser". en-de.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  2. "Fritz Sennheiser gestorben", Heise Online (in German), 19 May 2010
  3. Everington, John (24 December 2015). "Off hours: Sennheiser co-chief makes sweet music". The National. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  4. Mr Ugesh A. Joseph (28 January 2014). The 'Made in Germany' Champion Brands: Nation Branding, Innovation and World Export Leadership. Gower Publishing, Ltd. pp. 396–. ISBN 978-1-4094-6648-2.
  5. "Sennheiser - About Us - Meet The Company - Sennheiser History - Animated". en-uk.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  6. "Sennheiser's success". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  7. "History of Sennheiser headphones". Soundearphones.com. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  8. Studio Sound and Broadcast Engineering. Link House Publications. 1993.
  9. Anselm Roessler (2003). Neumann: The Microphone Company : a Story of Innovation, Excellence and the Spirit of Audio Engineering. PPVMedien. ISBN 978-3-932275-68-5.
  10. "Sennheiser, William Demant Holding Announce Joint Venture". Mixonline. 25 October 2002. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  11. David. "Sennheiser takes over Klein & Hummel". LSi Online. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  12. "Sennheiser - Our History". en-de.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  13. Curtis, Sophie. "Sennheiser: German audio pioneer prepares for the 'next milestone'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  14. "At InfoComm: Sennheiser Sets Streaming Subsidiary". ProSoundNetwork.com. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  15. "Dear Reality Becomes Part of the Sennheiser Group". AudioTechnology. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  16. "Expanding our offering and entering new growth markets – Sonova to acquire Sennheiser Consumer Division | Sonova International". www.sonova.com. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  17. Why Sennheiser Electronic is bringing production home from China, IndiaTimes.
  18. "Expansion at Headquarters in Wedemark: Sennheiser Showcases its Innovation Campus - ETNow.com". Etnow.com. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  19. SENNHEISER CELEBRATES 70 YEARS OF INNOVATION, AV Magazine.
  20. Frangoul, Anmar (19 November 2014). "FAMILY AFFAIR: RISE OF THE MITTELSTAND: How Sennheiser kept it in the family". cnbc.com. NBCUniversal. Retrieved 23 March 2023. Trying to get yourself heard in the global audio equipment market is a hard job when you're struggling against giant brands such as Beats, Sony and Bose. But German company Sennheiser has built up an enviable reputation in the market since it was started in the aftermath of the Second World War, when Fritz Sennheiser founded Laboratorium Wennebostel in Wedemark, north of Hanover, Germany.
  21. "Audio titan enters the music business". Scmp.com. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  22. "Consumer Electronics Division". en-de.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  23. "Professional Systems Division". en-de.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  24. Petersen, George (10 October 2020). "Sennheiser Celebrates 60 Years of the MD 421". FOH. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  25. "The Sennheiser MKH-416: From Brand Name to Industry Standard". B&H Explora. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  26. "Sennheiser's New Orpheus Headphones Cost a Cool $55,000 USD". HYPEBEAST. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  27. "Microphones & Wireless Systems". en-us.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  28. "Headphones - Sennheiser". en-us.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  29. "Professional Conference Microphones Solutions - Meeting Microphones Solutions - Sennheiser". en-us.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  30. "Loudspeakers for presentations - Audio Solutions - Sennheiser". en-us.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  31. "Sennheiser celebrates official opening of new factory in Brașov, Romania". Sennheiser. 6 August 2019.
  32. "Sennheiser subsidiaries". en-de.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  33. "Sennheiser Stores". en-de.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  34. "Expansion at Headquarters in Wedemark: Sennheiser Showcases its Innovation Campus". en-uk.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  35. "Fiscal year 2018: Sennheiser achieves slight increase in turnover". Sennheiser. 18 June 2019.
  36. "AMBEO Homepage". en-de.sennheiser.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  37. "Sennheiser Ambeo Music Blueprints website launched". www.fast-and-wide.com. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  38. Magazine, Keyboard. "Sennheiser Releases AMBEO VR Mic". KeyboardMag. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  39. Larcher, Veronique (10 June 2020). "Q&A with Dr. Veronique Larcher: Director of AMBEO Immersive Audio, Sennheiser". Immersive Audio Album.
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