Audio-Technica - from Turntable Cartridges, to some of the worlds best Headphones and Microphones

One of the most famous Japanese brands, Audio-Technica was formed in 1962 as a turntable cartridge manufacturer. Their high quality cartridges propelled the business into developing other products which would be used by many creatives around the world. 

Along the way they made the world’s first micro cassette recorder. But it was in 1974 that they released their first headphone model. Their headphones are now considered classics in both professional and project audio circles. Today their M40x is one of the largest selling headphones in the world. This company made it a habit to consistently produce incredibly comfortable and high fidelity sounding budget-friendly, mid-range, and high-end headphones. 

 
From around 1985, Audio-Technica started producing microphones but it was 1991 with the release of the AT4033 that the world was to experience another level of high-end microphone technology become available to more creatives than just top end studios. During the 90’s the evolution of their microphones was such that they were being used on the world’s largest performance and event occasions - at least 6 Olympic games, Grammy Awards performances for the past ten years. The technology is still advancing as now their microphones have ‘Uniguard’, making them resistant to radio frequency interference from mobile phones, Bluetooth devices, wi-fi and walkie-talkies. Check out their range at SWAMP here.

The 2000’s have seen a wild return to vinyl records, which means that the Audio-Technica turntables are more popular than ever. For a company that started making turntable cartridges to now come a full circle with manufacturing excellent turntables, whilst creating headphone and microphone history in between, the story couldn’t have been written better!