Sennheiser

Lore & Background

Sennheiser was founded in 1945 as Laboratorium Wennebostel (Labor W) by Fritz Sennheiser and seven fellow University of Hannover engineers, initially producing a voltmeter. The company introduced its first original microphone design, the DM 2, in 1946, followed by the industry-standard MD 21 dynamic microphone in 1953. In 1968, Sennheiser released the world's first open-back headphones, the HD 414, and in 1973 transformed into a limited partnership (KG). The company entered the aviation market in 1980 and acquired studio microphone manufacturer Georg Neumann GmbH in 1991. A joint venture with William-Demant-Holding in 2003 created Sennheiser Communications A/S, which ended in 2020 when the gaming headset and enterprise solutions business became EPOS Audio. In 2021, Sonova Holding AG acquired Sennheiser's consumer audio division for €241 million. The company has research and development sites in Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Singapore, and the United States, and factories in Germany, Ireland, the United States, and Romania.

Reader's Guide

Sennheiser's significance in PC gaming stems from its legacy in high-quality audio, particularly through its gaming headsets developed under the Sennheiser Communications joint venture and later the EPOS brand. The company's professional audio heritage, including the industry-standard MD 421 microphone and the HD 414 open-back headphones, established its reputation for sound fidelity. Sennheiser's Ambeo 3D audio technology, introduced with the AMBEO VR Mic in 2016 and later expanded through collaborations with Netflix for spatial audio tracks, reflects its influence on immersive audio experiences relevant to gaming. The company's consumer division was acquired by Sonova in 2021, while its professional division continues to develop products for live music, studio, broadcast, and spatial audio for AR, VR, and XR. Sennheiser's manufacturing facilities in multiple countries and its 21 sales subsidiaries underscore its global reach in both professional and consumer audio markets.

Did You Know?

• Sennheiser's first product was a voltmeter, not audio equipment.
• The MD 421 microphone, introduced in 1960, has been in production for over 60 years with more than 500,000 units produced.
• Sennheiser's HD 414, released in 1968, was the world's first open-back headphones.
• Sennheiser received a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1987 for the MKH 816 shotgun microphone.