What’s on > Life in Germany > Clubs in Germany Sennheiser: Music to your ears
A growl reverberates through the concert hall. Even the back row feels the bass. The crowd in the Frankfurt Festhalle is delirious. Metallica are in town. Frontman James Hetfield grabs his microphone and roars. The fans need no further encouragement and join in singing “Nothing else matters”, “Enter Sandman” and songs from their new album Death Magnetic. Metallica’s instantly recognizable sound is well-known the world over. Yet instrumental to that sound is a less familiar name: Sennheiser.
 Sennheiser equipment, Photo: flickr (CC) aenimation, Francesca Guadagnini Sennheiser are a family-owned company based near Hannover. For the past 60 years Sennheiser have been in the business of producing high end sound equipment. The company has nearly 2000 employees worldwide, of which 1100 are based in the company’s headquarters. The global success of Sennheiser is mirrored in its turnover. Of the 395 million euros generated in 2007, 83 percent was earned outside of Germany.
A post-war success story
This is quite a success story given its humble beginnings in 1945. Dr. Fritz Sennheiser and several colleagues from the University of Hannover founded Sennheiser, then known as ‘Laboratory W’, and began by manufacturing tube voltmeters. Over the decades the voltmeters were replaced by products for which Sennheiser has become famous: microphones, headphones and other complex audio equipment.
Today, Sennheiser have a reputation for producing quality products that come at a price. Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Jörg Sennheiser, justifies the prices of Sennheiser products by pointing out “The best has never been the cheapest”.
That doesn’t stop some of the world’s leading musicians from choosing Sennheiser. Metallica use a Sennheiser monitoring system. According to the band’s sound engineer Bob Cowan, the recently introduced 2000 Series personal monitoring system guarantees more than enough usable frequencies at any venue and a solid wireless performance. The Hannover-based company’s products are also used by top acts including, Madonna, Franz Ferdinand and Tokio Hotel. In fact, the top bands and artists that rely on Sennheiser products are so numerous that the list on their website reads like a music industry who’s who.
Innovative technology
One of the most innovative products to come from Sennheiser in recent years are its noise cancellation headphones. The headphones, equipped with patented Noiseguard technology, are able to reduce ambient noise by as much as 90 percent.
Loud environments such as trains, airplanes and crowds become significantly quieter. The headphones work to actively cancel out noise. This is achieved through microphones embedded in the headphones. The incoming sound is processed and a sound wave with 180 degree phase inversion is produced. The unwanted noise and the phase-inverted sound waves meet at the headphone user’s ear where they virtually cancel each other out.
The many facets of Sennheiser’s innovative products all set out to ensure one thing: the best sound possible. Next time you are at enjoying the cacophony of sounds at a concert or enjoying that favorite song over your headphones – Sennheiser are likely to be responsible.
www.sennheiser.de
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