Several pro audio companies have been celebrating milestone anniversaries recently and deserve congrats for achieving success.
Forty years ago, on April 18, 1981, Jürgen Daubert and Rolf Belz left their garage workshop in a small city near Stuttgart, Germany to officially launch d&b audiotechnik. Today, d&b is a major player in sound reinforcement systems, and is still 100% German made, with more than 500 employees globally, as well as U.S. facilities in Asheville, NC and California and partner sound companies in nearly 100 countries. In 1996, leading sound company Eighth Day Sound began investing in d&b systems (today having the largest inventory of d&b product worldwide), as d&b continued developing technologies, from DSP control in 1997 up to its current flagship SL directional line arrays and advanced Soundscape software.
Marking its first half-century is Lectrosonics, which began in 1971 with its Voice Projector portable P.A. systems and lecterns. Four years later, the company launched its first Freedomike wireless mics and there was no turning back. It later entered the broadcast/ENG market and eventually to film/TV production and live sound installations, where Lectrosonics’ reputation for rock-solid, reliable performance earned an Academy Award in 2017 for the company’s industry-standard Digital Hybrid Wireless technology. In 2016, the ultracompact SSM micro-bodypack transmitter took the professional theatrical market by storm. And the hits keep coming for live sound (and media) users, including the D Squared digital wireless line — all 100% USA made in Rio Rancho, NM.
Congratulations, and here’s to many more!
