A Short History of Immersive Audio

Contrary to legend, the first audio recording device wasn’t Thomas Edison’s cylindrical phonograph. Recorded sound dates back to 1860, when Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville invented the Phonautograph.

Next was Edison’s original Tin Foil Phonograph, which famously made its debut in late 1877. His soon-to-be-commercial wax cylinder designs followed in 1878.

In 1888, Gramophone inventor Emile Berliner introduced the first flat disc-shaped records. Soon, acoustic recording gave way to electrical designs, and the rest is history. As we know, mono would be the prevailing format for nearly 100 years—let that sink in for a moment.