The listening archive
Headphones have a history of overlapping inventions. Follow documented devices and standards, with the evidence and uncertainty kept in view.
6 documented milestones
Communication · patent
An 1891 patent documents paired ear receivers held by a resilient yoke.
A patent grant dates a documented design. It does not prove the first invention, commercial adoption or stereo reproduction.
Read the evidence →Radio · museum
A surviving Type C headset connects headphone history to radio communication.
Its inscriptions cite patents dated 1910 and 1915. Those dates are distinct from the museum’s manufacture range.
Read the evidence →Stereo · manufacturer
Koss dates the SP/3 stereophone to 1958.
Koss calls it the first stereo headphone. We attribute that priority claim to the manufacturer rather than treating it as independently settled.
Read the evidence →Acoustic design · manufacturer
Sennheiser dates the launch of its HD 414 open-back headphones to 1968.
The world-first claim is Sennheiser’s account. This entry does not independently resolve all earlier experimental designs.
Read the evidence →Portable · manufacturer
Sony’s first-generation Walkman went on sale in July 1979.
July 1979 refers to the initial launch, not every regional release. The Walkman did not invent headphones.
Read the evidence →Wireless · standards-body
Bluetooth SIG announced completion of the LE Audio specification suite on 12 July 2022.
Specification completion is not a product launch. A Bluetooth version number alone does not establish LE Audio support.
Read the evidence →