Sankar's Audeze: How a Boutique High-End Headphone Brand Sparked a Revolution in Sound and May Have Changed the Gaming Experience Forever

Audeze’s Co-Founder & CEO, Sankar Thiagasamudram, joins eCoustics Senior Headphone & Portables Editor William Jennings and Producer (and Audeze Artist) Mitch Anderson to discuss its 16 year journey as an innovator in the global Head-Fi revolution.Founded in 2008 as a boutique audiophile brand, Audeze's first concept was a loudspeaker which never came to market. However, early innovations with planar magnetic technology led to the release of their first headphone, the LCD-1 for $600 — making it one of the most expensive headphones available in 2008. All 25 models sold, which led to the release of the LCD-2 in 2009 and LCD-3 in 2011. Both models became award-winning benchmarks for headphone design and turned what was a cottage industry aimed exclusively at high-end headphone listeners into a billion dollar segment. Audeze's success also created opportunities for its competitors to expand into the planar magnetic category, forcing the brand to push the envelope with state-of-the-art professional monitoring headphones, electrostatic headphones for the medical industry, and innovative gaming headphones that attracted the attention of Sony Interactive Entertainment which purchased the company last year -- exposing the brand to a much larger mainstream global audience and giving it a growing customer base for the future. Nearly all of Audeze’s products are hand-made in Costa Mesa, CA, including all LCD and MM series headphones and the Playstation headset drivers.Sankar takes us on a journey through Audeze’s history and reveals interesting insights about the company’s history, headphone manufacturing, and their path ahead.For more information on Audeze please visit https://www.audeze.comFor details and related links, visit: https://www.ecoustics.com/podcasts/audeze-sankar/This episode is brought to you in part by Audeze Artists, The Source of Light & Power. Hear the sounds from their recently completed one record a month for all of 2023 sonic adventure here: sourceoflightandpower.bandcamp.comOn the Panel:Sankar Thiagasamudram, Audeze Founder & CEOWilliam Jennings, eCoustics Sr. Headphone & Portables EditorMitch Anderson, eCoustics Podcast ProducerCredits:Original intro music by The Arc of All. https://www.instagram.com/the_arc_of_allVoice Over Provided by Todd Harrell of SSP Unlimited. https://sspunlimited.comProduction by Mitch Anderson, Black Circle Studios. https://blackcircleradio.comKeep up-to-date with all the latest Hi-Fi, Headphone, Home Theater and Music news by visiting:https://www.ecoustics.com#audeze #headphones #lcdx #canjam #maxwellheadphones #playstation #gamingheadset #planarheadphones #audiophile #headfi #audezeartists #vinylcommunity #audioforgaming #studioheadphones #masteringheadphones