Willi Studer
Wilhelm "Willi" Studer (born December 17, 1912 in Zurich ; † March 1, 1996 in Wetzikon ) was a Swiss entrepreneur . He is considered a pioneer in audio technology and was the founder of the Studer- Revox group .
Life
youth
Studer was born out of wedlock as Wilhelm Mosimann, his father remained unknown. His mother Emma Mosimann was unable to take care of her newborn baby for financial reasons. In March 1913, the childless couple Hermann and Elisabeth Müller in Neudorf , Lucerne, agreed to take care of the boy until further notice. In April 1913 he came to his final parents, who adopted him and whose name he also bore from 1927: Gottfried Studer, a cabinet maker and his wife Rosette.
In April 1928 Studer finished the 9th year of elementary school in Lotzwil . In almost all school subjects he only got top marks. In his spare time he was enthusiastic about radio sets and building them yourself. Wilhelm Studer had his first encounter with the newly emerging medium of radio in 1925 at the first Swiss radio exhibition in the Zurich Tonhalle , which was organized by the Zurich Radio Cooperative. On June 4, 1928, Studer began training as a precision electrical mechanic in a suburb of Bern , thereby realizing his career aspiration. In December 1928, his boss, Robert Utz, told him that he was going to fire him because he couldn't teach him anything more. Instead, he got him a job in Otto Roth's photo and radio business in Herzogenbuchsee . Studer stayed there until January 1931.
Beginnings as an entrepreneur
At the beginning of June 1932, Studer founded the sole proprietorship Helvetia Radioapparate-Fabrik in Lotzwil and built the Tell radio receiver . Margrit Beck's family gave him the starting capital of 3,000 Swiss francs . She was the 25-year-old daughter of the Zurich master carpenter Hermann Beck, whom Studer fell in love with at the age of 20 while working at Bansi-Ansmann AG . Because of the increasingly bad economic situation as a result of the global economic crisis, also in Switzerland, his devices sold more poorly than right. On April 14, 1934, the Aarwangen bankruptcy office therefore filed for bankruptcy over his company. What remained were some unsold devices and a bankruptcy sum of 680 francs which Studer's fiancée, Margrit Beck, took over.
After a stopover with employment with his friend Hermann Holzheu, who brought him to his company Sondyna AG as chief designer in 1938 , Studer became accountant in a reception camp for war refugees in July 1942 as part of the general mobilization . Four weeks later, he was there from the intelligence officer Hans Hausamann in the office Ha drafted. Until his discharge from the military auxiliary service in December 1942, Studer was responsible for the technical maintenance of the extensive transmission and reception systems of Office Ha at the Teufen and Kastanienbaum locations.
In April 1943, Studer and his friend Berthold Suhner founded the Metrohm company , which had primarily specialized in the development and manufacture of measuring devices for current, voltage and power. Towards the end of 1947, after a few difficulties, Studer and Suhner had a discussion, whereby the separation was decided by mutual agreement. On January 5, 1948, Studer founded the sole proprietorship Will Studer, a factory for electronic devices, in Herisau . There he began - still in the Metrohm office - with the commissioned production of 30 high-voltage oscillographs for the Emil Haefely company . In September 1948 he moved his company from Herisau to Wehntalertrasse in Zurich, where he and three employees continued the production of the high-voltage oscilloscope.
First in-house developments
In 1946, the New York Brush Development Company ( Semi Joseph Begun ) brought one of the very first American tape recorders to market: the Soundmirror recorder . The first importer of these devices was the entrepreneur Hans Caspar with his company Traco Trading Co. Ltd. in Zurich. Although Studer had not seriously planned to manufacture tape recorders himself up to this point, he had already dealt with their technology. He gave lectures on the new tape technology at the Zurich Trade School in front of radio electrician apprentices and at the evening school where he - the self-taught electrician - trained electricians to become electronics engineers.
In January 1949 Caspar presented him with a Soundmirror device and said: “If you can get this box working, we can both make a good deal.” Studer recognized the weaknesses of these devices and brought them to the European one by replacing the drive elements and converting them 50 Hz network in a state in which they could be sold. At the same time, Studer made the decision to manufacture tape recorders himself. Caspar then agreed to take over the sales of the new development.
In 1950 the Dynavox was the first tape recorder to be developed and production began with 15 employees. The Dynavox had a single-motor drive, as would later be common for almost all hobby devices for decades. Studer recognized the weaknesses of this system and in the 1950s developed a drive with three motors: a winding motor under the winding disc and a separate capstan motor . A pole-changing alternating current motor was used for the capstan, which enabled two belt speeds without any mechanical switching. This three-motor principle was never abandoned and was a reason for the robustness and precision of the devices, which from 1951 for the consumer market ReVox , a word created from Re ( giving back) and Vox (voice) and for the professional and studio market Studer called. While the Dynavox was manufactured with a total of 2500 devices until 1953, in 1951 the Studer A27 was the first studio tape machine. At the International Music Festival in Lucerne , the Basel radio studio produced a tape recording for the first time at the venue. High-voltage oscilloscopes were built until 1968, but were only a niche product in the rapidly developing Studer-Revox group of companies.
First company expansions
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In 1953, the production facilities in Wehrtalstrasse were expanded and the new Revox A36 was produced there from 1954. The annual production of this successful series rose to 2500 pieces. With the first further development to the B36, the tape recorder already has separate recording and playback heads as well as separate recording and playback amplifiers. This means that as early as 1954, a real rear belt control was standard on all Revox devices. In 1960, the 36 series was expanded to include stereo in quarter and half track technology with the D36 . At the same time, the first audio control consoles, mixing consoles and, above all, tape machines for the professional and studio market were developed and manufactured. In 1958, only ten years after the first beginnings, the workforce was 120 and the premises in Zurich were bursting at the seams.
Studer acquired a large outdoor area in Regensdorf and built the first plant there by 1960, which became the company's headquarters. After the B30, C37 tape recorders and the Studer 69 audio control desk had made a name for themselves in the studio area and the mono amplifiers were replaced by the first hi-fi stereo amplifier in the Revox area, Studer had to pronounce a decision in 1962 by the Swiss authorities Lower the ceiling for employees from 200 to 187. This capping led to a massive shortage of skilled workers and personnel, which restricted further growth of the company.
Production in Germany
Studer therefore founded Willi Studer GmbH abroad, in Löffingen in the Upper Black Forest. A first factory building was erected on 8000 m², in which the Revox G36 device was produced from 1966 onwards. In the studio area, the Studer A62, a fully transistorized tape recorder, came onto the market as early as 1963, followed by the 4-channel Studer-J37. The J37 was still built using tube technology and was the last, but also the most complex, studio machine built using tube technology. Two synchronously running J37s (so you got 8 tracks) stood in the London Abbey Road Studios and were used by the Beatles for many of their recordings from 1967 onwards. In 1967, after more than 80,000 tape recorders of the 36 series were built, the last G36 rolled off the tape in Löffingen. The successor was the A series, with the tape recorder A77, the tuner A76 and the amplifier A50 later A78.
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The tape recorder in particular shaped the image of Revox for the next ten years. The robust three-motor drive with electronically controlled AC capstan motor and push-button control was so successful that it was used in 189 variations.
In addition to versions from low speed (2.375 cm / s) to high speed (38.1 cm / s), there was also a Dolby version, country-specific adaptations for broadcasters, monitor devices for authorities and use in language school laboratories. Shortly thereafter, the product range was expanded to include a further series of devices that were used in both amateur and professional areas. The A700 tape machine came with the standard three- motor drive , but also had an integrated PLL- controlled capstan motor, electronic tape tension control and a mixer to ensure precision . The digitally tunable synthesizer tuner A720 with Nixie display tubes, station buttons, tone control and preamplifier set standards with its circuit concept and was the reference tuner for a long time. This series was supplemented by the Revox A722 power amplifier.
Studer's company philosophy was based on precision and reliability, as the minimum values were always given in the technical data in the brochures and publications. In order to meet this requirement, Studer relied on a high level of in-house production of the components. All tape heads, transformers, mechanical components and later also circuit boards were manufactured in-house. In the beginning, the engines were bought in, but from 1968 the engine was produced in the new branch in Ewattingen . In 1972 the production space was again insufficient, which is why another branch factory for printed circuit boards, assemblies and engine production was moved into Bonndorf . From then on, loudspeakers were manufactured at the Ewattingen plant. In 1973, another branch was moved into Bad Säckingen , the focus of which was on non-cutting processing and electroplating of assemblies. With a doubling of the production area in the German parent plant in Löffingen, the Revox group reached its peak. The successful A series was followed in 1977 by the B series, which in turn consisted of a tape recorder ( B77 ), a tuner (B760), an amplifier (B750) and, for the first time, a tangential record player (B790).
In 1981, the B710 was followed by a cassette deck with a four-motor drive, which only became a CD player in 1984, when digitization in the audio sector had long since begun. The rapidly advancing development in the hi-fi technology sector forced Studer to ever faster product cycles from the 1980s onwards, which were reflected in the modified B and C series. These devices are all characterized by a microcontroller control, but in the analog area they build on the proven technology of the B series. In the mid-1980s it became more and more difficult to differentiate yourself from the cheaper competing devices. With the CD and the increasingly inexpensive CD players, but also with the highly integrated semiconductor components, more and more inexpensive audio devices came onto the market, the technical data of which were more and more similar to Revox products.
Analog top technology, change to digital technology and handover
Parallel to the company's development in Germany, a second factory building was built in Regensdorf from 1967 and put into operation in 1968. The company management, the overall development and the entire production of the studio equipment were located in Regensdorf. A branch was established in Mollis, Switzerland, in 1969 for the production of assemblies, followed in 1973 by its own manufacturing building for 200 employees. The A80 studio machines developed and built in Regensdorf with up to 24 channels and the Studer 089 and Studer 289 sound control desks are conquering almost all sound studios. In 1976, the second and last building complex was moved into in Regensdorf. The workforce had meanwhile increased to over 2000. In the studio area, from 1978 onwards, it was the A800 multi-channel tape recorder that marked the maximum in analog recording technology.
Studer continued to rely on analog audio technology and in particular on tape as mass storage. In 1984, with the A820, an analogue studio machine appeared, but in the end it was no longer able to hold its own against the emerging computer technology in the recording studios. Even the Studer D820X digital tape machines and the DASH multi-channel D820MCH tape machine can no longer reverse the trend away from the tape.
In 1989, Willi Studer decided to withdraw from the company, but categorically rejected takeover attempts by Philips and Sony . Instead, he sold the company to Holding Motor-Columbus AG. The new owner did not succeed in offering a digital product range that was adequate for analog technology, neither in the studio nor in the consumer sector. A massive downsizing was the result and Willi Studer had to watch as his former global company was smashed.
Awards
In 1970, Studer was named an AES Fellow by the Audio Engineering Society (AES) for his services in the field of magnetic sound and studio technology, and in 1975 he was named AES Governor .
On December 1, 1978, Studer was awarded an honorary doctorate in technical sciences by the ETH Zurich .
On September 1, 1979, he received honorary citizenship from Mayor Richard Fulton, mayor of Nashville , Tennessee, for his services to the music industry .
On November 10, 1979, he received the Golden Microphone from Radio Belgrade for his contributions to the development of professional studio equipment in Belgrade .
On March 6, 1982 Studer was awarded the gold medal of the American Audio Engineering Society .
On May 8, 1982 Prime Minister awarded him Lothar Späth , the Medal of Merit of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg .
In 1988 he was awarded the Michael de Coanda Prize “in the service of music” in recognition of his achievements in the field of sound recording and reproduction .
On January 2, 1989 Studer received in recognition of his life's work in Bonndorf the Honorary Medal of the City of Bonn village .
A street in Löffingen is named after him.
The ETH Zurich awards the donated from the estate Studer Willi Studer Prize to each year's best each master's degree program.
Product developments
The 37-year-old Studer developed a prototype that no longer had anything to do with the sound mirror . He not only designed a new type of high-speed belt drive, but also a new type of mains connection that can be switched from 110 to 220 volts. In addition, he developed a tape head with which the device could play and record magnetic tape instead of the paper tapes customary at the time.
When Studer presented his prototype to Hans Caspar in June 1949, the latter ordered a series of 500 copies. Studer's company hired six new employees, and before Christmas 1949 Taco & Co. launched the first Studer tape recorders under the name Dynavox . The prices for the two available versions were 1275 and 1470 Swiss francs.
Revox
After developing the first Dynavox, Studer calls its products for the amateur market Revox. By the time his company is sold, the following product range is created:
| year | Type | device | feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | T26 | Tape recorder | mono, drive with one motor |
| 1954 | A36 | Tape recorder | mono, three-motor drive (two winding motors, one pole-changing capstan motor for two belt speeds), push-button control |
| 1955 | Amplifier B36 - C37 |
HiFi mono amplifier tape recorder |
Separate tape heads for recording and playback, separate recording and playback amplifiers for real rear tape control |
| 1960 | D36 | Tape recorder | Stereo version of the C37 |
| 1964 | G36 | Tape recorder | Facelift and improvement of the D36 via the E36 and F36 With the G36, the successful 36 series with more than 80,000 units built in 1967 came to an end. |
| 1967 | A77 A76 A50 / A78 |
Tape recorder FM stereo tuner amplifier |
fully transistorized, modular technology, servo-controlled capstan motor |
| 1968 | A88 | Tape recorder | The A77 is being built in 186 different special versions. The A88 creates an independent product range as a language school tape recorder in language teaching systems. |
| 1974 | A700 A720 A722 |
Tape recorder FM stereo tuner amplifier |
Tape recorder with mixer, digital drive control, quartz-stabilized speed control of the capstan motor (PLL), electronic tape tension control PLL synthesizer tuner with digital frequency display ( Nixie tubes ), station button , preamplifier stereo power output stage |
| 1975 | A740 | amplifier | Stereo power amplifier |
| 1977 |
B77 B750 B760 B790 |
Tape recorder amplifier FM stereo tuner record player |
Digital drive control with tape motion sensor, LED override display Stereo integrated amplifier PLL synthesizer tuner with digital frequency display (LED), digital station memory, record player with tangential tonearm , direct drive (quartz stable) |
| 1978 | B780 | Receiver | PLL synthesizer tuner with digital frequency display (LED), digital station memory and power amplifier |
| 1981 | B710 | Cassette deck | Four-motor drive, microcontroller control |
| 1983 | B251 B261 |
Amplifier tuner |
|
| 1984 | B261 | CD player | |
| 1985 | B215 B285 B286 |
Cassette deck receiver like B285 without power amplifier |
|
| 1988 | C270 C274 C278 |
the last developed tape machine series |
Studer
Tape recorders, mixing consoles and amplifiers in particular were developed and manufactured for professional use in recording studios and radio stations. These products were named STUDER. Devices from the amateur sector were also used in studios, these devices usually being special versions of the Revox devices. So there was B. from the A77 an A77 ORF and A77 PTT, an A77 specially tailored for Austrian and Swiss broadcasting.
| year | Type | device | feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Studer A27 | Tape recorder | The first tape machine developed by Studer With this machine, the Basel radio studio made a magnetic sound recording at the performance location for the first time at the International Music Festival in Lucerne. |
| 1955 | Studer A37 | Tape recorder | |
| 1958 | Studer 69 | Sound control desk | first mixer |
| 1960 | Studer C37 | Tape machine | Stereo tube tape machine, three-motor drive, two speeds (pole-changing AC motor), push-button control (relay) |
| 1963 | Studer A62 | Tape machine | fully transistorized stereo tape machine, three-motor drive, brake control, push-button control |
| 1964 | Studer J37 | Tape machine | 4-channel tube tape machine, three-motor drive, push button control First multi -channel tape machine with tube technology, on which the Beatles also produced the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and other records in the Abbey Road Studios . |
| 1968 | Studer 089 | Studio control desk | |
| 1970 | Studer A80 | Tape machine | The longest built (until 1988) and best-selling Studer tape machine with the most delivery versions. Almost all famous music productions from this period were made with the A80. Abba , Pink Floyd ( The Dark Side of the Moon ) and Frank Zappa produced with this device, among others . Three-motor drive with electronically controlled AC capstan motor, digital push-button control |
| 1972 | Studer 289 | Sound control desk | |
| 1973 | Studer A80 | Tape machine | 24-channel tape machine based on the Studer A80 |
| 1976 | Studer 169 | mixer | compact mixer for mobile use |
| 1978 | Studer A800 | Tape machine | Multi-channel tape machine, microcontroller controlled drive, PLL controlled capstan motor |
| 1984 | Studer A820 | Tape machine | Multi-channel tape machine that can be described as the crowning glory of the analog studio machines from Studer. Basis for the multi-channel machines of the A820 series. The drive with powerful DC disc rotor winding motors and a brushless DC capstan ensures a highly precise tape drive with an excellent control behavior ( PLL ). Two processor-controlled stepper motors control the approach of the pressure rollers and ensure that the master tapes are handled gently. |
| 1986 | Studer A807 | Tape machine | Compact construction and thus the smallest studio machine, which was used in countless radio studios and OB vans. Direct-drive, servo-controlled winding motors with high torque, brushless DC capstan drive. Microprocessor-controlled drive control, three belt speeds, shuttle wheel for easy maneuvering, and the standard equipment with parallel and serial interface (RS232); phase-compensated, digitally controlled audio electronics - without adjustment potentiometer; 48 V microphone phantom power |
| 1986 | Studer D820X | digital tape machine | Drive, based on the STUDER-A820 series; two single-stack heads allow rear tape monitoring with real-time quality display of the digital audio channels, analog and digital (AES / EBU) inputs and outputs. |
| 1989 | Studer D820MCH | Digital tape machine | DASH multi-channel tape machine with up to 48 channels. This was the last device where Studer was still involved in the development at the age of 77. |
literature
- Peter Holenstein : The talking machines. Studer-Revox - the life's work of audio pioneer Willi Studer . Schweizer Verlagshaus, Zurich 1996. (3rd edition. Oesch, Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-85833-788-9 )
- Kurt Eggmann: The Studer legend. In: Cut . 11/2008, pp. 16-21.
- Walter Kerin: Studer Revox 1948–1986 From the first devices to worldwide export. Corporate font. 1986.
- Roger Lagadec : The eye listens. Willi Studer - a patron in technological upheaval. In: Franz Betschon et al. (Ed.): Engineers build Switzerland - first-hand history of technology , pp. 446–457. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-03823-791-4
Web links
- Christian Baertschi: Willi Studer. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Homepage of the Studer company in Regensdorf in Switzerland
- Homepage of the Revox company
- Studer and ReVox Infoportal
- Walter Jäggi: He had to watch as his life's work crumbled. ( Memento from January 16, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Tages-Anzeiger . October 20, 2009. (Portrait of Studer and the end of the company)
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of medal recipients 1975–2019. (PDF; 180 kB) State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg, p. 20 , accessed on June 12, 2019 .
- ↑ https://www.ethz.ch/de/die-eth-zuerich/lehre/auslösungen-und-preise/willi-studer-preis.html
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Studer, Willi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Studer, Wilhelm; Mosimann, Wilhelm (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss entrepreneur in the consumer electronics industry |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 17, 1912 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zurich |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 1, 1996 |
| Place of death | Wetzikon |