Wheatstone Corporation

Last updated
Wheatstone Corporation
Type Private
Industry Broadcasting
Founded1974
FounderGary Snow
Headquarters,
Productsdigital audio consoles and control surfaces, analog audio consoles, networked digital audio systems, audio-over-IP, digital audio editing hardware and software, signal processing for on-air and studio applications, and software.
Website wheatstone.com

Wheatstone Corporation is an American company that produces digital and analog professional audio equipment for broadcast radio, television, and new media. Products include audio consoles, Audio over IP (AoIP) audio networking, audio processing, audio recording and editing, and custom furniture. The corporation also does business under the brand names Audioarts Engineering, Pacific Research & Engineering, and VoxPro. [1]

Contents

Founder

Gary Snow’s interest in audio came early: “By age 12, I was running a neighborhood radio and TV repair shop. I built my first stereo system at 15 and then moved on to guitar amps and loudspeaker enclosures,” Snow said. After high school, Gary took a job repairing amplifiers and special effects devices while attending Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York, where he majored in electrical engineering.

Snow’s career then progressed to larger companies, where he engaged in more sophisticated high fidelity repair and installations. Gary explained, “I was sent to KLH, McIntosh Laboratories, and the Allen Organ Company for further technical training. In 1971, I was offered employment at Theatre Sound Inc. in New Haven, Connecticut, where I expanded into electronic circuit design, and large system design and installation.” [2]

After some encouragement by friends, he produced a "for sale" product in 1974. Snow chose the name "Audioarts" for his nascent company. [3]

Snow is the recipient of three Industry Innovator awards announced by trade publications in 2017. [4] [5]

History

Wheatstone Corporation was founded as Audioarts Engineering in 1974. and was incorporated under its current name in 1981. Originally founded in Bethany, Connecticut, the company moved twice, first to Syracuse, New York in 1986, then to its present location just outside New Bern, North Carolina in 1998.

The company's first product was a simple disco mixer designed by the founder. [3] In the years that followed, Audioarts designed and sold outboard equipment for the recording industry, including one of the earliest parametric equalizers. In 1976 its first console, the Audioarts 2000, was introduced. [6]

In 1981, working under the internal project name "Wheatstone," Audioarts developed a very full-featured sound reinforcement console. Partly due to the success of this console, the company subsequently incorporated as Wheatstone Corporation. [6]

Brands

In addition to Wheatstone, the corporation also markets products under the following brand names:

Notable Products

Related Research Articles

Cakewalk, Inc. is a former music production software company based in Boston, Massachusetts and currently a brand of Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies. The company's best known product was their professional-level digital audio workstation (DAW) software, SONAR. SONAR integrated multi-track recording and editing of digital audio and MIDI. The company also offered a full range of music software products, including Pyro Audio Creator—a digital music management program, and Dimension Pro—a virtual instrument.

Kenwood is a Japanese brand of consumer electronics. It has been owned by JVCKenwood since October 2011, when Kenwood Corporation merged with JVC. Kenwood manufactures audio equipment such as AM/FM stereo receivers, cassette tape decks/recorders, amateur radio (ham) equipment, radios, cellular phones, speakers, and other consumer electronics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JBL</span> American audio hardware manufacturer

JBL is an American audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. JBL serves the customer home and professional market. The professional market includes studios, installed/tour/portable sound, cars, music production, DJ, cinema markets, etc. JBL is owned by Harman International, itself a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.

Avid Audio is an American digital audio technology company. It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks. The company began as a project to raise money for the founders' band, selling EPROM chips for drum machines. It is a subsidiary of Avid Technology, and during 2010 the Digidesign brand was phased out. Avid Audio products will continue to be produced and will now carry the Avid brand name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AMS Neve</span> British audio equipment manufacturer

AMS Neve Ltd is a privately owned audio engineering company who specialise in digital and analogue music consoles, outboard equipment and post production consoles. AMS Neve was the result of the amalgamation in 1992 of AMS with Neve Electronics.

Alesis is an American company that designs and markets electronic musical instruments, audio processors, mixers, amplifiers, audio interfaces, recording equipment, drum machines, professional audio, and electronic percussion products. Based in Cumberland, Rhode Island, Alesis is an inMusic Brands company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Studer</span> Swiss audio equipment manufacturer

Studer is a designer and manufacturer of professional audio equipment for recording studios and broadcasters. The company was founded in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1948 by Willi Studer. It initially became known in the 1950s for its professional tape recorders. In the 1990s the company moved into the manufacture of mixing consoles.

The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards, or Technology and Engineering Emmys, are one of two sets of Emmy Awards that are presented for outstanding achievement in engineering development in the television industry. The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards are presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), while the separate Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards are given by its sister organization the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turtle Beach Corporation</span> Gaming accessory manufacturer

The Turtle Beach Corporation is a gaming accessory manufacturer based in San Diego, California. The company has roots dating back to the 1970s where it developed sound cards, MIDI synthesizers, and various audio software packages and network audio devices. The company began making gaming headsets in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GatesAir</span>

GatesAir is an American electronics manufacturer that produces, markets and services terrestrial TV and radio broadcast equipment globally.

Harrison Audio Consoles is an international company based in Nashville, Tennessee that manufactures high-end mixing consoles, Digital Audio Workstations (DAW), audio plugins, and other audio technologies for the post-production, video production, broadcast, sound reinforcement and music recording industries. The company is renowned as an industry innovation for its "in-line" mixing console design that has subsequently become the standard for nearly every large-format music console. Over 1,500 Harrison consoles have been installed worldwide, presenting a significant percentage of the overall world market share for high-end audio consoles. The company founder, Dave Harrison, was inducted as a Fellow in the Audio Engineering Society for this technical contribution of the recording industry and in particular the first 32-bus "in-line" console.

LOUD Audio, LLC is a professional audio company based in the United States, operating in the U.S., Canada, and Shenzhen, China. Originally founded as Mackie Designs, Inc., the name was changed to Loud Technologies Inc in 2003 to differentiate its founding subsidiary, mixing console manufacturer Mackie from its eponymous brand name.

Telos Alliance is an American corporation manufacturing audio products primarily for broadcast stations. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, US, the company is divided into six divisions:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Audio (company)</span> American audio equipment manufacturer

Universal Audio is an American company that designs, imports, and markets audio signal processing hardware and effect pedals, audio interfaces, and digital signal processing, virtual instrument, and digital audio workstation software and plug-ins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advanced Music Systems</span> Former manufacturer of professional studio equipment

AMS were a manufacturer of professional studio equipment. The company later merged with Neve Electronics to form AMS Neve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music Center Incorporated</span> American audio equipment manufacturer

Music Center Incorporated (MCI) is the former name of a United States manufacturer of professional audio equipment that operated from 1955 until 1982 when it was acquired by the Sony Corporation. The company is credited with a number of world firsts: commercialising the 24-track multi-track recorder, the tape Auto Locator and in-line mixing console.

Phil Dudderidge is a British sound engineering entrepreneur. He is a notable figure in the professional audio industry, having worked as Led Zeppelin's concert sound mixer, and later co-founding Soundcraft Electronics Ltd before serving as Chairman of Focusrite Audio Engineering Ltd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Focusrite</span> British audio equipment company

Focusrite PLC is an English music and audio products group based in High Wycombe, England. The Focusrite Group trades under eight brands: Focusrite, Focusrite Pro, Martin Audio, ADAM Audio, Novation, Ampify Music, Optimal Audio and Sequential. Focusrite designs and markets audio interfaces, microphone preamps, consoles, analogue equalizers (EQ) and channel strips, and digital audio processing hardware and software for professional and home studios.

Greg Mackie is an American entrepreneur and inventor of professional audio products, best known as the founder of Mackie Designs. Together, Mackie and Peter Watts are the team behind M&W Pro Audio Ltd..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackmagic Design</span> Australian digital cinema company and manufacturer based in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Blackmagic Design Pty Ltd. is an Australian digital cinema company and hardware manufacturer based in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It designs and manufactures broadcast and cinema hardware, most notably high-end digital-movie cameras, and also develops video editing software, such as the DaVinci Resolve and Blackmagic Fusion applications.

References

  1. 1 2 Martin, Bob. "Wheatstone: About". "Wheatstone Corporation". Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  2. Belanger, Ernie. "Cover Story". Radio Guide. No. Nov/Dec 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 O'Neal, James E. (January 18, 2011). "Wheatstone's 37 Year Audio Legacy". TV Technology . Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  4. McLane, Paul (November 1, 2017). "NewBay Announces Industry Innovator Award Recipients". Radio World . Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  5. TV Technology Staff (November 2, 2017). "NewBay Announces Industry Innovator Award Recipients". TV Technology . Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  6. 1 2 Calvanese, Andy. "Wheatstone History". "Wheatstone Corporation". Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  7. Sun Journal Staff (February 23, 2017). "New Bern-based Wheatstone acquires Pacific Research & Engineering". New Bern Sun Journal . Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  8. McLane, Paul (October 5, 2015). "Wheatstone Acquires Audion Labs and VoxPro". Radio World. Retrieved 5 November 2018.