Studer

For people named Studer, see Studer (surname).
Studer A800 MK III 24-track recorder
Studer Vista 8 digital audio console
Israeli composer Josef Tal at the Electronic Music Studio in Jerusalem (~1965). On the right a sound synthesizer, on the left a Studer C37 Vacuum tube reel-to-reel tape recorder

STUDER designs and manufactures some of the most advanced digital audio consoles for TV and Radio broadcasters world-wide. The STUDER Vista 9M2 (launched September 2013) is a TV broadcast/live production console equipped with the patented Vistonics knobs-on-glass user interface and FaderGlow is used by many of the biggest broadcasters in the world including the BBC, RAI, France TV, TV Globo, ABC, NRK, DR and many others. Management, Sales, Engineering, R&D and Customer Service is based in Regensdorf, near Zurich in Switzerland while Manufacturing and Marketing is at Soundcraft STUDER advanced manufacturing plant in Potters Bar, near London. STUDER also offers Radio Broadcast consoles with the OnAir range including the OnAir 3000, 2500 and 1500.

The company was originally founded in Zürich in 1948 by Willi Studer (de). where it quickly became famous for its high-quality tape recorders.

Willi Studer started in 1948 making high-tension oscilloscopes, but in 1949 branched out into audio by modifying imported tape recorders from the USA. By 1950 they had developed their own line of tape recorders, named the Dynavox series. Oscilloscopes remained part of their product line-up until 1968.

STUDER's analog tape recorders were widely considered to be the best in the world by audio engineers due to their excellent reliability and sound quality. The company has built a variety of two-track recorder models throughout its history for stereo recording and mixing. One of the company's most successful models was the Revox A77 recorder, which was introduced in 1967. It sold over 400,000 units.

Several Studer components were sold under the Revox brand name, with slight modifications, at a lower price. The Revox variants were typically more suited to home hi-fi use, with features such as IR remote control, and the omission of balanced input/output sockets. The core circuiry of the two was otherwise substantially identical.

STUDER was also an innovator in the design and production of multitrack recorders. The model J37 four-track recorder was used to record the Beatles' renowned Sgt. Pepper album in 1967. Later Studer multitrack recorders were built in 8-, 16-, and 24-track configurations. With the addition of SMPTE time code multiple machines could also be linked together, making the number of available tracks virtually unlimited. Sales of these analog machines continued to be strong into the early 1990s when they began to be replaced by digital recorders.

In 1990 Willi Studer sold the Studer-Revox Group to Motor-Columbus AG, including all subsidiary companies. In 1991, Motor-Columbus split the Studer Revox Group into Studer (Pro), Revox (HiFi) and a Manufacturing-division. Motor-Columbus sold several subsidiaries and plants.

The extensive reorganization culminated in the sale of the Studer Group to Harman International Industries, in March 1994. (The Revox Group was excluded and sold to private investors.) On March 17, 1994, Harman International Industries completed its acquisition and acquired from Motor-Columbus AG 100% of Studer Revox AG. Harman paid 100 Swiss Francs (approximately US $70.00) for all of the issued and outstanding stock in Studer-Revox. Harman assumed post-acquisition indebtedness of Studer-Revox of approximately 23 million Swiss Francs (approximately US $16 million).

The founder, Dr. Willi Studer, died on March 1, 1996.

In the mid 90s STUDER started developing digital mixing consoles. After introduction of OnAir 2000 with Touch'n Action user interface in 1997, the D950 was the first digital large frame desk from STUDER introduced in 1998. With Vista Series (Vista 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) STUDER launched in 2003 the Vistonics user interface with knobs-on-glass technology. Vista X is the latest model of this series introducing x86 CPU technology replacing SHARC based DSP engines.

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