THE HISTORY OF DENON
The Originator of Digital Audio Technology

Nippon Columbia, which commemorated its 90th anniversary in 2000, is an old firm based on the philosophy of contributing to society through music.

The birth of Nippon Columbia
Nippon Columbia originates in "Nippon Chikuonki Shokai" (Japan Recorders Corporation), established by Frederick Whitney Horn in 1910. Horn was a U.S.-born trader, who engaged in importing machine tools in Yokohama since 1896. He was also engaged in importing recorders. In an attempt to commercialize records and recorders, he set up "Japan-U.S. Recorders Manufacturing" in 1907 and put a special-purpose factory into operation in 1909, thus initiating the manufacturing of records. He also set up a studio, thus beginning his recording activities.

In 1910, he began manufacturing recorders, equipped with a wineglass-shaped speaker. Japan Recorders Corporation, the forerunner of Nippon Columbia, was set up as an organisation for supervising the sales of these recorders. In 1912, the company merged with Japan-U.S. Recorders Manufacturing, thus launching the double-side management of "software and hardware", an integration of manufacturing and sales. The term "Columbia" came into the company name, when the company entered into a capital tie-up with "Columbia, a world-class major record company in 1927. Japan Columbia Recorders was set up in 1928, when the Columbia label and the familiar note was born. The company was then renamed "Nippon Columbia" in 1946. Then in 1947, the company assimilated Japan Denki Onkyo, which would help make the "DENON" brand come true later on, in its network of affiliates.

The birth of the DENON brand
The DENON brand originated from the merger of Japan Denki Onkyo (commonly known as "Den-on"), one of the affiliates. Den-on was a group of engineers in business-purpose audio equipment, dating back to Japan Electric Recorders Mfg., which was established in 1939. The company was developing and manufacturing turntables and cartridge tape-recorders for NHK and other broadcast stations.

A typical model for DENON, the MC-type cartridge DL-103, was the object of joint R&D with NHK before Den-on merged with Nippon Columbia. It was completed, the year of the merger. In addition, tape-recorders and other equipment were released as part of the DENON brand, and all those were models designed for audio fans, reflecting Den-on's advanced technology. However, the DENON brand really established a strong position with the debut ot the DP-5000, a direct-drive phono-motor with an FG-type servo, that boasted a brand-new design and predominant performance.

From the popular brand "Columbia" to "DENON" of audio equipment
In the 1960s Nippon Columbia was engaged in diversification, involving a wide range of product genres including records, as well as such hardware as stereo sets, radios, TV sets, musical instruments and electric calculators.

The birth of DENON Digital
In 1972 DENON launched the world's first practical 8 -channel digital recorder, the DN-023R. It was a huge machine, consisting of three pieces: a tape transport, monitor and a signal processor.

1981 brought the DN-3000FE, the first professional-use CD player.

Only one year later, in October 1982, the DCD-2000 hit the market - the world's first consumer-use CD player.
The company then pursued even more microscopic reproduction quality and noted, what is called quantizing distortion, which comes from step-like strains of low-level bits. In 1992, two decades after the company became the first in the world to have put digital recorders to practical use, "ALPHA Processing" was announced, an epoch-making technology. This technology achieves microscopic smoothness by incorporating a capability consisting of interpolating the 16-bit data of a CD to 20 bits, so as to approach the analog wave forms during recording. It was first incorporated in the D/A converter DA-S1, released in 1993.
Denon's Award winning twin deck DJ CD player, the DN-2000F, becomes the industry standard for club DJ's.
Denon's Alpha Processor wins the European Audio Award for Innovation. Denon introduce the first Professional Broadcast Mini Disc recorder, now a standard in Radio stations world-wide.
Denon recordings in the UK include Mahler Symphony No 4 at Abbey Road studios. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jun-ichi Hirokami also performs the piece at the Royal Festival Hall. New Studio dedicated to state-of-the-art digital recording established in Yoyogi, Japan. DVD Video standards are agreed upon.
World's 1st Dolby Digital/THX 5.1 product, the AVP-A1 A/V Pre-amp/Processor is launched along with matching 3 and 2 channel power amplifiers.
World's first commercial music DVD disc released by Denon; Beethoven's Symphony No 3 "Eroica", the Egmont Overture and Chopin's Piano Concerto No 1 recorded in 5-channel surround sound at a live concert at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt in November 1996. Denon's first DVD Player, the DVD-2000.
World's first THX-EX AV component, the AVC-A10SE. THX "Extended" surround sound is launched for Star Wars - Episode 1 and encodes a further "Surround Back" channel both for commercial cinema's and home cinema equipment. The audience can now be truly surrounded in 360 degree surround sound with panning in any direction.

World's first DTS-ES Discrete AV component, the AVC-A1SE. DTS decoding now offers a digital discrete surround-back channel providing even better separation.

Denon launch the first Mini 5.1 A/V system complete with NXT flat-panel speakers and sub-woofer, the AV-F100. The DVD-2800 is also released, the first DVD player with Silicon Images Progressive Scan processor.

DENON LINK technology brings about a new era for digital connections. In November 2004, Denon UK previews the new DVD-A1XV high-end DVD player at the What Hi-Fi Show in London. This event becomes the World launch for this player, the first consumer product anywhere to incorporate the HQV (Hollywood Quality Video) "Realta" processor from Silicon Optix. Following three years of collaboration between Denon and Silicon Optix, this technology is based on the original Teranex USA HDTV Broadcast-standard processor costing over $60,000, now incorporated into a single chip. The comparisons at this show demonstrated how standard DVD discs can produce smooth, clean High Definition images with amazing depth, clarity and detail.