The list of his achievements and awards is long and extensive. Born in Erlangen, he became known worldwide as “Father of the mp3 audio compression method” and as the "sound engineer of the digital revolution." In the summer of 2019, the director of the Ilmenau-based Fraunhofer IDMT in Thuringia retired after almost 20 years.
More than 25 years ago, his doctoral supervisor Dieter Seitzer entrusted him with the challenge of compressing music in such a way that it could be transmitted to the telephone. Together with the scientists Ernst Eberlein, Heinz Gerhäuser, Jürgen Herre, Harald Popp and Bernhard Grill from Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIs, the electrical engineer and mathematician developed the MP3 format, which caused a worldwide sensation. This method of audio data compression revolutionized The music industry, too. The highlight: Using this format, uncompressed audio files could be compressed by a factor of ten – without any perceptible loss.
Due to this success, he received offers from the USA, although he preferred to work as a founder and Director of the new Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology in Ilmenau to further advance research in this field. With the "SpatialSound Wave," the Fraunhofer IDMT launched a 3D sound system whose technology enables immersive sound effects and three-dimensional, spatial soundscapes. It can now be experienced in large German planetariums and many concert halls and theaters around the world.
In 2003, Karlheinz Brandenburg visited Michael Jackson twice at his Neverland farm in California, where the “King of Pop” had him install an Iosono surround sound system from Ilmenau in his music studio.
The MP3 legend's recipe for success definitely includes a lot of perseverance, persistence, and patience: "Just don't give up if everything doesn't work out the way you want it to right away!"
In his current (un)retirement, he is investigating the possibilities of creating spatial sound through headphones. For this purpose, he founded the company Brandenburg Labs GmbH founded to promote “PARTy technology” – “Personalized Auditory Reality”.
Karlheinz Brandenburg's most recent awards
2015
Technology Prize of the Eduard Rhein Foundation (together with Bernhard Grill and Jürgen Herre)
2014
IMTC Leadership Award for his contribution to audio coding and the standardization of the mp3 format (together with Bernd Edler)
Honorary doctorate from the Polytechnic University of Valencia for the introduction and establishment of modern methods of audio coding, hearing-adapted perception measurement and psychoacoustics
Inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame as an innovator for his important role in the development of the mp3 format and the impact this development had on increasing the reach of the Internet by the Internet Society (ISOC)
AES Board of Governors Award in recognition of his co-chairing the 53rd AES International Conference
2011
“Distinguished Heyser Memorial Lecturer” at the AES 130th Convention
AES Board of Governors Award in recognition of co-chairing the AES 42nd International Conference