Julian David Hirsch (May 15, 1922 - November 24, 2003) was an electrical engineer and audio critic.

Life and early career

Hirsch discovered amateur radio at the age of 14 and was soon building his own equipment. He received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Electrical Engineering from The Cooper Union in 1943 and served in the Army Signal Corps during World War II. In 1954, Hirsch and several other engineers started testing commercial audio components to see how well they met their performance claims, and they began a subscription-based newsletter, the ''Audio League Report'', where they published the results.

Hirsch-Houck Laboratories

In 1957, Hirsch and Gladden Houck, who also worked on the ''Audio League Report'', formed Hirsch-Houck Laboratories, where they continued testing audio equipment such as turntables, receivers, and speakers, and sold the data to various publications. In 1960, Ziff-Davis Publishing bought out Gladden Houck and Hirsch began providing test data exclusively for its publications, although the lab continued to be called Hirsch-Houck Laboratories. Hirsch first tested gear for ''

Popular Electronics ''Popular Electronics'' was an American magazine published by John August Media, LLC, and hosted at TechnicaCuriosa.com. The magazine was started by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It so ...

'', then, in October 1961, for ''Hi-Fi/Stereo Review'', which was later renamed ''

Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' was an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review' ...

''. He also began writing the monthly column "Technical Talk." Hirsch estimated that he wrote about 4,000 laboratory test reports for various publications, 2,400 of those at ''

'', by the time he retired in 1998. He remained an editor-at-large for ''

'', which merged with ''Video'' magazine, and in 2000 was renamed '' Sound & Vision''.

Legacy

Hirsch helped draft the Institute of High Fidelity standards that made it easier for consumers to compare audio equipment. Bob Ankosko, an editor-in-chief at '' Sound & Vision'', said "Julian Hirsch was one of the most influential writers ever in consumer electronics."Audioholics Tribute to Julian Hirsch
/ref> Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., publisher of '' Sound & Vision'', established the Julian Hirsch Scholarship Fund at his alma mater, the School of Engineering of The Cooper Union.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch, Julian 1922 births 2003 deaths American electrical engineers United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers 20th-century American engineers