Blumlein refers to Alan Dower Blumlein, a British electronics engineer and one of the most important inventors in the history of audio.

Working for EMI in the 1930s, Alan Blumlein was a pioneer whose work was fundamental to the development of stereo audio.

In 1931, he registered a patent describing the theory and practice of recording and reproducing sound in two channels, essentially inventing stereo as we know it. His inventions covered the entire process, from stereo microphone techniques to methods for cutting a vinyl record with two channels of information. Today, his name is most often associated with the "Blumlein Pair" microphone technique, one of his inventions. It uses two bidirectional microphones (Figure 8) positioned at the same point, with their diaphragms angled 90 degrees from each other. This technique is revered for its ability to capture an extremely realistic stereo image with an excellent sense of depth and space.