An audio format is a medium for sound recording and reproduction. The term is applied to both the physical recording media and the recording formats of the audio content—in computer science it is often limited to the audio file format, but its wider use usually refers to the physical method used to store the data. Note on the use of analog compared to digital in this list; the definition of digital used here for early formats is that which is represented using discrete values rather than fluctuating variables. A piano roll is digital as it has discrete values, that being a hole for each key, unlike a phonograph record which is analog with a fluctuating groove.
Music is recorded and distributed using a variety of audio formats, some of which store additional information.
File:Edison and phonograph edit1.jpg In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the first recorder that could also play back Analog; sound waveform transcribed to tinfoil
File:Dictaphone sylinder.jpg A Dictaphone cylinder for voice recording Analog, the Ediphone and subsequent wax cylinders used in Edison's other product lines continued to be sold up until 1929 when the Edison Manufacturing Company folded.
File:Record, sound (AM 1999.155.94-4).jpg78rpm record - playable on modern turntables Mechanical analog; lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion - made from shellac
File:Edisongoldmoulded.jpgEdison's "gold moulded" black wax cylinder record Mechanical analog; vertical groove, horizontal stylus motion - made from hard black wax - 160rpm standard - 100 threads per inch
File:Lazaretto-centre-start-detail.jpgA modern vinyl LP with a centre-start cut Mechanical analog; lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion, starts from the centre of the disc
File:Edison indestuctable record.pngIndestructible Record cylinder, vertical groove. Constructed of black celluloid on a cardboard core with metal bands at each end Mechanical analog; vertical groove, vertical stylus motion - made from black celluloid with cardboard and inner metal bands
File:Edison Amberol Record.png The Edison "Amberol" cylinder record, vertical groove Mechanical analog; vertical groove, vertical stylus motion - made from hard black wax - 160rpm standard - 200 threads per inch
File:Edison Blue Amberol Cylinder.jpg The Edison vertical-groove "Blue Amberol" cylinder Mechanical analog; vertical groove, vertical stylus motion - made from blue celluloid with plaster of paris core - 160rpm standard - 200 threads per inch
Mechanical analog; electrically cut from amplified microphone signal, lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion, discs at 7", 10", 12", most at 78 rpm[1]
1930
Filmophone flexible record
File:Fimophone flexible record.jpgA red Filmophone record Mechanical analog; lateral groove, horizontal stylus movement - made from cellulose of various colours - 78rpm
Mechanical analog; electrically cut from amplified microphone signal, high fidelity sound, lateral or vertical groove, horizontal or vertical stylus motion, most discs 16" at <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />33+1⁄3 rpm
File:Sound Scriber Discs.pngGreen, vertical groove Sound Scriber disks Mechanical analog; vertical groove, 4–6 inch discs, it recorded sound by pressing grooves into soft vinyl discs
Analog, medium consisting of a thin, plastic belt 3.5" wide that was placed on a cylinder and rotated like a tank tread, developed by the Dictaphone company in 1947
Analog, with preemphasis and other equalization techniques (LP, RIAA); lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion; discs 7", 10" and 12" at <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />33+1⁄3 rpm, 1st LP Columbia ML 4001 Milstein, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
File:Tefifon 4078533.JPGA stand-alone Tefifon player with cartridge loaded Electro–mechanical analog, vinyl belt housed in a cassette, used an embossing technique using a stylus to imprint the information, was the first thing to resemble a modern audio cassette
File:1959 Seeburg 16 rpm record.jpg A label close-up on a 16rpm vinyl Mechanical analog; lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion - played at half the regular speed of an LP
File:Minifon Kassette.jpgMinifon cassette Analog, magnetic wire on reel, 30 cm/s or about 11.8 ips was quickly adopted by many governments as being the ultimate "spy" recorder of its day
File:Audio Fidelity first stereo LP.jpg An early stereo record label Analog, with pre-emphasis and other equalization techniques. Combination lateral/vertical stylus motion with each channel encoded 45 degrees to the vertical
Dictet
File:Dictet cassette.pngCassette for the Dictaphone Dictet dictation machine Analog, <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄4 tape, 2.48 in/s, (3" reels housed 5.875 × 3 × .4375 inch cassette), developed by the Dictaphone Corp
File:RCA Sound Tape Cartridge.png The cassette format created by RCA Analog, <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄4 inch wide tape (stereo & mono), <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />3+3⁄4 in/s & 1.875 in/s, one of the first attempts to offer reel-to-reel tape recording quality in a convenient format for the consumer market
File:Fidelipac.png The cartridge known as a "Fidelipac" Analog, <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄4 inch wide tape in cartridge, <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />7+1⁄2 in/s & 15 in/s, Introduced in 1959 by Collins Radio, the cart tape format was designed for use by radio broadcasters to play commercials, bumpers and announcements
File:Micro Pack thirty-five.jpg The micro pack recording system, intended for dictation <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄4 inch wide tape housed in a transparent cartridge measuring 2.6 × 2.9 × 1.9 inches, tape was stored on two reels residing atop one another, keeping the cartridge compact
A cartridge format for embedding and easy handling usual 3-inch-tape-reels with <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄4 inch tape, compatible to reel-to-reel audio recording in <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />3+3⁄4 ips.
File:DC-International Kassette.jpgDC-International cassette Analog cassette format introduced by Grundig, Telefunken and Blaupunkt: 120 × 77 × 12 mm cassette with <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄4 inch wide tape run at 5.08 cm per second.
File:Microcassette and minicassette.jpg A comparison of sizes for the Microcassette and Minicassette Analog, <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄8 inch wide tape, used generally for note taking, mostly mono, some stereo (developed in the early '80s). 2.4 cm/s or 1.2 cm/s
This audio format famously caused controversy among recording companies when released due to the potential of perfect digital copies to increase piracy[2]
File:Digital Compact Cassette rear.jpg A Digital Compact Cassette Digital, <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄8 inch wide tape, <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1+7⁄8 in/s, introduced by Philips and Matsushita in late 1992, marketed as the successor to the standard analog compact cassette
File:SlotMusic.jpg A SlotMusic microSD card: an early attempt to sell pre-recorded music on an SD card Digital. Usually at 320 kbit/s MP3 on microSD or microSDHC.
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