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Timeline of audio formats
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<h2 id="timeline-of-audio-format-developments">Timeline of audio format developments</h2> <table><tbody><tr><th>Year</th><th>Physical media formats</th><th>Recording formats</th></tr><tr><th>1805</th><td><a href="/facts/Panharmonicon/GgBHTU0H">Panharmonicon</a></td><td>Digital, automated sound reproducing machine.</td></tr><tr><th>1817</th><td><a href="/facts/Apollonicon/rUqaSowK">Apollonicon</a></td><td>Digital, automated sound reproducing machine.</td></tr><tr><th>1851</th><td><a href="/facts/Player_piano/UxTEscFk">Piano Cylinder</a></td><td>Digital, automatically played by means of revolving cylinders</td></tr><tr><th>1877</th><td><a href="/facts/Phonograph/VcNQRYVT">Tinfoil Phonograph</a></td><td> Analog; sound waveform transcribed to tinfoil</td></tr><tr><th>1883</th><td><a href="/facts/Piano_roll/RqlURVLy">Piano roll</a></td><td> Digital (vacuum-operated piano)</td></tr><tr><th>1886</th><td>Music Box disc</td><td> Digital (vacuum-operated music box)</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="3">Late 1880s</th><td>Brown Wax cylinder</td><td> Analog; vertical groove, vertical stylus motion - could be re-recorded</td></tr><tr><td>Organ Cob</td><td>Mechanical digital (vacuum-operated organ)</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Ediphone/84KANGgP">Ediphone</a>, <a href="/facts/Dictaphone/PesEDWet">Dictaphone</a></td><td> Analog, the Ediphone and subsequent wax cylinders used in Edison's other product lines continued to be sold up until 1929 when the <a href="/facts/Edison_Manufacturing_Company/fNMfjQSg">Edison Manufacturing Company</a> folded.</td></tr><tr><th>1894</th><td>Pathé cylinder</td><td> Mechanical analog; vertical grooves, vertical stylus motion</td></tr><tr><th>1897</th><td>7'' <a href="/facts/78rpm_record/ccuFV9Af">78rpm Record</a> (Emile Berliner Patent)</td><td>Mechanical analog; lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion - made from hard rubber</td></tr><tr><th>1898</th><td><a href="/facts/Wire_recording/S9Jhs6Sy">Wire recording</a></td><td> Analog; magnetization; DC <a href="/facts/Tape_bias/1tILIdeS">bias</a></td></tr><tr><th>1901</th><td>10'' <a href="/facts/78rpm_record/ccuFV9Af">78rpm Record</a></td><td> Mechanical analog; lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion - made from shellac</td></tr><tr><th>1902</th><td><a href="/facts/Edison_Records/d5rfvJHI">Edison Gold Moulded Record</a></td><td> Mechanical analog; vertical groove, horizontal stylus motion - made from hard black wax - 160rpm standard - 100 threads per inch</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1903</th><td>12'' <a href="/facts/78rpm_record/ccuFV9Af">78rpm record</a></td><td>Mechanical analog; lateral grooves, horizontal stylus motion</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Phonograph_record/ccuFV9Af">Phonograph</a> Postcard</td><td> Mechanical analog; lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1905</th><td><a href="/facts/Phonograph_record/ccuFV9Af">Centre-start phonograph</a> Record</td><td> Mechanical analog; lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion, starts from the centre of the disc</td></tr><tr><td>Pathé disc</td><td> Mechanical analog; vertical groove, vertical stylus motion</td></tr><tr><th>1907</th><td><a href="/facts/Indestructible_Record_Company/otwegp0r">Indestructible Record</a></td><td> Mechanical analog; vertical groove, vertical stylus motion - made from black celluloid with cardboard and inner metal bands</td></tr><tr><th>1908</th><td><a href="/facts/Phonograph_cylinder/84KANGgP">Amberol Cylinder Record</a></td><td> Mechanical analog; vertical groove, vertical stylus motion - made from hard black wax - 160rpm standard - 200 threads per inch</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1912</th><td><a href="/facts/Edison_Diamond_Disc/m7FU0KIs">Diamond Disc</a></td><td> Mechanical analog; vertical groove, vertical stylus motion - made from <a href="/facts/Bakelite/aczWmxTx">Bakelite</a> or <a href="/facts/Kaolinite/N7D6K65q">china clay</a></td></tr><tr><td>Blue Amberol cylinder record</td><td> Mechanical analog; vertical groove, vertical stylus motion - made from blue celluloid with <a href="/facts/Plaster-of-Paris/GG73HRD7">plaster of paris</a> core - 160rpm standard - 200 threads per inch</td></tr><tr><th>1924</th><td><a href="/facts/Gramophone_record/ccuFV9Af">Electrical cut record</a></td><td>Mechanical analog; electrically cut from amplified microphone signal, lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion, discs at 7", 10", 12", most at 78 rpm<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1930</th><td>Filmophone flexible record</td><td> Mechanical analog; lateral groove, horizontal stylus movement - made from cellulose of various colours - 78rpm</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Durium_Records/lQEESAn7">Durium Record</a> or <a href="/facts/Hit_of_the_Week_Records/brSVABgz">Hit of the Week Records</a></td><td> Mechanical analog; lateral groove - made from paper coated in a brown resin (<a href="/facts/Durium/qfh3ChGy">Durium</a>)</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1930s</th><td><a href="/facts/Reel-to-reel/x4MLKeVB">Reel-to-reel</a>, <a href="/facts/Magnetic_tape/wj6IDTR1">magnetic tape</a></td><td> Analog; magnetization; AC "bias" dramatically increases linearity/fidelity, tape speed at 30 <a href="/facts/Inch_per_second/e18GwEuj">ips</a>, later 15 ips and other refined speeds: 7+1⁄2 ips, 3+3⁄4 ips, 1+7⁄8 ips</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Electrical_transcription/CxRtRJkU">Electrical transcriptions</a></td><td>Mechanical analog; electrically cut from amplified microphone signal, <a href="/facts/High_fidelity/K6kaTHSw">high fidelity</a> sound, lateral or vertical groove, horizontal or vertical stylus motion, most discs 16" at 33+1⁄3 rpm</td></tr><tr><th>1942</th><td><a href="/facts/SoundScriber/ccLtgqzP">SoundScriber</a></td><td> Mechanical analog; vertical groove, 4–6 inch discs, it recorded sound by pressing grooves into soft vinyl discs</td></tr><tr><th>1947</th><td><a href="/facts/Dictabelt/CIaFJ6us">Dictabelt</a> (Memobelt)</td><td>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 <a href="/facts/Dictaphone/PesEDWet">Dictaphone</a> company in 1947</td></tr><tr><th>1948</th><td>Vinyl <a href="/facts/LP_record/0QpKHzHM">LP record</a> (Columbia)</td><td>Analog, with preemphasis and other equalization techniques (LP, RIAA); lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion; discs 7", 10" and 12" at 33+1⁄3 rpm, 1st LP Columbia ML 4001 Milstein, Mendelssohn Violin Concerto</td></tr><tr><th>1949</th><td>Vinyl <a href="/facts/45_record/xkeLPy2P">45 record</a> (RCA)</td><td> Analog 45 rpm vinyl 7" disk, first 45 pressed "PeeWee the Piccolo" RCA 47-0147 Indianapolis</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1950</th><td><a href="/facts/Tefifon/t06DYAjp">Tefifon</a></td><td> 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</td></tr><tr><td>16 2/3rpm <a href="/facts/Vinyl_record/ccuFV9Af">vinyl record</a></td><td> Mechanical analog; lateral groove, horizontal stylus motion - played at half the regular speed of an LP</td></tr><tr><th>1951</th><td>Minifon P55</td><td> Analog, magnetic wire on reel, 30 cm/s or about 11.8 <a href="/facts/Inch_per_second/e18GwEuj">ips</a> was quickly adopted by many governments as being the ultimate "spy" recorder of its day</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1957</th><td><a href="/facts/Stereophonic/z0vmJcGT">Stereophonic</a> vinyl record</td><td> Analog, with pre-emphasis and other equalization techniques. Combination lateral/vertical stylus motion with each channel encoded 45 degrees to the vertical</td></tr><tr><td>Dictet</td><td> Analog, 1⁄4 tape, 2.48 in/s, (3" reels housed 5.875 × 3 × .4375 inch cassette), developed by the <a href="/facts/Dictaphone/PesEDWet">Dictaphone Corp</a></td></tr><tr><th>1958</th><td><a href="/facts/RCA_tape_cartridge/CGhe8NvP">RCA tape cartridge</a> (Sound Tape) (Magazine Loading Cartridge)</td><td> Analog, 1⁄4 inch wide tape (stereo & mono), 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</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1959</th><td>NAB Cart Tape (<a href="/facts/Fidelipac/yq2dNxKn">Fidelipac</a>)</td><td> Analog, 1⁄4 inch wide tape in cartridge, 7+1⁄2 in/s & 15 in/s, Introduced in 1959 by <a href="/facts/Collins_Radio/QypYFE6y">Collins Radio</a>, the cart tape format was designed for use by radio broadcasters to play commercials, bumpers and announcements</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Ricoh_Synchrofax/nuBeJSvu">Synchrofax Sound Paper</a></td><td>Magnetic coating on paper.</td></tr><tr><th>1962</th><td><a href="/facts/Stereo-Pak/qUaakWnd">4-Track</a> (Muntz Stereo-Pak)</td><td>Analog, 1⁄4-inch-wide (6.4 mm) tape, 3+3⁄4 in/s, endless-loop cartridge</td></tr><tr><th>1962</th><td><a href="/facts/Compact_cassette/w8I5uyfs">Compact cassette</a></td><td> Analog, with bias. 0.15 inches (3.81 mm) tape, 1+7⁄8 <a href="/facts/Inch_per_second/e18GwEuj">ips</a>. 1970: introduced <a href="/facts/Dolby_noise_reduction/wdIHbR90">Dolby noise reduction</a></td></tr><tr><th>1964</th><td><a href="/facts/Sanyo_Micro_Pack_35/IAz6U6w8">Sanyo Micro Pack 35</a>Channel Master 6546Westinghouse H29R1</td><td> 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</td></tr><tr><th>1964</th><td><a href="/facts/Sabamobil/wxBbLvu8">Sabamobil</a></td><td>A cartridge format for embedding and easy handling usual 3-inch-tape-reels with 1⁄4 inch tape, compatible to reel-to-reel audio recording in 3+3⁄4 ips.</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1965</th><td><a href="/facts/Stereo_8/g9W1vNY9">8-Track</a> (Stereo-8)</td><td> Analog, 1⁄4 inch wide tape, 3+3⁄4 in/s, endless-loop cartridge</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/DC-International/53sT3x9D">DC-International</a> cassette system</td><td> Analog cassette format introduced by Grundig, Telefunken and Blaupunkt: 120 × 77 × 12 mm cassette with 1⁄4 inch wide tape run at 5.08 cm per second.</td></tr><tr><th>1966</th><td><a href="/facts/PlayTape/me1FfxVI">PlayTape</a></td><td> Analog, 1⁄8 inch wide tape, endless-loop cartridge, introduced by <a href="/facts/Frank_Stanton_(entrepreneur)/48SNHkbV">Frank Stanton</a></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1969</th><td><a href="/facts/Microcassette/boaBxrD7">Microcassette</a></td><td> Analog, 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</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Minicassette/gxXaF4aw">Minicassette</a></td><td>Analog, 1⁄8 inch wide tape, used generally for note taking, 1.2 cm/s</td></tr><tr><th>1970</th><td><a href="/facts/Quadraphonic/JdyskzCT">Quadraphonic</a> <a href="/facts/Stereo_8/g9W1vNY9">8-Track</a> (Quad-8) (Q8)</td><td> Analog, 1⁄4 inch wide tape, 3+3⁄4 in/s, 4-channel stereo, endless-loop cartridge</td></tr><tr><th>1971</th><td><a href="/facts/Quadraphonic/JdyskzCT">Quadraphonic</a> <a href="/facts/Vinyl_Record/ccuFV9Af">Vinyl Record</a> (CD-4) (SQ Matrix)</td><td> Analog, introduced by CBS Records for matrix and RCA / JVC for CD-4<p>Recorded two tracks on both stereo channels, requiring a decoder to hear all four tracks. Despite this, the format is playable on any LP turntable.</p></td></tr><tr><th>1971</th><td><a href="/facts/HiPac/bzNJTS0b">HiPac</a></td><td>Analog, a successor of the 1966 PlayTape, using tape width of the 1963 Compact Cassette, Japan only</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">1976</th><td><a href="/facts/Dolby_Stereo/F4spaUxn">Dolby Stereo</a> cinema surround sound</td><td>Analog</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Elcaset/ynfdNejg">Elcaset</a></td><td> Analog, name comes from "L-Cassette/Large Cassette"</td></tr><tr><th>1982</th><td><a href="/facts/Compact_Disc/g51GRloc">Compact Disc</a> (CD-DA)</td><td> Digital. <a href="/facts/Linear_PCM/5gdfjtH3">Linear PCM</a> (LPCM)</td></tr><tr><th>1986</th><td><a href="/facts/High_Definition_Compatible_Digital/lasLl2dS">High Definition Compatible Digital</a> (HDCD)</td><td> Digital. Redbook compatible physical CD containing 20–24 bit information (uses <a href="/facts/Linear_pulse-code_modulation/5gdfjtH3">linear pulse-code modulation</a> (LPCM))</td></tr><tr><th>1987</th><td><a href="/facts/Digital_Audio_Tape/n03hG7Jm">Digital Audio Tape</a> (DAT)</td><td> Digital.<p>This audio format famously caused controversy among recording companies when released due to the potential of perfect digital copies to increase piracy<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></p></td></tr><tr><th>1988</th><td><a href="/facts/Audio_Interchange_File_Format/zNjxHR1C">AIFF (file format)</a></td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Audio_Interchange_File_Format/zNjxHR1C">Audio Interchange File Format</a> (AIFF)</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="4">1992</th><td><a href="/facts/Digital_Compact_Cassette/b6wo4BJY">Digital Compact Cassette</a> (DCC)</td><td> Digital, 1⁄8 inch wide tape, 1+7⁄8 in/s, introduced by <a href="/facts/Philips/Xp4uczGg">Philips</a> and <a href="/facts/Matsushita_Electric/TqkBQmgj">Matsushita</a> in late 1992, marketed as the successor to the standard analog compact cassette</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/WAV/ptUfKleW">WAV (file format)</a></td><td>Digital. Named after the waveform created by a sound wave.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Dolby_Digital/58JfURnU">Dolby Digital</a> Cinema Sound</td><td>Digital. Also known as Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/MiniDisc/yF3LYCqL">MiniDisc</a> (MD)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a></td><td> Digital. <a href="/facts/Adaptive_Transform_Acoustic_Coding/kD9psz23">Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding</a> (ATRAC)</td></tr><tr><th>1993</th><td><a href="/facts/Digital_Theatre_System/wbQwqtdQ">DTS</a>, <a href="/facts/SDDS/ftma9q1n">SDDS</a>, <a href="/facts/MP3/yrBpxUSD">MP3</a> (file formats)</td><td> Digital. <a href="/facts/Digital_Theatre_System/wbQwqtdQ">Digital Theatre System</a> (DTS), <a href="/facts/Sony_Dynamic_Digital_Sound/ftma9q1n">Sony Dynamic Digital Sound</a> (SDDS), <a href="/facts/MPEG-1_Audio_Layer_III/yrBpxUSD">MPEG-1 Audio Layer III</a> (MP3)</td></tr><tr><th>1994</th><td><a href="/facts/TwinVQ/tQxnalzd">TwinVQ</a></td><td>Digital.</td></tr><tr><th>1995</th><td><a href="/facts/RealAudio/Hv3XWbRS">RealAudio</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>1997</th><td><a href="/facts/DTS-CD/QX82jz8G">DTS-CD</a></td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/DTS_Coherent_Acoustics/wbQwqtdQ">DTS</a> audio</td></tr><tr><th>1998</th><td><a href="/facts/WavPack/MN8nT9Gj">WavPack</a> (file format)</td><td>Digital. PCM, lossless compression (2002 hybrid compression) (2016 DSD support)</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="4">1999</th><td><a href="/facts/DVD-Audio/X5I65Vxd">DVD-Audio</a></td><td>Digital. Including <a href="/facts/Meridian_Lossless_Packing/uUXCuWSE">Meridian Lossless Packing</a> (MLP), <a href="/facts/Linear_PCM/5gdfjtH3">Linear PCM</a> (LPCM), <a href="/facts/Dolby_Digital/58JfURnU">Dolby Digital</a> (AC-3) and <a href="/facts/Digital_Theatre_System/wbQwqtdQ">Digital Theatre System</a> (DTS)</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Super_Audio_CD/f4a7Gu0V">Super Audio CD</a> (SACD)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Direct_Stream_Digital/zczcDLkm">Direct Stream Digital</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Windows_Media_Audio/s5zePro7">WMA</a> (file format)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Windows_Media_Audio/s5zePro7">Windows Media Audio</a></td></tr><tr><td>TTA (file format)</td><td>Digital. The True Audio Lossless Codec.</td></tr><tr><th rowspan="4">2000</th><td><a href="/facts/FLAC/TbqpHlWy">FLAC</a> (file format)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/FLAC/TbqpHlWy">Free Lossless Audio Codec</a> (open, non-proprietary, patent-and-royalty-free)</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Vorbis/rqJDTF0T">Ogg Vorbis</a> (file format)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Vorbis/rqJDTF0T">Vorbis compressed audio format</a> (open, non-proprietary, patent-and-royalty-free)</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Direct_Stream_Digital/zczcDLkm">DSDIFF</a> (file format)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Direct_Stream_Digital/zczcDLkm">DSD</a>, optional <a href="/facts/Super_Audio_CD/f4a7Gu0V">DST</a> compression</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/APE_tag/IArL2t8F">APE</a> (file format)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Monkey%2527s_Audio/UIJz1IQG">Monkey's Audio</a></td></tr><tr><th>2001</th><td><a href="/facts/Advanced_Audio_Coding/VAG9NpI4">AAC</a> (file format)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Advanced_audio_coding/VAG9NpI4">Advanced audio coding</a></td></tr><tr><th>2002</th><td><a href="/facts/Direct_Stream_Digital/zczcDLkm">WSD</a> (file format)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Direct_Stream_Digital/zczcDLkm">DSD</a></td></tr><tr><th>2004</th><td><a href="/facts/Apple_Lossless_Encoder/a0D0hzbK">ALE</a> or <a href="/facts/Apple_Lossless_Audio_Codec/a0D0hzbK">ALAC</a> (file formats)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Apple_Lossless/a0D0hzbK">Apple Lossless</a></td></tr><tr><th>2005</th><td><a href="/facts/Direct_Stream_Digital/zczcDLkm">DSF</a> (file format)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Direct_Stream_Digital/zczcDLkm">DSD</a></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2">2008</th><td><a href="/facts/SlotMusic/Pa4L5d5x">slotMusic</a></td><td> Digital. Usually at 320 kbit/s MP3 on <a href="/facts/MicroSD/RLL9UTly">microSD</a> or microSDHC.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Blu-spec_CD/hugevcfB">Blu-spec CD</a></td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Pulse-code_modulation/5gdfjtH3">PCM</a></td></tr><tr><th>2012</th><td><a href="/facts/Opus_(audio_format)/VP4KuGre">Opus</a> (file format)</td><td>Digital. <a href="/facts/Opus_(audio_format)/VP4KuGre">Opus lossy audio coding format</a> (<a href="/facts/Internet_Engineering_Task_Force/tIcCsFhX">IETF</a> standard, open, non-proprietary, royalty-free)</td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li>Timeline of video formats</li> <li><a href="/facts/Format_war/77NuAtYp">Format war</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Audio_data_compression/gMFuY4FT">Audio data compression</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://recordinghistory.org/technology/history-of-the-technologies-for-recording-music-and-sound-an-overview/">History of Recording Technologies</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.obsoletemedia.org/audio/">Museum Of Obsolete Media – Audio Formats</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"The Electrical Era". August 2017.[better source needed] <a href="https://historyofrecordingblog.wordpress.com/24-2/" target="_blank">https://historyofrecordingblog.wordpress.com/24-2/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Demetris, Jordan (1990-01-01). "The challenge of introducing digital audio tape technology into consumer markets". Technology in Society. 12 (1): 91–100. doi:10.1016/0160-791X(90)90031-7. ISSN 0160-791X. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Cornell University Library (2003). "Digital Preservation and Technology Timeline". Digital Preservation Management. USA. Archived from the original on August 6, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2017. <a href="/wiki/Cornell_University_Library" target="_blank">/wiki/Cornell_University_Library</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Cornell University Library (2003). "Digital Preservation and Technology Timeline". Digital Preservation Management. USA. Archived from the original on August 6, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2017. <a href="/wiki/Cornell_University_Library" target="_blank">/wiki/Cornell_University_Library</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>