Recording medium comparison
Encyclopedia
| Format | Type | Typical length |
|---|---|---|
| Cylinders | Analog | around 2 – 4 minutes |
| 78 record | Analog | around 3 – 5 minutes per side |
| 45 record | Analog | often around 4 minutes (EP Extended play An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact... : 7 minutes) per side, up to 6 per side, in some cases even a few minutes longer. |
| LP record LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
Analog | typically 15–25 minutes per side (30 minutes per side for classical & spoken word), although 45 minutes is possible with tight groove spacing and no spacing between tracks. |
| Audio cassette | Analog | usually 30 (C-60) or 45 (C-90) minutes per side, 60 (C-120) minutes per side have also been sold although the tape is more prone to stretching or breaking. |
| 8-Track 8-track cartridge Stereo 8, commonly known as the eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, or simply eight-track, is a magnetic tape sound recording technology. It was popular in the United States from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s, but was relatively unknown in many European countries... |
Analog | up to 100 minutes, often 45 to 80 |
| Compact disc Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
Digital | Earlier discs: up to 74 minutes (or up to 650 MB Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000... of data files) |
| Later discs: up to 80 minutes (or up to 700 MB Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000... of data files) |
||
| Recordable discs CD-R A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session.... |
Digital | Up to 99 minutes, though unlikely to be reliable after 90 minutes due to mistracking |
| Reel-to-Reel | Analog | 1.5 hours (both sides) if recorded at 7.5 inches per second (ips) on a standard 1800 ft reel. Professionals record at 30 ips on 3600 ft reels that will fit 22.5 minutes (one side only). A 3600 ft reel can hold up to 48 hours if recorded in mono (4 sides) at 15/16 ips. |
| Minidisc MiniDisc The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record... |
Digital | Earlier discs: 74 minutes up to 296 minutes, dependent upon compression used. |
| Later discs: 80 minutes up to 320 minutes, dependent upon compression used. | ||
| Hi-MD Hi-MD In January 2004, Sony announced the Hi-MD media storage format as a further development of the MiniDisc format. With its release in later 2004 came the ability to use newly-developed, high-capacity 1 gigabyte Hi-MD discs, sporting the same dimensions as regular MiniDiscs.- Main features :* The... |
Digital | Up to 13 hours on a standard 80-minute MiniDisc. |
| Up to 45 hours on a 1Gb Hi-MD (MiniDisc) | ||
| Digital audio player | Digital | Roughly 186 hours of playback per 10 GiB Gibibyte The gibibyte is a standards-based binary multiple of the byte, a unit of digital information storage. The gibibyte unit symbol is GiB.... , assuming an average bitrate of 128 kbit/s. Roughly 372 hours with 64 kbit/s and roughly 74 hours with 320 kbit/s. |
| DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
Digital | around 8.5 hours per layer (4.7 Gb), with a maximum of two layers per side, which roughly equals 35 hours on a dual layered, two sided disc (can change due to compression). |
| SACD Super Audio CD Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard... |
Digital | Hybrid: A "Red Book Red Book (audio CD standard) Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc... " layer compatible with most legacy Compact Disc players, dubbed the "CD layer," and a 4.7 GB SACD layer, dubbed the "HD layer." |
| Single-layer: Physically a DVD-5 DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... , a single-layer SACD includes a 4.7 GB HD layer with no CD layer. |
||
| Dual-layer: Physically a DVD-9 DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... , a dual-layer SACD includes two HD layers totalling 8.5 GB, with no CD layer. |
||
| HD DVD HD DVD HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format... |
Digital | Single-layer: 15 GB |
| Dual-layer capacity: 30 GB | ||
| Blu-ray | Digital | 50 GB (23 Hours) |
| VHS VHS The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan .... /S-VHS-tape |
Analog | 240 minutes for PAL PAL PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system... /SECAM SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France.... , 180 minutes for NTSC NTSC NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as... |
| VHS-C VHS-C VHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format introduced in 1982 and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and can be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter... /S-VHS-C-tape |
Analog | 45 minutes for PAL PAL PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system... /SECAM SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France.... , 40 minutes for NTSC NTSC NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as... |
| DAT Digital Audio Tape Digital Audio Tape is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a compact audio cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As... -tape |
Digital | 120 minutes |
| DCC Digital Compact Cassette Digital Compact Cassette was a magnetic tape sound recording format introduced by Philips and Matsushita in late 1992 and pitched as a successor to the standard analog cassette. It was also a direct competitor to Sony's MiniDisc but neither format toppled the then ubiquitous analog cassette... -tape |
Digital | 105 minutes |
The typical duration of a vinyl album is about 15 to 25 minutes per side, except classical music and spoken word recordings which can extend to over 30 minutes on a side. If a side exceeds the average time, the maximum groove amplitude is reduced to make room for the additional program material. This can cause hiss in the sound from lower quality amplifiers when the volume is turned up to compensate for the lower recorded level. An extreme example, Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
's Initiation LP, with 36 minutes of music on one side, has a "technical note" at the bottom of the inner sleeve: "if the sound does not seem loud enough on your system, try re-recording the music onto tape." The total of around 40–45 minutes often influences the arrangement of tracks, with the preferred positions being the opening and closing tracks of each side.
Although the term EP is commonly used to describe a 7" single with more than two tracks, technically they are not different from a normal 7" single. The EP uses reduced dynamic range and a smaller run-off groove area to extend the playing time. However, there are examples of singles, such as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Hey Jude
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
" or Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
", which are six minutes long or more. (in 1989, RCA released 'Dreamtime' by the band Love and Rockets
Love and Rockets (band)
Love and Rockets were an English alternative rock band formed in 1985 by former Bauhaus members Daniel Ash , David J , and Kevin Haskins . Former Bauhaus vocalist Peter Murphy had embarked on a solo career after Bauhaus split in 1983...
, which clocks at 8:40). These longer recordings would require the same technical approach as an EP. The term EP has also been used for 10" 45 rpm records, typically containing a reduced number of tracks.
Vinyl albums have a large 12" album cover
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
, which also allows cover designers scope for imaginative designs, often including fold-outs and leaflets.
See also
- Audio formatAudio formatAn audio format is a medium for storing sound and music. 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...
- Audio storage
- CardTalkCardTalkCardTalk is an inexpensive player for recordings on vinyl records. It consists of a flat piece of cardboard creased and folded into a modified triangle shape. The base has a nub to hold the record in place. The upper "arm" forms the "pointy" part of the triangle and has a needle which is placed...
- DJ
- Magnetic cartridgeMagnetic cartridgeA magnetic cartridge is a transducer used for the playback of gramophone records on a turntable or phonograph. It converts mechanical vibrational energy from a stylus riding in a spiral record groove into an electrical signal that is subsequently amplified and then converted back to sound by a...
- RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
- Record changerRecord changerA record changer or autochanger is a device that plays multiple gramophone records in sequence without user intervention. Record changers first appeared in the late 1920s, and were common until the 1980s.-History:...
- Record pressRecord pressA record press is a machine for manufacturing vinyl records. It is essentially a hydraulic press with a closing force of 100 tons and is fitted with moulds. Labels and a vinyl pattie are placed in the mould cavity while the moulds are being steam-heated with an ideal steam pressure of 140-170psi...
- Sound recording
- TurntablismTurntablismTurntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
- Unusual types of gramophone recordsUnusual types of gramophone recordsThe overwhelming majority of records manufactured have been of certain sizes , playback speeds , and appearance...
- Voyager Golden RecordVoyager Golden RecordThe Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for...
- Vinyl Emulation SoftwareVinyl Emulation SoftwareVinyl emulation software allows the user to physically manipulate the playback of digital audio files on a computer using the turntables as an interface, thus preserving the hands-on feel of deejaying with vinyl while allowing playback of audio recordings not available in phonograph form...
- RIAA equalizationRIAA equalizationRIAA equalization is a specification for the correct recording of gramophone records, established by the Recording Industry Association of America...
- Children's gramophone records
This article details a comparison of audio recording media.
| Format | Type | Typical length |
|---|---|---|
| Cylinders | Analog | around 2 – 4 minutes |
| 78 record | Analog | around 3 – 5 minutes per side |
| 45 record | Analog | often around 4 minutes (EP Extended play An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact... : 7 minutes) per side, up to 6 per side, in some cases even a few minutes longer. |
| LP record LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
Analog | typically 15–25 minutes per side (30 minutes per side for classical & spoken word), although 45 minutes is possible with tight groove spacing and no spacing between tracks. |
| Audio cassette | Analog | usually 30 (C-60) or 45 (C-90) minutes per side, 60 (C-120) minutes per side have also been sold although the tape is more prone to stretching or breaking. |
| 8-Track 8-track cartridge Stereo 8, commonly known as the eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, or simply eight-track, is a magnetic tape sound recording technology. It was popular in the United States from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s, but was relatively unknown in many European countries... |
Analog | up to 100 minutes, often 45 to 80 |
| Compact disc Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
Digital | Earlier discs: up to 74 minutes (or up to 650 MB Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000... of data files) |
| Later discs: up to 80 minutes (or up to 700 MB Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000... of data files) |
||
| Recordable discs CD-R A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session.... |
Digital | Up to 99 minutes, though unlikely to be reliable after 90 minutes due to mistracking |
| Reel-to-Reel | Analog | 1.5 hours (both sides) if recorded at 7.5 inches per second (ips) on a standard 1800 ft reel. Professionals record at 30 ips on 3600 ft reels that will fit 22.5 minutes (one side only). A 3600 ft reel can hold up to 48 hours if recorded in mono (4 sides) at 15/16 ips. |
| Minidisc MiniDisc The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record... |
Digital | Earlier discs: 74 minutes up to 296 minutes, dependent upon compression used. |
| Later discs: 80 minutes up to 320 minutes, dependent upon compression used. | ||
| Hi-MD Hi-MD In January 2004, Sony announced the Hi-MD media storage format as a further development of the MiniDisc format. With its release in later 2004 came the ability to use newly-developed, high-capacity 1 gigabyte Hi-MD discs, sporting the same dimensions as regular MiniDiscs.- Main features :* The... |
Digital | Up to 13 hours on a standard 80-minute MiniDisc. |
| Up to 45 hours on a 1Gb Hi-MD (MiniDisc) | ||
| Digital audio player | Digital | Roughly 186 hours of playback per 10 GiB Gibibyte The gibibyte is a standards-based binary multiple of the byte, a unit of digital information storage. The gibibyte unit symbol is GiB.... , assuming an average bitrate of 128 kbit/s. Roughly 372 hours with 64 kbit/s and roughly 74 hours with 320 kbit/s. |
| DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
Digital | around 8.5 hours per layer (4.7 Gb), with a maximum of two layers per side, which roughly equals 35 hours on a dual layered, two sided disc (can change due to compression). |
| SACD Super Audio CD Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard... |
Digital | Hybrid: A "Red Book Red Book (audio CD standard) Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc... " layer compatible with most legacy Compact Disc players, dubbed the "CD layer," and a 4.7 GB SACD layer, dubbed the "HD layer." |
| Single-layer: Physically a DVD-5 DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... , a single-layer SACD includes a 4.7 GB HD layer with no CD layer. |
||
| Dual-layer: Physically a DVD-9 DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... , a dual-layer SACD includes two HD layers totalling 8.5 GB, with no CD layer. |
||
| HD DVD HD DVD HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format... |
Digital | Single-layer: 15 GB |
| Dual-layer capacity: 30 GB | ||
| Blu-ray | Digital | 50 GB (23 Hours) |
| VHS VHS The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan .... /S-VHS-tape |
Analog | 240 minutes for PAL PAL PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system... /SECAM SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France.... , 180 minutes for NTSC NTSC NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as... |
| VHS-C VHS-C VHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format introduced in 1982 and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and can be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter... /S-VHS-C-tape |
Analog | 45 minutes for PAL PAL PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system... /SECAM SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France.... , 40 minutes for NTSC NTSC NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as... |
| DAT Digital Audio Tape Digital Audio Tape is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a compact audio cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As... -tape |
Digital | 120 minutes |
| DCC Digital Compact Cassette Digital Compact Cassette was a magnetic tape sound recording format introduced by Philips and Matsushita in late 1992 and pitched as a successor to the standard analog cassette. It was also a direct competitor to Sony's MiniDisc but neither format toppled the then ubiquitous analog cassette... -tape |
Digital | 105 minutes |
The typical duration of a vinyl album is about 15 to 25 minutes per side, except classical music and spoken word recordings which can extend to over 30 minutes on a side. If a side exceeds the average time, the maximum groove amplitude is reduced to make room for the additional program material. This can cause hiss in the sound from lower quality amplifiers when the volume is turned up to compensate for the lower recorded level. An extreme example, Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
's Initiation LP, with 36 minutes of music on one side, has a "technical note" at the bottom of the inner sleeve: "if the sound does not seem loud enough on your system, try re-recording the music onto tape." The total of around 40–45 minutes often influences the arrangement of tracks, with the preferred positions being the opening and closing tracks of each side.
Although the term EP is commonly used to describe a 7" single with more than two tracks, technically they are not different from a normal 7" single. The EP uses reduced dynamic range and a smaller run-off groove area to extend the playing time. However, there are examples of singles, such as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Hey Jude
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
" or Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
", which are six minutes long or more. (in 1989, RCA released 'Dreamtime' by the band Love and Rockets
Love and Rockets (band)
Love and Rockets were an English alternative rock band formed in 1985 by former Bauhaus members Daniel Ash , David J , and Kevin Haskins . Former Bauhaus vocalist Peter Murphy had embarked on a solo career after Bauhaus split in 1983...
, which clocks at 8:40). These longer recordings would require the same technical approach as an EP. The term EP has also been used for 10" 45 rpm records, typically containing a reduced number of tracks.
Vinyl albums have a large 12" album cover
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
, which also allows cover designers scope for imaginative designs, often including fold-outs and leaflets.
See also
- Audio formatAudio formatAn audio format is a medium for storing sound and music. 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...
- Audio storage
- CardTalkCardTalkCardTalk is an inexpensive player for recordings on vinyl records. It consists of a flat piece of cardboard creased and folded into a modified triangle shape. The base has a nub to hold the record in place. The upper "arm" forms the "pointy" part of the triangle and has a needle which is placed...
- DJ
- Magnetic cartridgeMagnetic cartridgeA magnetic cartridge is a transducer used for the playback of gramophone records on a turntable or phonograph. It converts mechanical vibrational energy from a stylus riding in a spiral record groove into an electrical signal that is subsequently amplified and then converted back to sound by a...
- RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
- Record changerRecord changerA record changer or autochanger is a device that plays multiple gramophone records in sequence without user intervention. Record changers first appeared in the late 1920s, and were common until the 1980s.-History:...
- Record pressRecord pressA record press is a machine for manufacturing vinyl records. It is essentially a hydraulic press with a closing force of 100 tons and is fitted with moulds. Labels and a vinyl pattie are placed in the mould cavity while the moulds are being steam-heated with an ideal steam pressure of 140-170psi...
- Sound recording
- TurntablismTurntablismTurntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
- Unusual types of gramophone recordsUnusual types of gramophone recordsThe overwhelming majority of records manufactured have been of certain sizes , playback speeds , and appearance...
- Voyager Golden RecordVoyager Golden RecordThe Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for...
- Vinyl Emulation SoftwareVinyl Emulation SoftwareVinyl emulation software allows the user to physically manipulate the playback of digital audio files on a computer using the turntables as an interface, thus preserving the hands-on feel of deejaying with vinyl while allowing playback of audio recordings not available in phonograph form...
- RIAA equalizationRIAA equalizationRIAA equalization is a specification for the correct recording of gramophone records, established by the Recording Industry Association of America...
- Children's gramophone records
This article details a comparison of audio recording media.
| Format | Type | Typical length |
|---|---|---|
| Cylinders | Analog | around 2 – 4 minutes |
| 78 record | Analog | around 3 – 5 minutes per side |
| 45 record | Analog | often around 4 minutes (EP Extended play An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact... : 7 minutes) per side, up to 6 per side, in some cases even a few minutes longer. |
| LP record LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... |
Analog | typically 15–25 minutes per side (30 minutes per side for classical & spoken word), although 45 minutes is possible with tight groove spacing and no spacing between tracks. |
| Audio cassette | Analog | usually 30 (C-60) or 45 (C-90) minutes per side, 60 (C-120) minutes per side have also been sold although the tape is more prone to stretching or breaking. |
| 8-Track 8-track cartridge Stereo 8, commonly known as the eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, or simply eight-track, is a magnetic tape sound recording technology. It was popular in the United States from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s, but was relatively unknown in many European countries... |
Analog | up to 100 minutes, often 45 to 80 |
| Compact disc Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
Digital | Earlier discs: up to 74 minutes (or up to 650 MB Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000... of data files) |
| Later discs: up to 80 minutes (or up to 700 MB Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000... of data files) |
||
| Recordable discs CD-R A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session.... |
Digital | Up to 99 minutes, though unlikely to be reliable after 90 minutes due to mistracking |
| Reel-to-Reel | Analog | 1.5 hours (both sides) if recorded at 7.5 inches per second (ips) on a standard 1800 ft reel. Professionals record at 30 ips on 3600 ft reels that will fit 22.5 minutes (one side only). A 3600 ft reel can hold up to 48 hours if recorded in mono (4 sides) at 15/16 ips. |
| Minidisc MiniDisc The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record... |
Digital | Earlier discs: 74 minutes up to 296 minutes, dependent upon compression used. |
| Later discs: 80 minutes up to 320 minutes, dependent upon compression used. | ||
| Hi-MD Hi-MD In January 2004, Sony announced the Hi-MD media storage format as a further development of the MiniDisc format. With its release in later 2004 came the ability to use newly-developed, high-capacity 1 gigabyte Hi-MD discs, sporting the same dimensions as regular MiniDiscs.- Main features :* The... |
Digital | Up to 13 hours on a standard 80-minute MiniDisc. |
| Up to 45 hours on a 1Gb Hi-MD (MiniDisc) | ||
| Digital audio player | Digital | Roughly 186 hours of playback per 10 GiB Gibibyte The gibibyte is a standards-based binary multiple of the byte, a unit of digital information storage. The gibibyte unit symbol is GiB.... , assuming an average bitrate of 128 kbit/s. Roughly 372 hours with 64 kbit/s and roughly 74 hours with 320 kbit/s. |
| DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... |
Digital | around 8.5 hours per layer (4.7 Gb), with a maximum of two layers per side, which roughly equals 35 hours on a dual layered, two sided disc (can change due to compression). |
| SACD Super Audio CD Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard... |
Digital | Hybrid: A "Red Book Red Book (audio CD standard) Red Book is the standard for audio CDs . It is named after one of the Rainbow Books, a series of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD and CD-ROM formats.The first edition of the Red Book was released in 1980 by Philips and Sony; it was adopted by the Digital Audio Disc... " layer compatible with most legacy Compact Disc players, dubbed the "CD layer," and a 4.7 GB SACD layer, dubbed the "HD layer." |
| Single-layer: Physically a DVD-5 DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... , a single-layer SACD includes a 4.7 GB HD layer with no CD layer. |
||
| Dual-layer: Physically a DVD-9 DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... , a dual-layer SACD includes two HD layers totalling 8.5 GB, with no CD layer. |
||
| HD DVD HD DVD HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format... |
Digital | Single-layer: 15 GB |
| Dual-layer capacity: 30 GB | ||
| Blu-ray | Digital | 50 GB (23 Hours) |
| VHS VHS The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan .... /S-VHS-tape |
Analog | 240 minutes for PAL PAL PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system... /SECAM SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France.... , 180 minutes for NTSC NTSC NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as... |
| VHS-C VHS-C VHS-C is the compact VHS videocassette format introduced in 1982 and used primarily for consumer-grade compact analog recording camcorders. The format is based on the same video tape as is used in VHS, and can be played back in a standard VHS VCR with an adapter... /S-VHS-C-tape |
Analog | 45 minutes for PAL PAL PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system... /SECAM SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM , is an analog color television system first used in France.... , 40 minutes for NTSC NTSC NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as... |
| DAT Digital Audio Tape Digital Audio Tape is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a compact audio cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As... -tape |
Digital | 120 minutes |
| DCC Digital Compact Cassette Digital Compact Cassette was a magnetic tape sound recording format introduced by Philips and Matsushita in late 1992 and pitched as a successor to the standard analog cassette. It was also a direct competitor to Sony's MiniDisc but neither format toppled the then ubiquitous analog cassette... -tape |
Digital | 105 minutes |
The typical duration of a vinyl album is about 15 to 25 minutes per side, except classical music and spoken word recordings which can extend to over 30 minutes on a side. If a side exceeds the average time, the maximum groove amplitude is reduced to make room for the additional program material. This can cause hiss in the sound from lower quality amplifiers when the volume is turned up to compensate for the lower recorded level. An extreme example, Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. Hailed in the early stage of his career as a new pop-wunderkind, supported by the certified gold solo double LP Something/Anything? in 1972, Todd Rundgren's career has produced a diverse range of recordings...
's Initiation LP, with 36 minutes of music on one side, has a "technical note" at the bottom of the inner sleeve: "if the sound does not seem loud enough on your system, try re-recording the music onto tape." The total of around 40–45 minutes often influences the arrangement of tracks, with the preferred positions being the opening and closing tracks of each side.
Although the term EP is commonly used to describe a 7" single with more than two tracks, technically they are not different from a normal 7" single. The EP uses reduced dynamic range and a smaller run-off groove area to extend the playing time. However, there are examples of singles, such as The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Hey Jude
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
" or Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
", which are six minutes long or more. (in 1989, RCA released 'Dreamtime' by the band Love and Rockets
Love and Rockets (band)
Love and Rockets were an English alternative rock band formed in 1985 by former Bauhaus members Daniel Ash , David J , and Kevin Haskins . Former Bauhaus vocalist Peter Murphy had embarked on a solo career after Bauhaus split in 1983...
, which clocks at 8:40). These longer recordings would require the same technical approach as an EP. The term EP has also been used for 10" 45 rpm records, typically containing a reduced number of tracks.
Vinyl albums have a large 12" album cover
Album cover
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
, which also allows cover designers scope for imaginative designs, often including fold-outs and leaflets.
See also
- Audio formatAudio formatAn audio format is a medium for storing sound and music. 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...
- Audio storage
- CardTalkCardTalkCardTalk is an inexpensive player for recordings on vinyl records. It consists of a flat piece of cardboard creased and folded into a modified triangle shape. The base has a nub to hold the record in place. The upper "arm" forms the "pointy" part of the triangle and has a needle which is placed...
- DJ
- Magnetic cartridgeMagnetic cartridgeA magnetic cartridge is a transducer used for the playback of gramophone records on a turntable or phonograph. It converts mechanical vibrational energy from a stylus riding in a spiral record groove into an electrical signal that is subsequently amplified and then converted back to sound by a...
- RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
- Record changerRecord changerA record changer or autochanger is a device that plays multiple gramophone records in sequence without user intervention. Record changers first appeared in the late 1920s, and were common until the 1980s.-History:...
- Record pressRecord pressA record press is a machine for manufacturing vinyl records. It is essentially a hydraulic press with a closing force of 100 tons and is fitted with moulds. Labels and a vinyl pattie are placed in the mould cavity while the moulds are being steam-heated with an ideal steam pressure of 140-170psi...
- Sound recording
- TurntablismTurntablismTurntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
- Unusual types of gramophone recordsUnusual types of gramophone recordsThe overwhelming majority of records manufactured have been of certain sizes , playback speeds , and appearance...
- Voyager Golden RecordVoyager Golden RecordThe Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for...
- Vinyl Emulation SoftwareVinyl Emulation SoftwareVinyl emulation software allows the user to physically manipulate the playback of digital audio files on a computer using the turntables as an interface, thus preserving the hands-on feel of deejaying with vinyl while allowing playback of audio recordings not available in phonograph form...
- RIAA equalizationRIAA equalizationRIAA equalization is a specification for the correct recording of gramophone records, established by the Recording Industry Association of America...
- Children's gramophone records
