Äänilevyformaatit

Äänilevyformaatit refer to the various physical media and their associated technologies used to store and reproduce sound recordings. These formats have evolved significantly over time, each offering different playback characteristics, storage capacities, and sound quality.

Early sound recording and playback relied on technologies like the phonograph cylinder, which used a grooved cylinder to capture sound vibrations. These were largely superseded by the vinyl record, specifically the gramophone record. These flat discs, made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), employ a spiral groove etched onto their surface. The stylus of a turntable tracks this groove, translating the physical modulations into electrical signals that are then amplified and reproduced as sound. Different speeds, such as 33 1/3 RPM (LPs), 45 RPM (singles), and 78 RPM, define the playback characteristics and duration of recordings on vinyl.

Magnetic tape formats represented another significant advancement. Reel-to-reel tapes were common in professional settings and early home audio, offering high fidelity but requiring significant handling. The compact cassette, introduced in the 1960s, revolutionized portable audio with its smaller size and ease of use, becoming a dominant format for decades. Digital audio tape (DAT) and minidiscs also emerged, aiming to offer digital sound quality in a portable format, though neither achieved the widespread adoption of cassettes.

More recently, the advent of digital technology has led to formats like the compact disc (CD). CDs store audio data digitally on a polycarbonate disc, read by a laser. This offered superior sound quality and durability compared to analog formats. Today, digital audio files, such as MP3, AAC, and FLAC, stored on hard drives, solid-state drives, or cloud services, are the most prevalent form of audio consumption, allowing for vast storage and easy portability, though they lack the tangible, physical presence of earlier formats.