Talk:Timeline of audio formats

Actually, the subsection Magnetic tape is about reel-to-reel tape recording. I saw the Magnetic tape page, that heading was there, I didn't think it was a very good heading, but that's where I did my brain dump.

Maybe it should be moved to and/or creatively combined with Reel-to-reel audio tape recording.

Dpbsmith 03:05, 25 Nov 2003 (UTC)

What about optical sound recording on film?
Does it belong here? It was never used as a consumer format for musical recordings, but it was certainly an important audio format from, I dunno, the late 1920s to--well, I believe it's still in use.

Dpbsmith 03:10, 25 Nov 2003 (UTC)


 * The stuff you wrote at Magnetic tape is great - definitely should be put somewhere - I think the reel to reel page may be appropriate, as it's more about the complete technology rather than just about the tape medium itself, which is what I would have thought Magnetic tape should discuss. There's also Tape recorder. Seems some merging/consolidation is definitely in order. As for audio on film, I agree it's important, this isn't just about consumer formats IMO, it should include any form of audio reproduction. GRAHAMUK 05:02, 25 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Differ between media storage formats and media content formats
There is no attention to the fact that there is a difference between media content formats and media storage formats. The content formats can be transmitted through a number of media storage formats, this means that a WMA or MP3 file can be stored and transmitted through a CD-R, DVD-R, the Internet and so on. There can be several different audio formats in a single DVD, and there are competing audio formats in the cinema market as well.

I suggest that this is clearly depicted in this article and in other related articles. Either by separating them in different articles or at least pointed out in one article.

Mechanical Digital formats
The list only has music roll on it, which is pointed a piano roll. The two are aparently separate subjects. Additional mechanical digital formats include: book music (probably the first of the punched paper style formats), barrel organs, music boxes, and maybe even Cuckoo clocks. The dates on all of these formats are fuzzy. I think these inventions bring up the question of what qualifies for inclusion on this list. Maybe it would be more appropriate to only list items that record at a high enough precision to reproduce human speech intelligibly. -- Austin Murphy 16:59, 15 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I agree that inclusion of music roll is problematic - by that logic not only should the above mechanical digital music formats be included, but also non-audio electronic digital music formats such as MIDI, be included. However the idea to only list items which "record at high enough precision to reproduce human speech intelligibly is also problematic - such an item is the pen, paper ands written notation - written speech which is then reproduced by being read out aloud - which is essentially the human vocal equivalent of the music roll. Whatever the logic, intuitively I think that a list starting at phongraph cylinder shouldn't include music roll.SeventhHell (talk) 04:03, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Sheet Music?
Anybody thought about this one? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.108.76.187 (talk • contribs).
 * Sheet music is not recorded sound (e.i. sine waves). Sheet music is recorded notation (i.e. instructions). The difference is, audio doesn't require interpretation. Audio is the result of instruments played when someone follows instructions based on interpretation. Music sequencing and music rolls are also forms of notation, but are not audio until a machine follows those instructions. Oicumayberight 19:13, 26 March 2007 (UTC)


 * It all depends upon your interpretation of "audio", which probably also depends upon your definition of "record" and "sound". Each of the audio formats listed is dependent upon very a specific machine to interpret it - ever tried playing a CD on a record player? If music roll is included then sheet music also should be.SeventhHell (talk) 04:06, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

Optical Sounds Disc?
I once saw this system for sale in an antique store that consisted of flat clear discs with optical (film like) stripes running inward on them. So, in other words, it was a flat round record, with optical sound stripes spiraling inward. The store had the player and a number of albums for sale with it. It was over priced, so I didn't buy it. This was probably 19 or so years ago, but I've wondered ever since what the format was, and what it was called. Any ideas?

AtlantaMusic 10:45, 16 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Optigan Discs. Tadfafty (talk) 23:21, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

WAV Format?
Wasn't .wav format introduced in 1991 with the release of MS Windows 3.1 betas and not 1992?

Missing Formats.
Deutsche Cassette (Introduced at similar time to Compact Cassette by Grundig(?). Largely similar but not interchangeable with Compact Cassete due to differeing geometry.  Also ran at 2 inches per second.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 20.133.0.13 (talk) 13:20, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

Musical Boxes
As they don't depend on interpretation to produce sound and generally are stored in the form of cylinders or disks, should music box disks be included as an audio format? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jag140 (talk • contribs) 16:01, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Proposed merge with Technology Changes in Music Media
Tech changes in music media is a WP:CFORK of this article. There's probably room for a broad (and encompassing both articles) history of audio formats. Or perhaps both should be merged to audio format, which is a short little article that could surely use the added historical context (and that article itself expanded). Izno (talk) 13:51, 30 November 2016 (UTC)
 * Merge - Agree. It can be incorporated here or any number of already existent WP:CFORK for Music technology.--CNMall41 (talk) 18:59, 2 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Merge - I also agree. Multiple Video formats use audio which would technically make them audio related. I think there is a need to have an article including both media types as there is currently no "Timeline of video formats" in Wikipedia. DiscoA340 (talk) 23:52, 11 May 2022 (UTC)

Other formats
At HD Tracks, I can buy DSD, MP3, AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, and WAV files. I can buy files in 88/24, 96/24, 176/24, and 192/24.

At Elusive Disc, I can buy other disc formats, such as Gold CD, XRCD, HDCD, DTS 5.1 CD, DVD-A, 24/96 Music DVD, and SACD. On Elusive Disc, SACDS can be further divided into Single Layer Stereo SACD, Hybrid (Dual Layer) Stereo SACD, Single Layer Multi-Channel SACD, and Hybrid (Dual Layer) Multi-Channel SACD. –Vmavanti (talk) 20:15, 7 March 2017 (UTC)

music box cylinders
Many music boxes use cylinders: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_box Kdammers (talk) 09:56, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

Invention of disc records.
disc records were created in 1897 were they not? Tadfafty (talk) 23:11, 9 September 2020 (UTC)

Splitting video formats into a new Article
The article seems to have a blend of audio and video formats in it like Laserdisc and Betamax. I understand that they are on the list due to them having audio components in them but it could be confusing for people reading the article and there is merit to having a list like this for video formats. DiscoA340 (talk) 22:19, 18 August 2022 (UTC)