I can't help myself here and have to go Full Metal Pedant: Even back in those days there were format wars: Cylinder vs. disc and, in the disc world, vertical vs. horizontal modulation. Speeds initially weren't standardized and outliers like Pathé were producing massive 20" discs.
There were even discs with a few odd spindle hole sizes because initially even that was covered by patents.
16" discs for radio use hung on for quite a while and even those weren't standardized: Inside vs. outside start, horizontal vs. vertical modulation, different stylus sizes and competing EQ curves.
Victor introduced long-playing 33.33RPM discs very early on, but they were unreliable.
I know the world isn't black and white and people have to be creative protecting their intellectual property sometimes. This has gone WAY too far though IMHO and it affects people's enjoyment of music.
Cylinder vs. disc - had ended by 1915, other than supplying people with old players.
The Pathé 14-inch 90 rpm discs and 20-inch 120 rpm discs were attempts to increase the volume of acoustic playback.* Very few were made. Playing time was 3.5 minute - that of a 10-inch 78.
Vertical/horizontal/diagonal modulation and nonstandard speeds** had to wait for the demand by the National Association of Broadcasters for a single standard record type in 1928. The NAB made the following standard, which most record companies converted to within two years.
- A single standard speed of 78.26 rpm (a compromise of Victor's 76 rpm and Columbia's 80 rpm)
- Lateral stylus modulation on an outside-start 3-mil groove with a 250 Hz rolloff point for bass
- The eccentric groove at the end of the record to trip record changers, auto-stops, and jukeboxes
- A 5/16-inch spindle hole size and record sizes of 10" and 12"
These became known as "standard records". Many early multispeed record players have STD, LP, and 45 on the speed controls.**
Edison used thicker records with vertical recording because the records were made of Bakelite, not shellac. They had a smaller stylus, turned at 80 rpm, and played longer than 78s.** They made a few of the standard records and then went out of business.
16-inch discs were used for only radio transcriptions and network broadcast distributions. From the 1930s to the 1960s, radio stations were required by the FCC to keep recordings of everything that went out over the air. These were not standardized because they were used only within stations and within networks.** They used 33 rpm for the aircheck recordings because playing time was more important than quality for the legally required recordings.
Long programs sent on 16-inch alternated inside and outside start so no sudden change in sound was noticeable when switching from one disc to the next.*
The start of competing EQ curves was in 1937 when Decca records started boosting the treble in 78 records to reduce surface noise (with a corresponding cut in playback).** Then when the slower speeds went into use, there were at least 20 different curves in use.** It took the RIAA to standardize records on a single curve.
The RIAA curve (RCA new orthophonic) was devised in 1953. All LPs made in the US were RIAA by 1957 (except some square dance companies making 78 rpm 250 Hz rolloff records to work with existing square dance machines**). Europe was standardized by 1962 (with a second standard for 78). The soviet union finally standardized on it in 1975.
And the Library of Congress standardized on 12-inch RIAA 78 rpm records for archival storage of sounds. These can survive and be playable even if we lose most digital technology.
Victor introduced long-playing 33.33 rpm coarse groove discs in 1932, but they lasted for very few plays. Columbia came up with the durable fine groove system we use in 1947.
Then RCA threw in their monkey wrench incompatibility with the 45 on 04/01/1948. I wish it had been just an April fool. They wanted to keep from paying royalties to Columbia.
Record makers had to switch the runout grooves and changer trip systems to a velocity trip because most arms and pickups back then could not stay in an eccentric groove** on an LP.
The stereo groove was the one standard that was universally adopted. Why? The Blumlein patents had already expired in the 1940s. Westrex, who developed the equipment made it available to all record companies immediately.
Then we had all of the quadraphonic record types of the 1970s. Again, each company devised its own system to avoid paying royalties.**
Intellectual property is the REASON we had all of those incompatibilities. People came up with different "standards" to get around paying royalties on patents owned by other companies. That's why I hate the concept of intellectual property except in actual literary works (and I favor limiting royalties to mechanical rates).
If there had been no patents and copyrights, we would have had the best systems and uniformity a lot earlier.
But still, ALL of these records (except the ones larger than 12-inch) will play on the same record changer I have been using since 1970.
I am having trouble with the 180 gram records they are making now. They are making the spindle holes 1/4-inch instead of the 5/16-inch standard. I have to use a ream to enlarge the holes to make them fit on the spindles of all of my turntables.**
* I have seen these.
** I own some of these.
. The problem is, I had high hopes that the extra space and potential for improved content (i.e. movies; Hi-Def surround, Atmos etc.) would take over and finally give us that digital silver bullet we were after. This just doesn't seem to have happened sadly. Like the High Fidelity Pure Audio stuff that's dead effectively now. I ripped this Miles Davis the other day and checked the DRs and they were abysmal 6's-7's, so mastering still has to be crucial to good sound. I mostly buy 80's CDs now for non-pushed sound quality. And I still want my physical discs if I can get them.
physical media n shiny lil discs
