Release/Format
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This field describes which medium a release is distributed on. Normally a release will be distributed on multiple media with different catalog numbers and barcodes; each should have a separate release event.
The values may be:
| Name | Date of creation | Rarity | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compact Disc | 1982 | Widespread | PCM, Avaialble in 120mm and 80mm formats. | |
| DTS-CD a.k.a. 5.1 Music Disc | 1992 | Very rare | DTS Audio | |
| Data CD | ||||
| Enhanced CD | ||||
| HDCD | ||||
| CD-R | ||||
| 8cm CD | ||||
| Blu-spec CD | 2008 | Common | PCM | |
| SHM-CD (english) (Super High Material CD) | 2008 | Common | PCM | |
| HQCD | ||||
| CD+G | ||||
| Vinyl | 1948/1957/1971 | Common | Vinyl / Quad Vinyl -- Is a simple evolution of gramophone record: Analog, with preemphasis and other equalization techniques (LP, RIAA). Lateral grooves, horizontal stylus motion. Monaural were created in 1948, then stereo vinyl came later in 1957 and Quad in 1971: analog, with preemphasis and other equalization techniques. Combination lateral/vertical stylus motion with each channel encoded 45 degrees to the vertical. | |
| 7" Vinyl | ||||
| 10" Vinyl | ||||
| 12" Vinyl | ||||
| Digital Media | ||||
| Cassette | 1963 | (still) common? | Analog, with bias, preemphasis, 1/8 inch wide tape, 17/8 inches/sec. 1970: introduced Dolby noise reduction. | |
| DVD | ||||
| DVD-Audio | 1999 | Rare? Common? | ||
| DVD-Video | 1997 | Widespread | ||
| SACD | 1999 | Rare? Common? | ||
| Hybrid SACD | ||||
| DualDisc | 2003 | Common? | An audio cd on one side (though not redbook), and a dvd on the other side | |
| 8cm CD+G | ||||
| MiniDisc | 1991 | Common | ATRAC | |
| Blu-ray | 2006 | Common | ||
| HD-DVD | 2005 | Rare? | ||
| Videotape | ||||
| VHS | 197X | Common | ||
| Betamax | 1975 | Common? | 'Dolby Stereo' cinema surround sound. | |
| VCD | ||||
| CDV | ||||
| SVCD | ||||
| UMD | ||||
| Other | ||||
| Cartridge | 1962/1965/1970 | Rare? | 4 track / 8 track / Quad 8 tracks -- Analog, 1/4 inch wide tape, 3 3/4 inches/sec, endless loop cartridge. Quad: 4 Channel Stereo. | |
| Wax Cylinder | 1877 | Very rare | Mechanical analog; "hill-and-dale" grooves, vertical stylus motion | |
| USB flash drive | 2004 (as music format) | Common? | ||
| LaserDisc | 1978 | Rare? | ||
| Piano roll | 1883 | Very rare | Mechanical digital | |
| DAT | 1987 | Rare | ||
| Reel-to-Reel | 1930s | Rare | Analog; magnetization; "bias" dramatically increases linearity/fidelity | |
| Digital Compact Cassette | 1992 | Very rare | ||
| slotMusic | 2008 | Common? | slotMusic is a type of microSD memory card developed by SanDisk preloaded with music in DRM-free MP3 format and other content. The current selection of songs comes from EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group. | |
(*) Rarity is just a rough indication of availability as consumer products - values are: "Very Rare", "Rare", "Common", "Widespread"
Other items from the list I'm not sure how to fit in
| Name | Date of creation | Rarity | Details | Map to |
| Wire recording | 1898 | Rare | Analog; magnetization; no "bias" | Other |
| Microcassette Minicassette | 1969 | Rare | Analog, 1/8 inch wide tape, mostly mono, some stereo. 2.4 cm/s or 1.2 cm/s. | Cassette |
| 4 tracks/8 tracks/multitracks recording | ? | Very rare? | This is not in itself a physical format (may be performed on a variety of equipments, from tape based equipment to digital equipment and hard disks). Likely to be only available in studios, as professional equipments. | Other |
| Elcaset | 1976 | Rare | A short lived cassette format. | Cassette |
| VinylDisc | 2007 | Rare? | It is made from two fused layers; the silver layer contains the digital information (either in CD or DVD format) and the upper layer has a record groove, meaning it can be played on any record-player. | Other? DualDisc? |
| SD card | ? | ? | Any type of SD card can be used for music. If slotMusic is just a branded form of SD card, then perhaps that should just be renamed. | Other? Digital? |
| Gramophone record | 1895 | Common | Mechanical analog; lateral grooves, horizontal stylus motion. The terms LP record (LP, 33, or 33-1/3 rpm record), EP, 16-2/3 rpm record (16), 45 rpm record (45), and 78 rpm record (78) refers to specific types of gramophone records | Vinyl |
Partial list of digital audio formats
- 1985 Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)
- 1985 Sound Designer (by Digidesign)
- 1992 WAVEform (WAV)
- 1992 Dolby Digital surround cinema sound (AC-3)
- 1992 Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding (ATRAC)
- 1993 Digital Theatre System (DTS)
- 1993 Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS)
- 1995 MP3
- 1999 Windows Media Audio (WMA)
- 1999 The True Audio Lossless Codec (TTA)
- 2000 Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC)
- 2001 Advanced audio coding (AAC)
- 2002 Ogg Vorbis
- 2004 Apple Lossless (ALE or ALAC)
More information
- The original ticket that led to our implementation is 2565
- Mailing list discussion is here
- Wikipedia has a list of Audio Formats
