James Williamson Well, gramophone vs phonograph is one of the hottest topics in the vinyl world, and yet, I haven’t found anything on the internet that makes understanding these devices easier.
In this article, we are going to talk about these devices, their origin, and how they are different from each other, but before talking about the differences, let me take you on a quick trip to our music history.
Well, it all started in 1877 when Thomas Edison built something incredible that became the origin of the whole music industry. Before 1877, it was just a concept and a dream of our ancestors to record their voices and listen to them, but Thomas made it possible by inventing a device known as the phonograph, which changed history.
As it was the first invention, it had a lot of limitations and a whole room for improvement. After 13 years of the invention, i.e., in the 1890s, a device was introduced with a new playback medium, which removed most of the limitations of the phonograph and improved the sound quality to a whole new extent.
The device was known as the gramophone, which was introduced to the world by Emile Berliner. Emile Berliner introduced the lateral-cut flat disc record as a playback medium, which became the origin of the vinyl records that we use today.
Well, the quick trip to history is over, and trust me, just talking about these devices gives me an amazing and proud feeling.
I never saw a phonograph in my entire childhood because my dad and grandpa only had a gramophone at home, and they also never told me about it. But in high school, I visited my friend’s house, and in the basement, I noticed a strange device with a horn, and guess what? That was my first encounter with a phonograph, and thinking about that encounter still excites me so much that now I have two phonographs and one gramophone at my home in amazing working condition, and I am still looking to collect more.
Well, I have checked the engineering and sound quality of these two legendary devices myself. We have already compared these legendary devices with modern-day devices, i.e., gramophone vs record player, phonograph vs record player, and in this article, we are going to do an understanding gramophone vs phonograph challenge in which I will share the in-depth difference between gramophone and phonograph and what improvement gramophone inventor “Emile Berliner” made that became the reason for its success.
So let’s start.
Gramophone vs Phonograph:
| Phonograph | Gramophone | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The first sound recording and playback device that used Edison cylinders is known as a phonograph. | An evolved version of the phonograph that uses flat discs to play sound using mechanical energy is known as a gramophone. |
| Sound Recording & Playback Medium | Tin foil-wrapped metal cylinders, wax-coated cardboard tubes, and all-wax cylinders. | Shellac records |
| Speed (RPM) | About 120 RPM | Early discs have 60 to 130RPM speed but in the end, 78RPM is standardized |
| Playback Time | 2 minutes to 4 minutes | The early discs play for 2 to 3(1/2) minutes each side but after some time, the playback time was increased to 4-5 minutes each side. |
| Works on | Mechanical energy | Mechanical energy |
| Re-usable | Yes | No |
| End users can record sound themselves and listen to recorded sound | Yes | No |
| Sound Quality | Poor sound quality | Better sound quality |
| Stylus | There are 2 types of stylus: a cutting stylus is used while recording sound and a playback stylus is used while listening to the recorded sound. | Only one stylus is used which is made from thorn, fiber, or steel. |
| Availability | Rarer than gramophone | Easily available as compared to phonograph |
| Cost | More expensive | Less expensive |
| Variants | A 2-minute phonograph and a 4-minute phonograph. | Portable models, table models, pedestal models, and external horn models. |
So, this is the brief difference between a gramophone and a phonograph. Now, let’s learn more about these devices separately.
What is a Phonograph:
A phonograph is the first device in mankind’s history that made sound recording and playback possible. It was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 and it uses a wax cylinder for sound recording and playback.
In the current era, we use vinyl records for storing audio, but phonographs use wax cylinders for sound recording and playback. These wax cylinders are reusable by shaving the current groove surface.
At the beginning of 1889, the first prerecorded wax cylinder was marketed, and the feature of reuse gave these cylinders an advantage over prerecorded gramophone discs that couldn’t be reused.
But the issue with these soft all-wax cylinders is that they wear out after 20–25 plays.
Well, this issue was a major one, and the Edison team encountered it in 1902 by replacing the old soft wax cylinders with improved and hardened wax that could be played 100 times or more. These new and improved cylinders are marketed as “Edison Gold Moulded Records”.
With the upgradation of these cylinders, the concept of creating a master cylinder was developed, labeled “Gold Moulded,” through which hundreds of cylinders could be made using a single master cylinder, which boosted production to a whole new level.
Instead of just cylinders, many upgrades were made to the phonograph machine. The original phonograph machine could play just a 2-minute cylinder, but seeing that the gramophone disc’s playback time is around 3-5 minutes, in late 1908, Edison launched new wax cylinders with 4 minutes of playback time along with an upgrade to the phonograph to support 4 minutes of playback time.
Even after many upgrades, the disc format finally won the commercial battle in the 1910s, and many known records dropped the cylinder format and started selling only discs, resulting in the decline of wax cylinders.
You can learn more about phonograph in this article.
What is a Gramophone:
A gramophone is an evolved phonograph version in which flat shellac discs are used as a medium for sound storage and playback instead of wax cylinders.
In the 1880s, Alexander Graham Bell’s Volta Laboratory made several improvements to phonographs, like using wax-coated cardboard cylinders and cutting styli. But in the 1890s, Emile Berliner replaced the wax cylinders with flat discs (known as records in modern times).
Just like phonograph cylinders, these discs have a playback time of around 2 minutes with one limitation, i.e., discs are not reusable like Edison cylinders.
But, the limitation of reusability is traded by providing more playback time. In 1903, Victor introduced the 12-inch record that increased the playing time to three and a half minutes with 78 RPM speed.
Soon after, these discs got competition from Edison’s new wax cylinders with 4-minute playback time which required a 4-minute compatible phonograph model.
But, the disc had several advantages, i.e., the recording could be done on both sides, the master disk creation was easier as compared to the master cylinder, stamping the shellac material with the master stamper is a lot easier, and bulk manufacturing can be done smoothly, which was the major concern back then because, with the increasing demand, the artist needed to record their music multiple times to fulfill the demand.
These small advantages and advancements received positive feedback from users, which helped the gramophone disc win the commercial battle against wax cylinders in the 1910s.
After that, these discs became the most dominant commercial audio distribution format for the entire 20th century, and the decline of phonographs started.
With the advancement in technology, the companies kept improving the disc and replaced the original shellac material with vinyl due to the many advantages that vinyl offers. Along with discs, the gramophone’s design also got improved. The design, drive system, pickup system, stylus, sound equalization, and much more all got better over time.
With these continuous improvements, we first got a record player and then we got turntables. I also suggest you understand the difference between turntable and record player.
Now, let’s dig deeper and understand the in-depth difference between these two legendary devices.
Difference Between Gramophone and Phonograph:
Now, we are explaining the differences mentioned in the comparison table above.
Sound Quality:
In terms of sound quality, the gramophone is a lot better than a phonograph.
Both devices used different groove-tracking techniques. The phonograph tracks the grooves engraved on the cylinder vertically while the gramophone tracks the grooves engraved on the shellac record horizontally and the horizontal technique helps the stylus to track the grooves better which results in better sound quality. And, the diaphragm concept in the gramophone is better than the phonograph.
Playback time:
The playback time of the phonograph is a maximum of 4 minutes using the 4-minute cylinder and 4-minute compatible phonograph. On the other hand, the early discs of the gramophone had a playback time from 2 minutes to 3(1/2) minutes per side. Later, the playback time is increased to 4-5 minutes per side.
Playback Medium:
In phonographs, wax cylinders were used for recording and playback while in gramophone, the flat discs (known as records in modern times) were used for recording and playback.
Re-usability:
The wax cylinders were re-usable, i.e., you could shave off the grooves from the cylinder and re-record anything on it again but on the flat discs, you couldn’t re-use it again.
Sound recording by end users:
The phonograph’s wax cylinders allowed the end users to shave off the existing records, record their stuff, and listen to it but you couldn’t do the same on the flat disc of the gramophone.
Durability:
Both devices are durable and will last longer when you handle them correctly.
Cost:
In terms of cost, it is quite rare to find a perfectly working phonograph that makes it more costlier than a gramophone which is more easily available.
Source:
We have shared in-depth insights and the difference between a phonograph and a gramophone. If you have any questions then you can comment below. We will get back to you as soon as possible.
