DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMPACT DISC AND RECORDS - Essay Example

The record technology was improved till 1980s when cassette technology was introduced which displaced the vinyl records significantly. The popularity of cassette went down when compact disc and mini disc were introduced in 1990s. Differences Size: Initially, the records were as big as 16 inches in diameter which was reduced to as low as 7 inches by the time. However, the most popular models used in that time were 12 inches. On the other side, Compact discs are only 4.75 inches in diameter which makes it a much more flexible product.

Compact Disc also comes in small sizes, commonly know as Mini CD. The diameter of these Mini CDs ranges from 2.4 to 3.1 inches. The smaller is the size, the lesser will be data capacity. Production: Records are created with an element called black lacquer vinyl, which is the reason it is commonly called Vinyl Record. Contrary, CDs are developed with 1.2 millimeters thick polycarbonate plastic coated with aluminum and a thin translucent acrylic protective coating (Morgan). A CD weights around 15 to 20 grams.

The thin layer of aluminum makes it reflective. A lacquer layer is used for spinning and label printing. Wear and Tear: Records are less likely to be abandoned and torn as compared to Compact Discs. Vinyl records are “hard” records, made up with black lacquer. . CDs are susceptible to skips and clicks whereas Vinyle records usually play in any situation since they are analog. Price: The price of records is much higher because of the high cost expenditure incurred in manufacturing process.

However, Compact Discs are comparatively cheaper and can stored hefty amount of data. Sound Quality: Vinyl records can play music as good as CDs. The difference is extremely small and negligible (Vinyl Vs. CD Part 3. Sound Difference Between LP’s and CD’s). After researching thoroughly, it is concluded that some extreme music lovers still prefer Vinyl over CDs, claiming the sound quality of Vinyl is richer. However, the differences in the sound quality are nearly inaudible to a normal human being and Vinyl and CDs overshadow each other only in some genre of music.

Recording/Writing: Vinyl records needs a vinyl cutter for recording or copying songs in a record. These vinyl cutters are extremely expensive, costing about $10,000, thus making it impossible for common people to have it in their possession. Contrary, CDs can be written with the help of CD burner which are cheaply available in market, ranging from $15 to $25. Moreover, CD-R is a kind of Compact Disc which has the re-write feature. There is also a major difference between analog and digital recording.

Analog recording is used in recording vinyl records, which varies a property or characteristic of a physical recording medium through air pressure (Elsea). Contrary, digital recording is developed when the physical properties of the original sound are converted into sequence number through an analog-to-digital converter which makes it able to be recorded and read back through a digital medium such as CD (Elsea, Basics of