Sound Recording Equipment Collection

poster for the French society for recorded sound, depicting a microphone, 1900 (lithograph)
3665928 poster for the French society for recorded sound, depicting a microphone, 1900 (lithograph); Universal History Archive/UIG.

Phonautograph (c. 1860) by Scott and KAonig, published in 1880
Phonautograph (c. 1860) by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville (French printer and bookseller, 1817 - 1879) and Rudolph Koenig (German acoustician, 1832 - 1901)

Edisons Phonograph from 1879, wood engravings, published in 1880
The Phonograph (Tin Foil Phonograph) by Thomas Alva Edison (American inventor, 1847 - 1931) in 1879 (improved design of the prototype from 1877)

Phonautograph by Koenig
Antique illustration of a Phonautograph by Koenig

Edisons Phonograph
Illustration of a Edisons Phonograph

Illustration of sound recording on cassette tape

Close up of microphone

Analog Tape Recorder
United States: c. 1970 A man working with a Sangamo analog 1 inch tape recorder that can take down 14 channels of simultaneous information

Man operating recording desk

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Discover the evolution of sound recording equipment through the ages. From the Phonautograph by Scott and Koenig, published in 1880, which used a stylus to etch sound waves onto paper, to Thomas Edison's Phonograph from 1879, which recorded sound onto tinfoil. Fast forward to the Phonautograph by Koenig, which improved upon the design by using a diaphragm to record sound waves. Jump to the modern era with a close-up of a microphone, capturing every detail of a sound's vibrations. And finally, an operator at a recording desk controls an analog tape recorder, as the magnetic tape captures the sound waves, preserving them for generations to come.