Digital formats
As a way of collecting and playing music, the gramophone record and tape recorder have been supplanted by various digital formats. The oldest, now in its third decade, is the standard CD. Players range from inexpensive personal units to expensive high fidelity players. When creating a digital archive of your own records, it is not necessary to use CDs; your decisions will be based on the equipment you have and your listening requirements.
Compressed audio formats, such as AAC, MP3, and WMA, have become extremely popular. These formats use noise-shaping techniques to discard information in a way which cannot be perceived by most listeners. Pocket-sized players have become very popular, as have computers dedicated to providing audio-visual content to a room, or even to the whole house.
Records
Gramophone records, which appeared commercially at the turn of the 20th century, hold the information as wiggles in a spiral groove. Playing the record involves physical contact with the stylus, and that is likely to inflict cumulative damage. This is particularly so if there is mistracking caused by small particles adhering to the groove wall, or by a worn stylus. Vinyl records are also quite subject to scratches, even with careful handling. In most cases, record playback will be accompanied by annoying clicks and crackle. The older shellac records were more scratch resistent, but quite granular, leading to a succession of small glitches heard as crackle.
Noise
In addition to crackle, shellac records inevitably suffer from hiss, usually at an objectionable level. Low frequency noise is common with vinyl records, although hiss should be minimal. The reason is that, for technical reasons, LPs use extensive equalization. When the recording is made, the low frequencies are cut back, the high frequencies emphasized. When an LP is played, reverse compensation is applied, boosting the low frequencies and any associated noise, and reducing the high frequencies and high frequency noise. Indeed, the absence of hiss was the chief advantage of vinyl over shellac records, allowing the full frequency range to be recorded. The increased opportunity for low-frequency noise, including induced mains hum, was a disadvantage. Vinyl records are also quite prone to scratches.