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Old 11th Oct 2021, 3:26 pm   #41
Phonosandradios
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Default Re: 78rpm vinyl why format dropped?

33rpm vinyl disks have been around for much longer than many people think as they were used as a recording medium for professional uses since the late 1930's. Mainly for providing recorded content for radio stations. They were at that point 16" in diameter but had a coarse groove cut which limited the playing time to about 15 minutes per side but at a very good quality and wide dynamic range.

Before that 16" disks were used as part of the vitaphone system of sound for films but those although turning at 33rpm were made of a quieter form of shellac called vitrolac.

The picture below is one disk in my collection from 1940 which is definitely a form of vinyl as it has the same kind of give as a modern vinyl disk. I have others from 1938 which whilst a silent surface doesn't have the same bendability as vinyl nor does it feel like shellac although the surface is completely quiet.

If it hadn't been for WWII then 78's would probably been dropped far earlier that the late 1950's as the technology was all there ready 2 decades earlier.
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Last edited by Phonosandradios; 11th Oct 2021 at 3:39 pm. Reason: to correct typos
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Old 11th Oct 2021, 4:59 pm   #42
G6Tanuki
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Default Re: 78rpm vinyl why format dropped?

I can understand why shellac continued to be used in India - the Lac beetle from which shellac is made is indigenous to India, and also after India became independent following WWII their governments tended towards protection of local business and discouraging imports,,, so shellac made sense to continue to be used.
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Old 11th Oct 2021, 7:30 pm   #43
Edward Huggins
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Default Re: 78rpm vinyl why format dropped?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phonosandradios View Post
33rpm vinyl disks have been around for much longer than many people think as they were used as a recording medium for professional uses since the late 1930's. Mainly for providing recorded content for radio stations. They were at that point 16" in diameter but had a coarse groove cut which limited the playing time to about 15 minutes per side but at a very good quality and wide dynamic range.

Before that 16" disks were used as part of the vitaphone system of sound for films but those although turning at 33rpm were made of a quieter form of shellac called vitrolac.

The picture below is one disk in my collection from 1940 which is definitely a form of vinyl as it has the same kind of give as a modern vinyl disk. I have others from 1938 which whilst a silent surface doesn't have the same bendability as vinyl nor does it feel like shellac although the surface is completely quiet.

If it hadn't been for WWII then 78's would probably been dropped far earlier that the late 1950's as the technology was all there ready 2 decades earlier.
...and not to be played with a tracking weight of over 2 ounces......!!
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