Edison Records logo from 1910s sleeve

The Edison Disc also known as a Diamond Disc record, was a type of audio disc record marketed by Edison Records from 1912 to 1929.

80 RPM records

Edison had previously concentrated on producing phonograph cylinders but decided to get into the disc market due to the increasing market share of disc sound recordings, especially the discs of companies such as Victor Talking Machine Company (what would later be called "78 records"). Victor and most other disc record companies used side to side or lateral motion of the stylus in the record groove, whereas in the Edison system the movement was up and down or vertical, as in a cylinder record.

An Edison Disc Phonograph is distinguished by the diaphragm of the reproducer being located parallel to the disc surface. The Victor (or similar) diaphragm is located at a right angle to the surface of the disc.

The grooves on an Edison Disc are smooth on the sides and have a variable depth. Standard lateral discs will have a more constant depth, but the sides of the groove are scalloped.

Victor's system could not play Edison Discs satisfactorily, and sometimes not at all as the needles used would cut through the recorded sound, and the Edison system could not play Victor or other lateral discs unless one used special equipment, like the Kent adapter. The Edison company actually manufactured a lateral-cut record attachment from 1926 to the end. There is an example of a device to play Edison discs on a Victor machine ^[1]The Brunswick Ultona was the only machine besides the Diamond Disc player that could play Diamond Discs, but Edison made an attempt at curbing this (a phonograph/gramophone that could play Edison, Victor/lateral 78s, and Pathé discs) by stating "This Re-Creation should not be played on any instrument except the Edison Diamond Disc Phonograph and with the Edison Diamond Disc Reproducer, and we decline responsibility for any damage that may occur to it if this warning is ignored."^[2]

Edison Records "Diamond Disc" label, early 1920s, featuring The Happiness Boys, Billy Jones and Ernest Hare

The Edison records had their greatest commercial success in the mid 1910s to early 1920s, with sales peaking in 1920^[3]. Diamond Discs arguably had better audio fidelity, but were more expensive than and incompatible with other brands of records, and ultimately lost out in the marketplace. In 1926, an attempt at reviving interest in the Edison Disc was with a 400-TPI long-playing disc, still spinning at 80 rpm, with times of 24 minutes per 10-inch disc and 40 for a 12-inch disc, but problems occurred, and the disc failed. In late 1927, discs began to be electrically recorded.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Edison Records
• Brunswick Records
• Victor Records
• Columbia Records
• Gramophone record
• Unusual types of gramophone records