Wire Recorders - Paving the Way for Analog Recording

A side by side comparison of recording technology over the last 100 years, laid out like a timeline, would show that we have made significant leaps and bounds in a very short span of time concerning the way we record and playback audio.

The wire recorder was a form of magnetic recording prior to tape. In 1898 the first version of a wire recorder was patented by Valdemar Poulsen. He called his device the Telegraphone and although it wasn’t a commercial success it was a major breakthrough and led to the development of similar devices.

The original purpose of wire recording was for dictation and telephone recording and by the standards of the early 1900’s, wires gained widespread popularity. Due to cost, however, it was marketed mostly to businesses and governments until the 1940s when advances in design brought the price down.

The steel wire itself was extremely thin and prone to kinking and tangling and could become quite a mess if not handled with care. When played, it moved across the playback head at a relatively high speed – 24 ips (inches per second). For comparison, the tape in a standard cassette moves across the playback head at 1 7/8 ips.  Professional reel-to-reel speed was generally 15 ips although speed was sometimes increased to 30 ips.

During the 1940’s when it was finally marketed as a consumer product the popularity of the wire recorder increased dramatically - but it didn’t last long. After consumer tape recorders became a cost effective alternative the wire recorder began to lose steam. Wires had certain disadvantages such as with editing. They had an enormous advantage over records, but wire was still not ideal for the editing process and was one of many reasons why magnetic tape became the preferred format in the 1950s. Wire recorders also had no level meters of fast forward option and just as manufactures were beginning to develop a higher fidelity recorder, the format became obsolete.

The design of the wire recorder kept the device in favor with the government sector for several years after the release of tape recorders.  Because of the duribility of the wire, the technology continued to be used in a variety of areas such as black box flight records for aviation during the 50’s.  Its durability also gained favor in the space exploration circuit and wire recorders were used to record data within satellites and unmanned spacecraft throughout the 50s and 60s.

When compared to other recording mediums, wire outlives them all. Recordings on wire have withstood the test of time as degradation isn’t all that much of a concern. The main problem is finding a working machine on which to play it. There are still a number of machines out there - but trying to find someone qualified to repair or refurbish it can be a daunting task.

While wire recording technology is considered “dead” for all intents and purposes, it played a role in the development of both analog and magnetic recording.  Some of the technology of the later wire recorder models involving longitudinal magnetism (to improve output) is still in use with magnetic tape recording even today.