Compact discs are the most popular form of recorded musical entertainment. They have more memory than their vinyl predecessors as well as a smaller size. Compact discs are digitally recorded, unlike the analog-recorded tapes and LP records, so have a better sound quality. Because of the benefits of optically recorded compact discs, this form of musical technology has almost completely replaced vinyl records and cassette tapes. CD's are played optically by a compact disk player. Laser light beams read the binary codes encoded on the disk during recording, and the code is interpreted as sound or silence. The more binary numbers there are that are read as sound, the greater the intensity of the sound. The sound is transferred to the compact disc player's sound system and the music is amplified through the speakers.
             Compact discs are digitally recorded using an optical recording system. Music, or sound, is recorded in analog form through a microphone placed near each instrument. The original sound signal is continuous and varies in pitch, or frequency, and volume. The microphone changes the air vibrations that correspond with analog sound waves into electronic signals. These signals are measured up to thousands of times per second and are changed to binary numbers which represent varying sounds. These binary numbers are digitally recorded and are sent as a stream of laser light pulses through a fiber to be read by a photodetector in the recording system. Each light pulse is read as a single bit of information. A binary "1" is recorded sound, and binary "0" is a pause or silence. The laser flashes encode digital information onto the light sensitive compact disc to record the digital information. When all of the necessary information is on the compact disc, it is placed in a chemical that seals the digital information in the disc. Microscopic pits are left in th
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