Essay on CodecsIntroduction: This essay will discuss codecs; will explain the definition of codecs and their functions and include a brief history of digital signals, equipment and standards. It will also discuss compression and compression formats such as Lossless and Lossy and files such as FLAC and ALACHShistory of codecs: equipmentThe history of audio recording first began on December 6, 1877 when Thomas Edison made the first recording of a human voice singing Mary had to little lamb “on the first tinfoil cylinder phonograph” (Schoenherr, 2005). Later that month John Kruesi built the first practical machine using this equipment from a sketch provided by Edison, however it was Edison and his tinfoil phonograph who were the first to succeed in recording the human voice. The development of recording devices continued throughout the late 19th century. with gramophones and disc phonographs being the most popular for recording not only the human voice but also music. 1905 Victrola is recognized as “the industry's first record phonograph” (VLE, 2008). This was also the period when the 78 rpm record became standard (Holmes, 2006). In the 1920s a combination of amplified systems, electrical recording, and the advent of magnetic recording helped boost the recording industry for the next two centuries. For example, in 1963 the audio cassette format was introduced and became popular among audio enthusiasts. Sony then developed the first digital recording device in 1978 and this was mainly used by professional studio users. The first commercial digital audio player using compact discs became available in 1988, followed by mini discs in 1992. Digital audio players using the MP3 format were very successful... middle of paper... due to mismatch issues impedances or reflections in the signal path” (Smith, 2013). Another cause could be "electromagnetic interference and crosstalk with other signals" (Rouse, 2008), consequently events could occur where a computer cannot function at its best due to the fact that it cannot process many signals at the same time and could result in data loss between network devices Codec diagram: In this diagram the sound source starts from the microphones, the reason why there are two microphones is because a microphone has only one channel, so to get stereo output we have two microphones. They are then renewed in terms of converting the signal from analog to digital via encoders and decoders. The signal travels into a port interface and then comes back again and again is encoded and decoded to allow us to listen to the output through our headphones.