A record player is a device that reproduces sounds that have been recorded on audio records. The older and more common type of record player plays records that have been produced by a process called analogue recording. An analogue or likeness of the original sound waves is stored as jagged waves in a spiral groove on the surface of a plastic disc. As the disc rotates on the record player, a needle called a stylus, rides along the groove. The waves in the groove cause the stylus to vibrate/. These vibrations are transformed into electric signals and converted back into sound by speakers.

The other type of record player, which has made the analogue recording based player obsolete, is the compact disc player. It plays recordings made by the optical digital recording technique. On a CD, sound information is stored in digital (numerical) code in the form of tiny pits in the disc. A beam of concentrated light created by a laser is reflected from the spinning disc. As the laser beam is reflected, the pits break it up into pulses of light. These pulses of light are then converted into electric signals are decoded and strengthened before they reach the speakers.

NOTE : There are just two grooves on a record one on each side. The groove is cut in a spiral in the surface of the record.