Early phonographs played sound through a large horn that came out of the base of the player. The user had to twist an arm that came out of the side to make the music play.
The first records were cast in wax, but later technology allowed music to be cast onto sturdier vinyl. These are the most common types of phonograph records and are still available in new musical titles.
CDs are similar in shape to vinyl records but much smaller. When CD players were introduced, users were able to transport music more freely, especially after the advent of the portable CD player.
Vinyl records are not digitized, which trims back the overall audio spectrum. Because of this, the warm analog sound from a record player cannot be duplicated by CD. But CD players are small, so you can listen to them in the car or while exercising.
A record player uses a diamond needle to read the information on a record, which can be expensive to replace. CD players read the discs using lasers, which if damaged may warrant completely replacing the CD player.