录音机（Tape recorder）的出现，最早可追溯至1877年美国发明大王爱迪生发明留声机。爱迪生将声波变换成金属针的震动，并刻录于锡箔上，利用锡箔与金属针实现了录音。1896年时丹麦的年轻电机工程师波尔森（Valdemar Poulsen）将音波转为电流，再转换为磁力，并把磁力保存在钢琴在线，实现了磁气录音，并于1898年获得专利。但是录音机的真正流行还是在发明磁带以后。

1935年德国科学家福劳耶玛发明了磁带，在醋酸盐带基涂上氧化铁，正式替代了钢丝。1962年荷兰飞利浦公司发明盒式磁带录音机。

An audio tape recorder, tape deck or tape machine is an analog audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage. In its present-day form, it records a fluctuating signal by moving the tape across a tape head that polarizes the magnetic domains in the tape in proportion to the audio signal. Tape-recording devices include reel-to-reel tape deck and the cassette deck.