Talk:Audiograph Player/@comment-29466044-20161009021620/@comment-6716431-20161009022436

It's never explained how in-game, but I would say it is likely that specific combinations of holes in the punch card make the player produce pre-recorded sounds in the indicated combination, and these sounds combine to create speech. For the recording, it listens to the sounds it hears, work out which of the recorded sounds it is most like, and punches the relevant holes. That does seem a little complex for a mid-19th century device though. In-game, all the audiograghs look the same, but I feel confident that we can say that is not so.