Re: [ARSCLIST] Is recording to Reel-to-reel still the preferred preservation method?

[Rod Stephens <savecal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello again,

I just sent off an ARSCLIST email, and I forgot to mention that I feel I'm not biased one way or the other as far as analogue vs. digital.  I believe both have their uses depending on the end product and its purpose.  Even though I'm in the business of manufacturing CD's in a remastering process, I personally watch for and buy reel to reel tapes and disks from eBay and other vendors.  Some of those recordings of the fifties and sixties were done with more time and care with wonderful ensembles and conductors with unduplicatible (is there such a word?) qualities both from an artistic and technical standpoint.

Rod Stephens
Family Theater Productions

Konrad Strauss wrote:

on 9/29/04 4:58 PM, Alyssa Ryvers at alyssa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

  

At the end of the day, which one do you trust? I think it's a matter of
personal responsibility, but I'm just that kind of person. I'm waiting
for something I trust more than 1/4", and I await with bated breath...
    

Seems like this argument keeps on surfacing. I wonder though, does it
concern you that analog tape machines, for all practical purposes, are no
longer manufactured, and that tape companies are quickly ceasing to
manufacture analog tape?

I too am concerned any time I have to play an old CDR, but I cannot say that
I have found analog tape to be any more reliable.

  

No matter what virtues can be expounded with respect to digital files,
I can't imagine anyone would say stability and longevity is one of
them.
    

On the contrary. We need to abandon the concept of the carrier medium,
rather concentrate on a file-based storage system. It is true that when
there is only a single copy, analog tape is probably the best choice, but
the best way to ensure that a recording survives is to have multiple copies
stored in different locations. At this digital excels. The ease of
migration, easy creation of multiple copies, ease of transmission etc, are a
strong argument for the superiority of digital storage. Not to mention the
much lower cost.

--
Konrad Strauss
Director of Recording Arts
Associate Professor of Music
Indiana University School of Music
http://php.indiana.edu/~kstrauss
http://www.music.indiana.edu/som/audio