Re: [ARSCLIST] Libraries disposing of records

[Don Cox <doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 06/01/07, Steven C. Barr(x) wrote:

> 
> The comment, distilled to its actual inherent statement, becomes:
> 
> "Each improvement in sound (or, in theory, ANY form if) recording
> automatically makes all previous recordings made with older forms
> of technology no longer worth preserving or even accessing!"
> 
> Aside from the one essential question of "Is any standard-variety
> digital recording by definition superior to every analog
> recording"...?! The point is that as each form of (sound) recording
> appeared, a certain number of recordings were made that could not,
> under any circumstances not involving time travel, ever again have
> been made.
> 
> Since the art of "improving" (in the sense of trying to recreate
> what one assumes the original sounded like) is, so far, still in
> a highly theoretical position...this suggests that our listener
> can never satisfactorily access these historic recordings, and
> is thus limited to recordings of the last two decades or so.
> 
> In my own case, I'm willing to tolerate the surface noise and
> reduced fidelity inherent in shellac "78's"...even acoustic ones...
> in return for hearing the recorded music of that era...!

The point about analog sources is

1. most of the important music has already been digitised and released
on CD. (Not true of Spoken Word, oral history, etc)

2. every decade, there is an obvious improvement in the quality of
transfers from these original sources.

Number 2 makes it worth while to preserve the original 78s (ideally,
metal masters) so that future better transfers can be made.

Regards
-- 
Don Cox
doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx