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Re: [ARSCLIST] DAT Archival Housing
Ya know..I've had minimal DAT failure in the 15 years I've been using them.
Machines come and go, but DAT tapes I recorded way back when, even at 32k
("archive speed"), still play just fine. For that matter, the first machine I
owned, one of the few commercial models ever sold (a JVC which began exhibiting
major error problems in recording within 2 years and which was unrepairable) is
still fine as a backup playback unit.
I store the tapes in their original cases, I've dropped dozens of them with
nary a realignment of magnetic patterns, and I still buy them by the caseload
(60m DDS tapes for a little over $2 a pop).
dl
Tom Fine wrote:
Richard is 100% right. And, unlike reels and disks and cassettes, it's
hard to argue with any science behind you that you cannot get EXACTLY
what is on a non-damaged DAT and put it on your hard drive, using a
simple digital cable. If a DAT was recorded at 44.1K sampling rate, then
the same can be said about a simple S/PDF or AES connection between a
DAT machine and a CD recorder.
So I can't see any reason to make a big deal about "preserving" DATs. I
CAN see making a huge deal about transferring DATs to other digital
media ASAP since DAT mechanisms are no longer made and it is a
fast-submerging format that is unlikely to be usable in a decade or two.
Bottom line -- any dollars you'd invest in "preserving" DATs is better
invested in a managed-hard-drive storage system (managed = drives
continually refreshed and several backups of every file, off-site
backups preferable).
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard L. Hess"
<arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2007 3:01 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] DAT Archival Housing
At 02:43 PM 2007-02-17, Farris Wahbeh wrote:
List,
Any suggestions on how to archival-ly house DAT tapes would be most
helpful.
Are the plastic cases that they come with archival-ly sound? What are
some boxes that can be used
to house the tapes? Has anyone come across a box that fits both DAT
and CD's together?
I can't seem to find any in the Gaylord catalog.
That's because they and the machines they play on are not archival.
The only archival way of storing a DAT tape IMHO is to transfer it to
a digital repository or a gold phthalocyanine dye CD-R, with the
former method preferred. DATs are living on borrowed time. THey are
far more fragile than analog open reel and fewer machines were
produced (I think) and few if any machines are being made now...just
like open reel in a much shorter timeframe.
Cheers,
Richard
Richard L. Hess email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.