Hi Tom,
Yes, the Sony Dash does indeed have a robust error correction scheme.
The amount of error correction that was in play during the transfer of
the tapes in question remains a mystery because neither myself, the
transfer recordist or the engineer on duty could think of a menu option
that would display the error correction in real-time (if the option is
even available). However, each of us did take turns placing an ear close
to the head stack while the tape was in motion and could hear nothing
unusual. Anecdotal evidence for sure, but that and a real time QC of the
transferred audio was the best we could come up with.
FWIW, the A/D & D/A converters on those machines are still well
respected although most of the 3324's & 3348's that I'm aware of on here
the Left Coast have been retro-fitted with Apogee filters.
Cheers!
Corey
Corey Bailey Audio Engineering
On 2/3/2012 4:22 AM, Tom Fine wrote:
> I'm sure Richard Hess will weigh in on this, but my understanding of
> the mechanism of tape-baking is that you need a minimum temperature
> for there to be any useful effect. 118 degrees for that time period is
> probably in the useful range. Does the DASH standard have a fairly
> robust error-correction scheme? I would think if it does, minimal
> physical changes brought about by tape baking once won't effect playback.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Corey Bailey"
> <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 2:27 AM
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Baking Digital Audio tapes
>
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I thought the members of this list might find this interesting:
>>
>> Recently, some 1/2-inch Sony DASH (3324) format tapes were shipped from
>> the UK to the Warner Bros. Sound Transfer Dept in Burbank, CA. The tapes
>> would not play and exhibited Sticky-Shed Syndrome.
>> I was asked if I thought it would be safe to bake the tapes. My response
>> was that it could be risky and if we were to attempt it, the tapes
>> should
>> be baked at a much lower temperature for 24 hours or so. It was
>> decided to
>> try my suggestion since there was nothing to loose at this point.
>>
>> The details:
>>
>> 3 reels of Quantegy 1/2-inch 467 Digital audio tape, originally recorded
>> in August of 1999.
>>
>> 2 reels of Quantegy 1/2-inch 467 Digital audio tape, originally recorded
>> in May of 2004.
>>
>> The tapes were baked for 16 hours at 118 degrees F. and then left in the
>> oven for 6 additional hours as the oven cooled. The decision was made to
>> end the baking at 16 hours because the Transfer Dept. Supervisor
>> wanted to
>> test the results to see if there was any improvement that might warrant
>> further baking. The first tape tested played just fine so each tape was
>> tried in succession with the same positive results.
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>> Corey
>> Corey Bailey Audio Engineering
>>
>
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