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Hi Richard: Regarding DVD media, I'm with you 100%. I haven't seen the kind of rigorous tests yet for DVDs that were done for CD media. I'd really love to see an update of that test NASA did a few years ago where they listed specific CDR brands in their test results. The later NIST data doesn't list particular brands, as I recall. I don't believe NIST or NASA have done this kind of life-torture tests on DVD media. There's also the all-eggs-one-basket fear with DVD media. 4.7 gigs is a lot of audio. Even if you made a few copies, if the media is prone to degenerate over time, what good was that? I'd worry even more about the dual-layer DVD media, just based on historical experience with multi-layer plastic products. I would bet that for every one DAT mechanism ever manufactured (and I'd guess maybe 50% of all ever made, or more, are no longer in good working order), there have been 20+ laser-bearing drives made that can read most or all formats of 5" plastic discs. And for every DAT tape ever spooled, maybe 50+ blank CDR's have rolled out of Asian factories. That's a good harbinger for the long-term viability of the CDR format. This is an example where industry standardization on a method and form factor is a very Good Thing. I'm hoping very much that DVD+/-R is a continuation of the Good Thing but it's pretty early to pass judgement. -- Tom Fine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 8:04 PM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Requiem for the DAT (redux, was Storage of audio CDs) > At 10:46 AM 10/3/2005, Karl Miller wrote: > > >And, on a related note. I guess I must not be keeping up with things much > >lately...but yesterday a friend of mine was asking about recommendations > >on which DAT machine to buy to replace his...I was rather surprised to see > >that the format seems to be disappearing quickly. > > > >Perhaps someone on the list has some information on this...are DAT > >machines about to go the way of the 8-track cartridge? > > > > Hi, Karl, > > I posted this on August 17th of this year: > > >From: "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]> > >Subject: Requiem for the DAT > > > >It is my understanding from several audio technical lists that I'm > >on that the last manufacturer of DAT transports (Alps) has ceased > >production and no more DAT machines will be made. Parts will also > >become scarce in the not-too-distant future. > > > >A word to the wise to any archive holding DATs. Sony no longer lists > >DATs in their ProAudio Web site, and I've been told that Tascam has > >stopped listing them as well, though Tascam still has cassette machines!!! > > > >Oh, and repairing and cobbling analog reel machines is child's play > >compared to trying to make a from-the-ground-up DAT. > > > >Good luck! > > I am very concerned about this. > > There is an archive that has more Mitsubishi X-86 tapes than > remaining head life, as I understand it. While that situation will be > easier to sort out with musicians dumping DAT machines on eBay (they > are much more common than X-86 machines) I must urge people as I did > a month and a half ago that it would be good practice to transfer all > their DAT holdings (which many of us recommended against as an > archival format from the beginning) to a more stable medium. Gold > CD-Rs for the short term, or managed, perpetual storage for the long term. > > Many of us in the tape restoration business are set up for digital > DAT transfer as Tom Fine pointed out. One of the challenges is > deciding what to do with 48 ks/s DATs. Do you save them as files or > downsample to 44.1 ks/s for audio CDs. I guess the answer is > partially, "it depends." Here's where a file system makes things > easier. Perhaps the answer is "both." > > I may be a Luddite, but I'm still a wee bit nervous about DVDs for > long-term archival storage (as files, of course). > > Cheers? > > Richard > > > Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask] > Vignettes > Media web: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/ > Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX > Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm