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Re: [ARSCLIST] Tape recorders
At 10:49 AM 2/25/2003 -0500, Alyssa Ryvers wrote:
I would just like to add that MiniDisc uses a compression algorithm to store
its' digital audio, meaning there is even less information there than with
"regular" digital audio, which is already lossy enough to my ear, so, by and
large, I am not a fan of the MiniDisc technology. A webpage I just found
that describes the compression is here: http://www.minidisc.org/aes_atrac.html
I re-read Tristram's post, and it sounds like he is looking for something to
make copies of already collected materials in his archive. Perhaps you might
consider the HHB stand-alone CD burner: HHB CDR830: $550 US(ish) to make
copies. It is easy to use, and the converters are reasonably good. Or what
about using one of your existing computers and recording through a good
converter into a digital only card, and then saving the files as sound
files, as well as audio CDs? That way you can make one-offs whenever you
need from the stored files. These days, hard drive space is so cheap, you
might consider transferring the collection to HD and leaving it there. When
you need a reference copy, burn a CD from the file, or record a cassette
from the playback of the computer, and voila!
I am a novice with respect to library requirements, so was reluctant to
post but am enthusiastic about seconding Ms. Ryvers's comments.
Much depends on the sort of support you can find and characteristics of
your source material. For example, given 'slave labor' in a school and
master MDs of no more than 80 minutes, transfer to CD-R on a standalone
semipro deck (not requiring "DigitalAudio" media) makes excellent sense.
However, if the recordings are on extended MD - either monaural or
low-speed or both, yielding up to 160 or 320 minutes per disc - I would
recommend going directly to hard drive or another removable medium in WAV
or AIFF for later editing and transfer. A viable removable medium is
DVD-ROM and direct recording to that in UDF is quite feasible.
If the audio characteristics are suitable, you may find CDWAV (linked from
my site) a good program to capture the sound to hard drive. It puts very
little load on the system and can be set for automatic termination of the
recording based on time or loss of signal. It is also convenient for
chopping the resulting WAV before saving.
Despite its compression, MD should be a good (though expensive) archival
medium. Its magneto-optic storage is probably durable and recovery has been
reliable so far. However, media have been inconsistent and cost is
significant. For normal mode (stereo, standard speed), it will be of the
order of five times the price of CD-R and 1.5 times the cost of a large
hard drive.
Mike
mrichter@xxxxxxx
http://www.mrichter.com/