[ARSCLIST] DAT question follow up

[andy kolovos <akolovos@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A final note from Steve...

****

Thanks to all for the enlightening posts about bit depth and DAT. My 
original question was whether DAT recordings use a nominal bit depth of 
16 bit and the consensus is a resounding Yes. Therefore, it would seem 
that nothing is to be gained by transferring at 24 bit and valuable hard 
drive space is used up in the process.

To clarify my own situation, I am digitally transferring DATs via an 
AES/EBU interface connected by Firewire to a Mac G5 computer. There is 
no sample rate conversion, thus 48K DATs end up on an external hard 
drive as 48K AIFF files which I then also save as WAV files. I have been 
setting the bit depth at 24, but this seems quite unnecessary under the 
circumstances. This work is part of an archival audio preservation 
project funded by the Grammy Foundation. The AIFF and WAV files will 
remain stored on external Firewire/USB hard drives with safety backup 
copies being burned to Mitsui CDRs. Using Roxio Toast software to burn 
the CDs, the conversion from 48K to Red Book 44.1K/16-bit occurs in the 
process. The original hard drive files remain unaffected. The long range 
plan is to maintain two hard drives, each stored in separate locations 
with audio CDR backup copies also stored in two locations to hedge 
against catastrophic loss.

Thanks also to Andy for helping me post to the list— I am not able to 
get through from the email address I am currently using but I ca be 
reached off-list at the address below.


Cheers,


Steve Green
Western Folklife Center
sgreen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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*********************************
Andy Kolovos
Archivist/Folklorist
Vermont Folklife Center
P.O. Box 442
Middlebury, VT 05753
(802) 388-4964
akolovos @ vermontfolklifecenter.org
http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org