Re: [ARSCLIST] Digital File Specs and StoryCorps

[Jon Noring <jon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Richard asked:

> Please tell me again why some archives insist on digitizing oral 
> history cassettes at 96 ks/s, 24 bit, when they were recorded in 
> lower quality than this rig is capable of?

There is a difference between "born digital" and "born analog".

For digitizing cassettes and other analog sources, 96/24 seem
reasonable to get a good reproduction of the background noise
characteristic of all analog recordings. I believe having this
information may aid any future attempts at restoration.

But if born digital, I'd keep it at the same sampling at whatever it
was born at. Upsampling is not recommended unless there is a specific
reason for it. The question to ask is what the sampling should have
been when "born digital". For oral history recordings, 44.1/16 seems
to be adequate. Audiophile grade recording of music should be
captured at 96/24 or similar. imho of course...


> I'm glad to see some sanity here!

LOL. People have said I am crazy, so not sure on that...

Jon Noring