LP to CD transfer

[Paul Mather]

On Wed, 24 Sep 1997, Niko Makila wrote:

> Paul's message dated: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 10:56:48 EDT
> >
> > If your ostensible aim is to digitally archive your LPs, have you
> > considered just getting a pro-DAT drive?  I'm sure it will beat the
> > CD-write unit hands down in terms of price/performance (and the media is
> > reusable!)  Naturally, you can't make CD-R bootlegs with a DAT unit, but
> > you did stress these were for your own personal use, didn't you? :-)
>
> How durable are these CD-R's anyway?  I think that I've read somewhere
> that in less than 10 years they'll be unreadable (unlistenable too).
> Maybe it was even in the figures of five years.  Anyone know more about
> this?  Anyway I'd think that good old tape (DAT) should last longer.

The other big advantage of DAT over CD-R is recording length.  You can
fit two hours of music on a 60 metre tape, and 3 hours on a 90 metre
one.  This is great for archiving live analogue cassettes onto digital,
whereas most live tapes (C-90 and up) won't fit on a 74-minute CD-R.
DAT media is cheaper than CD-R, too (even ignoring the fact it is
re-recordable).

Of course, all this may become a moot point when DVD really gets off the
ground.

Cheers,

Paul.

obCD: Monster Magnet, _Spine of God_

e-mail: paul at gromit.cs.vt.edu

"I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time"
        --- James Marshall Hendrix