Posted by ushere on 08/05/07 06:26

> NOTHING is better quality than the original, which, in your case, is U-matic. If you copy to DVD,
> you are massively compressing the signal (maybe 100:1 or more). DV is 5:1. So, miniDV will give you
> waaaaaay better quality archive than DVD. DVD is not an archive medium. Tape is. I do not care if
> you are recording at Super HQ to only fit 1 HR on DVD. It is far inferior compared with miniDV. That
> is why no one in their right mind would use those crappy miniDVD cameras for anything serious. It's
> all low qualitt crap. Keep in mind that one scratch on that DVD will cause you to lose the info
> forever. Tape is, and has always been, the most reliable backup. If a tape gets eaten or breaks, you
> splice it and you lose a few seconds. If you scratch that DVD, it's over.
>
> BJs sells 10 Sony mini DV tape for $25. That's $2.50/tape. Doesnt get much cheaper than that. Did
> you hear the soundtrack from the Beatles LOVE Vegas soundtrack? Sounds like it was recorded
> yesterday. They went back to the original multitrack tapes and remixed everything. Those magnetic
> tapes are over 40 years old. Nothing digitally recorded ever sounded as good as that. Do you think
> for one second that record companies do not store their recordings on tape, even if they were
> recorded on Pro Tools? Digital is cleaner and easy to edit but there is no evidence that it's media
> lasts as long as tape. We do know that tapes recorded nearly 100 years ago are still going strong.
>
> DVD is not a good way to archive your shows unless you will never need to edit them again.
> Otherwise, you are saving junk.
>
> Tony

well stated. however, if i have produced something digitally, ie my
master is, eg. a .wav file. then i see no reason to archive this on
tape. i would simply do multiple cd/dvd's of the raw recording, ie NO
compression. of course, they're limits, dv at 12gig an hour is best
archived on tape, as are original dat recordings, and the like. but i
would not state empathically that tape was the only option.

leslie

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