| From: | Brent Santin |
| Date: | 8 May 2000 at 19:23:19 |
| Subject: | Making inexpensive "Safety Copies" |
For those of us who use MD-multitrackers, but are still using
magnetic tape as a mix-down medium (DAT, Hi-Fi VHS or analogue tape),
here is a way to make long-term durable "Safety backups" of important
master recordings without buying any extra equipment:
I have a Yamaha MD8 and I have a DAT machine for mix-down. DAT is
very high quality, but since it is TAPE it will eventually degrade
from wear and age & stray magnetic fields. It could also get
crunched in a malfunctioning machine. Sound archivists do not
recommend DAT for long-term storage of important recordings (beyond
five years). Analogue tape (reel to reel especially) will last a
little longer, but it still can get crunched, worn out, stretched,
etc.
The best solution would be to back up the master recording onto
optical disc. CD-R's and regular stereo Minidiscs will last a
lifetime if cared for and cannot be crunched, de-magnitized, etc.
Unfortunately, the cost of a GOOD CD-R or MD setup means shelling out
several hundred more dollars. You'll need:
1) a computer powerful enough to burn CDs without problems ($1000)
2) a CD burner ($250)
3) a ***GOOD*** sound card with digital inputs or at **least** real
RCA inputs and good analogue to digital converters. No, those $80
game-oriented Soundblaster cards with the little 1/4" mic inputs
aren't good enough for archiving important master recordings. You
need at least a Soundblaster LIVE and the optional SPDIF interface
(another $300) or a more expensive Professional audio card.
4) You could buy a stand-alone burner; the Phillips models costs
around $500 but use special audio-only compact discs which are more
expensive than CD-R's. The pro-level stand-alone burners from TASCAM
and FOSTEX cost around $1000.
5) A stereo Minidisc deck is cheaper, but will still cost $250.
But of course if you have a MD-multitracker, then you ALREADY have an
optical-disc recorder. Just buy some regular audio minidiscs (about
$5 each or less) and back up your master tapes to the Minidiscs using
your multitrack machine. These discs will survive flood, smoke
damage, earthquakes, dust, temperature extremes, etc. To some people
they may not sound quite as good as a DAT or a good reel-to-reel
analogue master recording because of the ATRAC compression. However,
they are pretty darned close to the original, especially considering
the few dollars it costs to make them - and you won't regret it
should your original tape ever fail.
The process is fairly obvious, but I will state how I do it:
1) mix down to DAT from my multitracker.
2) Put a REGULAR, inexpensive audio minidisc in my multitracker
3) Plug the DAT output into the multitracker (check your manual) and
make a backup copy of the DAT onto MD.
4) Put both of them safely into storage, or keep the MD copy out as
your 'listening copy'.
I still keep the original DAT safely stored, and I will use the DAT
first should I ever wish to create copies for sale to the public.
But, if it should ever go bad, I will be glad I have this
Minidisc "Safety copy" of the DAT. Sure the MD copy is slightly
inferior to the original DAT because of ATRAC, but it's still pretty
good (95% as good as the DAT), and it's better than losing my master
recording forever.
The above process could also be used by people who don't have any
sort of mix-down deck, but do have a computer. You could mix-down
from your multi-tracker to your computer's hard-drive via the sound-
card input and then copy the music from your computer back onto a
regular Mindisc via your multitracker. Then empty-out your hard
drive. The quality would of course depend on your sound card.
Any comments on the above?
Brent Santin
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