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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Recording Media => Topic started by: hotpin#3 on May 29, 2008, 06:17:30 PM
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I am going to start transferring my master analog & DAT tape's to CD's.
What machine would best get this done ?
What is the best blank cd's for this under taking ?
Is there a 90 or 100 min. cd's out there ?
Thank you for your input !
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I am going to start transferring my master analog & DAT tape's to CD's.
What machine would best get this done ?
What is the best blank cd's for this under taking ?
Is there a 90 or 100 min. cd's out there ?
Thank you for your input !
Read my comment on your previous question about what sample/bit rate. But in case you'd rather not, here's the short version.
Taiyo Yuden (Japan) if you can find TRUE (and not counterfeit ones).
90-99 min discs exist. They're unstable and not true to redbook so I wouldn't use them for anything archival.
I would also consider creating FLAC versions and storing one set on DVD and a copy on a external Hard Drive. I'm doing that right now with all my masters from 1992 to now.
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I am going to start transferring my master analog & DAT tape's to CD's.
What machine would best get this done ?
What is the best blank cd's for this under taking ?
Is there a 90 or 100 min. cd's out there ?
Thank you for your input !
Taiyo Yuden (Japan) if you can find TRUE (and not counterfeit ones).
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TY's for blank CDR's. That's all I use (80 min variety).
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CD is a "streaming" medium. I would suggest transferring the recordings to a computer workstation, and archiving the files on DVD-R's (or hard drives) in a lossless format like FLAC, or even burning them as WAV (or AIFF) files. Streaming media don't have the same quality of error detection or correction that data files do.
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what he said.
as far as media, supermediastore is a genuine TY distributor of both CDs and DVDs.
spring for the premium over the value line
create md5 checksums for every file you make, and if you are archiving to CD, check the md5s after burning
CD is a "streaming" medium. I would suggest transferring the recordings to a computer workstation, and archiving the files on DVD-R's (or hard drives) in a lossless format like FLAC, or even burning them as WAV (or AIFF) files. Streaming media don't have the same quality of error detection or correction that data files do.
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I typically use Verbatim media. That's probably because cakeboxes of 100 CDR are $<0.20/ea. and DVD-R are $<0.30/ea. from Sam's Club (both types are inkjet printable). In other words, they're cheap. I've had nothing but bit-perfect results from Verbatim media (and Samsung SH-S182 optical drive). The results have been so consistently good, in fact, that I've taken to skipping data verification for stuff that I'm burning for immediate playback on another system. I don't trust Verbatim enough to not verify my archival DVDs but I've never had a "coaster".
The key to media longevity, I've found, is careful storage before the discs are burned (absolutely no sunlight or heat greater than room temperature) and reasonable climate control after they're burned. I have ten-year-old "generic" CDRs (burned with an Acer CD-RW) that are fine and some newer discs (Maxell, Sony, etc.) that are coasters after exposure to less-than-ideal storage. I've only been using Verbatim for a few years but all of them I've burned are still OK. I guess batch-to-batch consistency (and the fact that they invented the technology) is Taiyo Yuden's claim to fame. But, like I said, Verbatim have been OK for me.
Before I 'converted' to FLAC, I burned my backups as WAV. Now I use FLAC (and half as many DVDs).
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If you really want to go all out, get master-quality discs from Apogee. Yes, *that* Apogee...the company that makes awesome preamps and digital audio converters. They're expensive but it's worth it and they claim to have an archival life of 100 years. I use them when burning masters meant to be sent to a CD replication plant. I typically burn them at 1x using a Plextor CD burner in Wavelab. To test them, I play them back on my TEAC PD-D2500 CD changer and run it out through my mixer and nearfields and they sound pretty kick-ass! Every client I've mastered a CD for has had nothing but good things to say about their discs because of using the Apogee masters (a magic set of ears helps quite a bit too if I can make a kick-ass sounding CD master using a pair of M-Audio based nearfields for monitoring which most seasoned mastering engineers say is a big no-no ;)).
For basic stuff, I either use Sony or Verbatim and I've had some pretty awesome sounding iTunes playlist CDs on Verbatim discs (I buy music from iTunes and burn it on CD to play in my car - stock stereo with no iPod hookup except a crappy iRiver analog radio adapter). If I can, I burn in Wavelab but if I'm burning iTunes tracks with DRM, I use iTunes.
And if you're serious about making audio CDs that you intend to distribute to other people, spend the extra money on a Plextor burner. They'll last half a lifetime compared to LGs and Lite-Ons which break down after maybe a couple years of heavy use and always put out awesome sounding CDs.
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Is your intent to use CDRs for playback, data storage, or both?
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I am looking for the best quality DVD's to back up the files that i have downloaded. I have transfered some already onto Fuji DVD's in FLAC but was wondering which DVD's will preserve my files the longest. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.
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For DVDs, I use Verbatim and Sony.
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typically sony
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There used to be an informative webpage about CD-R and DVD±R media, ink qualities, duration expectations, etc., but I can't find it any longer. A quick Google search turned up Videohelp, which I saw before, and has a fair amount of anecdotal feedback about specific DVD media (http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia).
Bottom line IMO: you should not rely on DVD media as your sole backup solution. My personal practice is to back up everything three times: local HDD, local DVD media, and off-site HDD. For most recordings, I have as a fourth option as well: the recordings I've shared with fellow tapers and music lovers.
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lots of good feedback here already, but my $.02...
in my uneducated opinion, optical media is probably going to last about as well as you store it, no matter what the brand. if you have them rolling around loose in the back of a truck, doesn't matter if they're $10 a pop aaton (http://www.aaton.com/products/sound/cantar/) :drool: discs (not that they actually make them but if they did i bet they'd look sexy). similarly, cd-r's from reputable brand names wil probably hold up just fine if stored in cases in a drawer and not exposed to jostling/sunlight/dog mouths/beer spills/etc. in my experience, TDK cd-r's have never given me a problem and i can usually find them pretty cheap either online or in retail stores. dvd-r's i also like TDK, but my last purchase was unlabelled Ritek spindles and they are treating me just right as well.
as for the transfer, you could get a standalone cd recorder for probably pretty cheap these days, but then you have to sit there and insert tracks and babysit it. if you have a halfway decent computer, pick up a soundcard with a digi input (something that is bit-transparent - is that the term i'm looking for? - not the edirol units), a copy of wavelab or any other audio recording software that will allow you to program a pre-set recording length/time, hook up your dat to the pc and press play and record, respectively. lots of choices for soundcards, there are some usb options also. since it's dats you're transferring, you don't even need to worry about 24 bit, 16-bit and 44.1 or 48khz is all that will apply. once you've got the long WAV file of the dat on your pc, use cd wave editor to split it into tracks, then FLAC to compress it and burn those files to disc(s) for archival. many audio-cd burning software can convert the FLAC to cd-audio on the fly or keep a copy of the WAV files for burning audio cd's if yours doesn't.
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The M-Audio sound cards I find are great for these kinds of transfers. I currently use an Audiophile Delta PCI 2496 and the signal chain from my Fostex D-5 was:
Fostex D-5 >(TOSLINK)> Radio Shack TOSLINK to Coax 1-way format converter >(Coax)> M-Audio Audiophile Delta PCI 2496 (using S/PDIF and MIDI I/O dongle to a DB9 port)
Just FYI