Date:         Tue, 4 Oct 2005 21:32:05 -0400
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:       Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         Dave Bradley <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Requiem for the DAT (redux, was Storage of audio CDs)
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>All the DATS I recorded (ten years worth) are at 44.1, and when a client 
>brings in a 48k DAT, I usually transfer analog to 44.1 because it seems to 
>come out just as well or better than a lengthy SRC in the digital realm. 
>Thought or comments?

If the analog transfer is coming out just as well or better than a lengthy 
SRC in the digital realm, you either have a: Really incredible DAC / ADC 
setups, or b: A really bad digital SRC setup, or C: both of the above.  I 
use Adobe Audition to do my sample rate conversions, and despite having 
really high resolution and darn great sounding DACs and ADCs, the quality 
of the purely digital conversion still sounds better. Of course, there's a 
"quality" fader in Audition's conversion parameters screen that you can set 
from 1 to 999.  When it's at 999 I get great conversions that take some 
time, but I wouldn't say they're "really lengthy" (they're still faster 
than real time in most cases).  When it's at 1 I get a completed conversion 
in the blink of an eye, but it's not worth listening to.

>>One of the challenges is deciding what to do with 48 ks/s DATs. Do you 
>>save them as files or downsample to 44.1 ks/s for audio CDs.

Since the audio on a DVD can be done in PCM instead of compressed, and 
since DVDs accept 48 KHz PCM, those files will work nicely on a DVD.