FYI

MadMax · 2006-01-11, 04:08 PM

Interesting point of view, but I'd like to offer a counterpoint that was a hard lesson for me a while back. Magnetic tapes are also used for professional studio recording. They degrade with time. Without going into all the physics, data can shift on them as well; and any type of tape is prone to failure if it is not run from front to back on a periodic basis.

Spooled magnetic tape (even the high quality, $60 tapes we used in the studio) can have a tendency to start sticking together if it sits for long enough. Then, when you go to retrieve the data (in this example the individual audio tracks on the tape), if any sections of tape are stuck together on the spool they can be damaged when they're pulled apart as the tape runs.

Thus, when I went back into the studio to play with some tracks that hadn't been touched in about 4 years I found that certain tracks were unrecoverable, even with pro level error correction trying to fill in the missing data from the damaged sections of tape. Even microscopic damage can create problems, and these were tapes stored in a temperature and humidity controlled environment.

Magnetic tape is a great storage medium as the article states, but in order to get a 30 year lifespan out of it you need to make sure the tape doesn't have the opportunity to fall victim to the scenario above, by at least running the tape front to back (even in seek/FF/RW) every 6-12 months

Great post, and welcome to the forums

2006-01-11, 04:08 PM	#2
MadMax "Without evil there can be no good, so it must be good to be evil sometimes" ~ Satan Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Motor City, baby, where carjacking was invented! Now GIMME THOSE SHOES! Posts: 2,385	Interesting point of view, but I'd like to offer a counterpoint that was a hard lesson for me a while back. Magnetic tapes are also used for professional studio recording. They degrade with time. Without going into all the physics, data can shift on them as well; and any type of tape is prone to failure if it is not run from front to back on a periodic basis. Spooled magnetic tape (even the high quality, $60 tapes we used in the studio) can have a tendency to start sticking together if it sits for long enough. Then, when you go to retrieve the data (in this example the individual audio tracks on the tape), if any sections of tape are stuck together on the spool they can be damaged when they're pulled apart as the tape runs. Thus, when I went back into the studio to play with some tracks that hadn't been touched in about 4 years I found that certain tracks were unrecoverable, even with pro level error correction trying to fill in the missing data from the damaged sections of tape. Even microscopic damage can create problems, and these were tapes stored in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. Magnetic tape is a great storage medium as the article states, but in order to get a 30 year lifespan out of it you need to make sure the tape doesn't have the opportunity to fall victim to the scenario above, by at least running the tape front to back (even in seek/FF/RW) every 6-12 months Great post, and welcome to the forums