RU recording LPs on Reel to Reel ?

Dennis:

5-10 years makes DAT comparable to CDR's (based on what I have read to date).

For archival purposes I would guess that the LP is first (by a long shot) and then is followed by quality magnetic tape (based on sane but still non commercial storage).

Don't know if they are still used, but 15 years ago there were active vintage archival film storage vats @ 7000 Romaine (Howard Hughes old accounting HQ) which were a trip.

Funny (not) that our modern data storage marvels suck regarding this aspect in that even the El Cassettes recorded and played back @ higher speeds would have been a better/user friendly medium.

The R-R tapes I made in the 60s and 70s are perfectly listenable on my current machine (Teac X1000R) but some squealed madly on an earlier deck. Much of the problem seems to lie in how well the deck is maintained. That said, I do not use mine for recording anymore, yet I do wonder just how "permanent" all those shiny CDRs will ultimately be.

I have a large collection of music and currently use a Tandberg reel to reel, Fostex Pro DAT and Fostex Pro CD Recorder for recording. It has been my experience that the best analog reproduction comes from the reel to reel. DAT and CDR are going to play back digital and though quite good doesn't have the warm analog sound to my ears. As far as tape bleeding with reel to reels, you would need to use good tape, store your tapes properly and play them or at least rewind them a couple times a year. It is getting harder to find new reel tapes and they are expensive, I buy them in lots of 10 and play about 22.00 each. I also buy recorded tapes and erase them and record over them. E-bay is a good source for these. You can purchase a good reel to reel here on Audiogon, there is currently a Tandberg for sale. There is also a number of folks who still service reel to reels. The only company that I know that has new reel to reels in production is Tascam and it retails for over 2 grand. I don't think you could go wrong with a reel , DAT or CDR. They all have their strong points and weakness. Good luck.

Kublakhan-- The tapes are not mine, but if you are interested email me and I'll give you my father's phone #- if he's given up on some magic bullet to save his tapes, he may sell them (I'm assuming you want them to erase and re-record)

Rec: The tapes used were excellent quality, but you've hit the issue right on the head-- many of them were not played for years (a decade?) and that's most likely what killed them. The tape manufacturers intimated the same thing when he resurrected the reel-to-reel, found the tapes unlistenable, and called them demanding someone's head on a pike.

I have ~750 reels dating from the late 60s to mid-90s. The original reason for recording was to preserve the LPs (particularly when having company over like a party) and they've stood the test of time fairly well. Some of the cheap tape has shed its backing leading to squeal, but for the most part they are still eminently listenable and - in some cases - sound better than the CD version.

As far as finding things on tape goes, I made a database to track everything using the tape number and the tape counter and can cut to the start of any album in a minute or so.