Why not magnetic tapes in stead of vinyl records?

"A friend of mine in the record business said that a digital master file at the studio was absolutely amazing and in some ways better than analog. However, the first time it's moved, transferred or copied something happens to it al tdigind it's never the same (his words)."

No doubt, digital data can be replicated at will with NO loss if done with that goal in mind.

Usually, that is NOT the goal though. Data volumes involved and ability of commercial gear today to handle it is the probably the main reason. There may be other more "artistic" ones as well.

I would have to believe that the digital source formats possible with good pro gear today is capable of surpassing anything prior, but must be watered down still for most to be able to use it practically.

The long term storage of digital music files is problematic and most likely require the periodic porting of files to different (newer) file types. A record from 75 years ago can be easily played with some uncertainty about speed and EQ settings, but it can be played. It's not clear that a WAV file will be decipherable in 2089.

Onhwy61, Do you expect to be alive in 2089? Taiyo Yuden CD-Rs data retention is rated 100 years. Same for SanDisk flash memory. I need only 30 years - no issue for me.

This issue isn't whether it effect either of us, but how it effects future generations of music lovers. Will the music being produced today be accessible to them? A CD may physically survive, but will there be the specific hardware or operating systems needed to access the stored music?

Converting formats of computer files, when needed, is relatively easy.

I just converted all my .wav files to FLAC, something I knew I would do eventually when I started several years back.

I did it with free MediaMonkey software, a few mouse clicks, and my existing external drives.

I converted about 200 CDs worth of files, about 1Tb in .wav format to about .5 Tb in lossless compressed format FLAC. IT did take about 48 hours for all files to convert given that volume of data, but it all worked as it should.

I expect FLAC to be around for quite a while. I do not know of anything at this time coming down the pipe that will necessitate a change again anytime soon, but "never say never".

I would love to convert all my large record collection to digital, but the work and cost involved to do that is prohibitive by far, not even remotely feasible, so I will keep playing those records as well as needed for teh foreseeable future and only convert the "must haves" to digital as time permits.