In "Steve Albini has a secret stash"

quite similar situation to the one in tube manufacturing, i suppose. they still make them, i mean, but similar problems. of course lots of people need tubes for their hifi-equipment too, so it's a bigger market.

funny as i like record on digital and master to analog. i couldn't find trace of emtec (formerly basf) producing analog either.

OK, so, a question: is it actually true that audio tape has a quality that cannot (currently) be replicated with digital recording, or is that just in the imaginations of wilfully retro bands and producers? there are differencies, yes. a correctly adjusted analog tape machine can reproduce frequencies up to +30-35 khz. i don't personally consider this so important as we can only hear up to 20-21khz. more important is how analog vs. digital handle dynamics. then recording on "red" (too much level going on tape) digital signal hits a brick wall (the bits, 16 or 24 or whatever, are full). this "squares" the signal and gives it a nasty sound. basically, apart from styles like noise and gabber, this sound has little use in traditional recording. analog tape, on the other hand, "loads" up gradually so the sound is smoother. my impression is that if you're going for a traditional rock sound, using analog recording gives you instant results. then you play back a tape, it already sounds more .. ehm "rock-y", ie. puchier, smoother. digital recording is more "accurate", what is useful for other things. it's like difference between polaroid photo and a digital photo, if that helps? nowdays there's tons of equipment and software what try to emulate the sound of tape (and tubes and whatnot). i have found these very useful, as i do a lot of recording in different places (locations too) so analog machines (big and heavy) are not an option. and yes, i'm the first to admit that they don't really sound the same as real tape... but good enough for me.

In "CG -- cheap digital camera"

one more suggestion: is the camera itself ready for the transfer? some cameras need to be on or off or some "usb mode" to be turned on. thinking of this "camera's not ready" thing...

graphic converter on osx can also import pictures from cameras. worth a try?

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