Should I Chuck The Anologue & Go Digital?

[pglewis]

I'd go digital and hang-on to what you have, personally. Tape has some positive coloration qualities and it might be a nice way to warm up that guitar or vocal track from time to time. The freedom of visual editing and PC recording in general is fantastic.

[Nigel Allistair]

I have a pretty well equipped 8-Track Tape based home studio. The whole routine - 24 x 8 Console, 1/2" 8-Track, DAT, racks of effects, blah, blah,blah. I have been stagnant as far as recording for the past couple of years due to real world family issues but have recently been bitten by the bug. My question is, with all the computer based digital software products which record such astounding audio as well as MIDI why in the world would a guy still run all this analog equipment? Why not get rid of it and buy the latest computer & software and keep it in the beige box? No, I cannot afford Pro Tools, but even at the home studio level something such as Cakewalk 9.0 is an amazing product: Audio, Effects,Mixing....
Why do I even need this this DAT Machine or this 112MKII Cassette Deck, or these MidiVerbs, etc. Seriously, I have extensive computer knowledge and work with them all day long in the graphic design field. I wouldn't stand for old fashioned stuff in that area, why settle for it in recording?
I'm looking for serious ideas as to whether a guy like me should get computer, software, a real good Mic Pre, and burn CDs to my hearts content. Do I really want to continue to drop 50 bucks for 30 minutes of 1/2" tape? If it sounds as if I have already made up my mind, I really haven't. I really do love my equipment, but from a purely logical standpoint, this old stuff doesn't make sense, does it?
Thanks for any and all input.

[bball jones]

Go digital young man . . .
The thing I like most about cw9 & a pc is my maintenence costs are almost nill. There are no moving parts, nothing to lubricate or apply head cleaner to. I don't have to go to the local repair tech once or twice a year for scheduled maintenence.
Now working with the pc has not exactly been a walk in the park either i.e. system crashes, software issues, souncard compatibility etc., but for the editing ease alone you gotta love it.
It sounds like you have an awesome arsenal of gear now, be careful about what you dump -
it may come back to haunt you. Good Luck.

[Track Rat]

Right on pg. Analog plus digital. The best of both worlds.

[monty]

Sometimes that PG really hits the nail on the head.

Or should I say *forehead*.

[This message has been edited by monty (edited 07-14-2000).]