Analog is a highly accurate, modern technology, plus there is someting about the way it reacts to elevated levels that is candy to the human ear. That something has a lot to do with the fact that our ears naturally compress loud sound similar to what tape does. Tom Scholz called it “that analog smear” in an article way back in 1987.
The idea that digital is more accurate is one that I reject, though it is widely held. There is something wrong, missing and destructive in the digital process in comparison, not to analog tape, but to live sound. Experts have been debating exactly what that something is for decades now, so we won’t settle it here.
From the very earliest days of digital a myth was propagated that the recordings were so accurate that it captured every little detail, warts and all. It started with the Sony DASH reel-to-reels, PCM, R-Dat and so on. The idea was that the existing equipment would have to catch up to match the fidelity of digital.
IT IS NOT TRUE! IT WAS NEVER TRUE! IT IS MYTH # 1 IN THE DIGITAL SAGA! It was the digital process itself all along that was producing the ill effects. And the industry did not move forward but rather back to tubes/valves to remedy the problem. The acceptance of digital was solely responsible for the tube revolution of the 90’s.
When I want a good laugh I pour over my many periodicals from about 1985 to the present and read the breathless reviews of CD, DAT and 486 DAWS. I know some of those guys like Craig Anderton and Paul White have to blush when they read some of their old articles (I hope they do anyway).
In retrospect a lot of the magazines that helped bring about the digital revolution were nothing more than commercial rags. Those guys didn’t know what they were doing half the time – it was all new to them too. They just swept one another along with whatever the manufacturers were feeding them.
The Emperor’s New Clothes indeed, and only the more serious engineering mags like dB and Recording Engineer/Producer dared point out digital’s nakedness with any real science. The other mags finally did as well from about 1997 because there was no more denying digitals’s shortcomings.
At about this same time articles and reports of studios taking their analog machines out of mothballs began to circulate. One example, this segment from a 1998 EE Times Tom Scholz interview.
"I still record the same way I always did," said Scholz. "The master goes to tape, and I mix in analog. My board is a 20-year old [Audiotronix] mixing console."
The equipment fits well with the recent renaissance of the "primal" rock sound — a movement that amuses Scholz.
"Now people are falling all over themselves to get a hold of these old tape decks," he said. "Fortunately, I'm very slow to change something that's working."
In the pro world there are now more analog machines in use today than there were in the late 90’s – that’s a fact. The larger million dollar operations have mostly Studer and some Otari. But do a search for pro working studios that have Tascam MS-16, MSR-16, MSR-24, 38, 388, TSR-8, 32, 34, 22-2, BR-20 and
Fostex B-16, E-16, G-16, R-8, Model 20, E-2, E-22, etc. It will be this time next year before you document them all. Yep, most also have Pro Tools and/or other digital formats as well.
In the home recording paradigm that lives in about all other forums, but this one, people are unaware of what is going on in the pro world. Thus we have questions like, “why still analog?” and snide comments about “catching the analog disease.”
Why still analog? Ask these guys:
Abbey Road - London, UK
http://www.abbeyroad.co.uk/
Studer A80:
24 & 16 track in 2"
8 & 4 track in 1"
4 track in ½"
2 track in ¼" and ½"
Studer A810:
2 track with timecode or mono with sync pulse
Studer A820:
6 24-track machines in 2"
1 16-track headblock in 2"
1 2 track in ½" format
Ampex ATR 100:
4 track ½" format
3 track ½" format (playback only)
Ardent Studios - Memphis, TN
http://www.ardentstudios.com
3 - Studer 827 Analog 24 Track (One Optional 16 Track Headstack)
1 - Studer A80RC Analog 1/2" 2 Track
1 - MCI JH110 Analog 1/2" 2 Track
1 - MCI JH110 Analog 1/4" 2 Track
6 Tascam 122 MKIII Cassette Decks
Criteria Studios (The New Hit Factory) Miami, FL
http://www.criteriastudios.com/
2
Studer A-820 24-Track
3 Studer A 827 24-Track
Otari MTR-90 24-Track
2 Studer A-820 2-Track (1/2" or 1/4")
Ampex ATR 102 2-Track (1/2" or 1/4")
MCI JH110-B 2-Track
MCI JH110-B 4-Track
Electric Lady - NYC
http://ridiculousparadigm.com/lady/index.shtml
http://www.electricladystudios.com
2 Studer A-800 MKIII 24-track
Studer A-820 24-track
Studer A-820 1/2" 2-track
Studer A-80 VU 1/2" 2 Track
Studer A-810 VU 1/4" 2 Track
Fame Studios - Muscle Shoals, AL
http://www.fame2.com/studios.html
MCI JH-24 2" 24-track
MCI JH-16 2" 24-track
2 Studer B-67 Half-Track
2 Tascam 122 MKII Cassette Decks
Hyde Street - San Francisco, CA
http://www.hydestreet.com/
Otari MTR90 MKII 24 or 16-track
Otari MX5050 MKIII 1/2" 8-track
Ampex ATR 102 1/2" mastering deck
Jungle Room, Glendale CA
http://www.jungleroom.net
MCI JH24 2" 24 Track
Studer - A-80 1/2" 2 Track
Ocean Way - Hollywood & Sherman Oaks, CA
http://www.oceanwayrecording.com/studios.htm
Studer A827 2" 24-track
Ampex ATR-124 24 or 16-track
A800 MKIII 24 track
2 Ampex ATR-100 1/2" or 1/4" Half-Track Mastering
Paisley Park Studios - Chanhassan, MN (Reopened 2004)
http://www.paisleyparkstudios.net/sound_intro.asp
3 Studer A-800 M III 24-tracks
2 Studer A-827 Gold Edition
Studer A-820 Master Recorder 1/2"
Studer A-820 Master Recorder 1/4"
2
Studer A721 Cassette Deck
Rumbo Recorders - Canoga Park, CA
http://captainandtennille.net/rumbo_pgs/clients.html
3 Studer A-827 Analog 24 track Recorders
1 Studer A-820 1/2" Half-Track Mastering Deck
1 Ampex ATR-104 2 or 4 track 1/2"or 1/4" head stacks
Scream Studios - LA, CA
http://www.screamstudios.com/albums.html
Studer A-827 2" 24-track Recorders
Studer A-820 1/2" Half-Track Mastering Deck
Signature Sound - San Diego CA
http://www.signaturesound.com
Studer A827 24-track
Otari MTR-12C 1/2" mastering deck
Skywalker Sound (Lucas Film LTD)
http://www.skysound.com
2 Studer 827 2" 24-tracks
1 Studer 827 2" 16-track
AMPEX ATR 2-Track & 4-Track Mastering Recorders
Studio in the Country - Bogalusa, LA
http://www.studiointhecountry.com/clients_list.htm
Studer A/820 2" 24-trk recorder w/Dolby SR
Studer A/80 2" 24-trk recorder
Studer A/80 2" half-Track recorder w/Dolby SR
Studer A/721 Cassette Recorder
I researched these myself and it’s just a small sampling. It goes on and on, but I do have a day job so you guys will have to find the rest yourself.
-Tim
Analog recording IS THE ONLY recording medium. Digital recording is a convenient alternative compromise, no more no less than that. 
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