what is the best medium to record onto?

[trim]

after mastering i mean.
would i use a DAT machine? is that the standard/best way to get the best most pure sound before making cds?

or do people usually use cd recorders like this:

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--TASCDRW4U

??

 

[TexRoadkill]

DAT's are getting dated and you would still need to put the data on CD unless you are going to send the DAT off to a mastering facility. You can use regular CD recorders but they are pretty low quality compared to a more pro unit like the Alesis Masterlink. You can also record the masters on a computer and burn CD's from that.

 

[trim]

that's what i was going to do with my fostex MR-8... export the tracks onto my computer as wav files then burn them onto cds. but i thought the integrity of the sound might be somewhat diminished after all that.
i wanted to do what the professionals do

do you know much about DAT quality? isn't it still the best?

i checked out that alesis. thanks for the advice.
it's a little out of my budget tho. well for now at least. but i guess 800 bucks is not much to pay for good sound.

did you check out the link i pasted to the tascam? know anything about that model? doesn't seem too bad.

 

[TexRoadkill]

How are you going to get the audio into the mastering deck? If you are transferring digitally then it's not as a big of deal. If you are planning on using analog cables then it is.

Most DATs and that Fostex are only 20bit machines. That means you can't send them a 24bit digital signal. Burning to CD 'on the fly' also has it's own set of issues with errors in the burning process. The Masterlink has an internal hard drive so you don't have to worry about that. The Fostex only uses RCA unbalanced analog inputs which is the worst possible way to send an analog signal. Like I said before the issue with DAT is that you still need to get it to CD if you want to listen on other systems so you still need a CD burner of some type.

I would go with your computer if you have a way to transfer the data without another analog/digital conversion. When you transfer and burn a data file there should be no loss of quality. When you do a digital or analog audio transfer there is the risk of a loss in quality.

 

[trim]

the fostex does have digital output (toslink optical). it also has L/R stereo outputs (i guess thats the analog right?)

the fostex is a 16bit machine i think. when would it be receiving a 24bit signal? what is so important about a 24bit signal?
also what did you mean about the unbalanced analog inputs and sending that type of signal? do you mean like if i was sending an analog signal (via say an analog keyboard) through those inputs that would be the worst possible way? (you mean recording when you say sending right?)

one more thing, when you said:
"When you do a digital or analog audio transfer there is the risk of a loss in quality."
what exactly did you mean? like if i'm sending a digital or an analog tranfer to a masterlink there could be a loss of quality? or did you mean analog to digital/digital to analog? like a conversion.

gah sorry for the flurry of questions. i'm really, er, thirsty for knowledge. you guys on here are really great btw. thanks for all the help