As for my audio reel-to-reel deck, I don't use it for archival storage. It is really mostly a novelty for me, and I keep recordings of albums on tape. If one were to start sounding like it's losing top end, I could re-record but truthfully, I get tired of it long before then and re-use the tape to record something else. Again, it's mostly for the sake of novelty. As for the cassette, I use it to record stuff for the car. I could install a CD unit for the car, but that would take modification of the dash, which is something I don't want to do. You've got to crank up the sound system to be louder than the headers anyway.