Wayne Parham Messages: 18756 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
I think the guys at "the tape project" might also be a good source of information like this. Their focus is finding, maintaining and supporting the archives of analog master tapes and the distribution of direct copies of the masters, e.g. material that has only been transferred once after the original master tape was made.
There are lots of analog lovers here - and even some "analog purists" I suspect - but we do have a lot of digital lovers here as well. But even our most ardent analog enthusiasts here are mostly vinyl guys. I think we all respect the idea proposed by the "tape project" folks, but I think most of us find it a little too restrictive of source material.
I guess I should speak for myself - I think that way - I'd love to have such purity of recorded material but so much of the music I love isn't available in that format. And I do kind of think most of the rest of us that frequent AudioRoundTable.com are pretty much kindred spirits and would probably say the same thing. Just as Rusty said, we're kinda meat and potatoes audiophiles here.
Anyway, the tape-only topic isn't even really what you've brought up here - You're more interested in how the source was originally recorded and mastered, I think, yes? That's a step removed from the "only one transfer copy" issue, although they're similar issues and closely related. So that's why I think the folks on the tape project side may know the answer to your question.