TRANSFERRING PCM-F1 DIGITAL TAPES presented by Gary Galo

The Association for Recorded Sound Collections presents the following program from its 2018 ARSC Conference in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday May 11, 2018: TRANSFERRING PCM-F1 DIGITAL TAPES presented by Gary Galo, Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam The PCM-F1 was a portable digital audio recording system introduced by Sony in 1981. Though originally marketed as a consumer product, the PCM-F1’s excellent audio quality and affordable price made it far more popular in professional audio circles. This portable digital processor encoded digital audio onto a video carrier for storage on Beta-format video cassettes. Most users chose Sony’s matching SL-2000 Beta recorder. The PCM-F1 digital processor was not equipped with a digital audio output, making it undesirable for transferring these recordings to modern digital formats. Sony subsequently manufactured F1-compatible digital processors with S/PDIF digital outputs, including the PCM-601 ESD. This paper will outline a procedure for transferring PCM-F1 digital recordings using a PCM-601 ESD processor and a stand-alone digital recorder. Practical solutions to the four issues facing anyone transferring PCM-F1 recordings will be covered, including: the non-standard 44.056 kHz sampling rate, the 50 μSec /15 μSec pre-emphasis curve, the inter-channel time delay, and DC offset. The presentation will explain how a stand-alone digital recorder easily solves the first two problems, and how the remaining two can be addressed with most computer-based digital editing programs. THE ASSOCIATION FOR RECORDED SOUND COLLECTIONS (www.arsc-audio.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and study of sound recordings, in all genres of music and speech, in all formats, and from all periods. ARSC is unique in bringing together private individuals and institutional professionals—everyone with a serious interest in recorded sound. Videographers: Michael and Leah Biel Editor: Nathan Georgitis