# What does "archival sound" mean in classical recordings?



## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

The term _archival sound quality_ is used quite a bit. What kind of source and quality are we talking about?

1. tape of a 1950's orchestra broadcast than sounds hooty, OR
2. a scratchy, wobbly acoustic 78 rpm record from the early 1920's, OR
3. both, OR
4. something else


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Roger Knox said:


> The term _archival sound quality_ is used quite a bit. What kind of source and quality are we talking about?
> 
> 1. tape of a 1950's orchestra broadcast than sounds hooty, OR
> 2. a scratchy, wobbly acoustic 78 rpm record from the early 1920's, OR
> ...


It's usually how a label describes a recording that is technically dreadful, either because the original source was crap, or because the company screwed it up.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

My understanding is that the term means state-of-the-art audio transfers of a recording from one medium to another - no deterioration of sound from the original tape, lp or cd - such as the transfer of an LP to a high-quality archival CD to preserve the sound of the original performance as much as possible. The quality of archival CDs is likely to last longer than the use of a typical commercial CD. The term doesn't necessarily refer to the quality of the performance itself but only its manner of preservation for posterity. But the term does suggest that the sound quality of the performance will be as good as possible from its original source.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

wkasimer said:


> It's usually how a label describes a recording that is technically dreadful, either because the original source was crap, or because the company screwed it up.


I'll second this. The word Archival usually is an apology for poor sound. It's OK if that's just the way the recording was made and the performance is good.


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Larkenfield said:


> My understanding is that the term means state-of-the-art audio transfers of a recording from one medium to another - no deterioration of sound from the original tape, lp or cd - such as the transfer of an LP to a high-quality archival CD to preserve the sound of the original performance as much as possible. The quality of archival CDs is likely to last longer than the use of a typical commercial CD.


I didn't know that, thanks. As bit of background, at the beginning of the 1970's I bought a number of historic LP's from the International Piano Library and even if the sound is poor these are prized possessions because of the pianists included, e.g. Hofmann, Lhevinne, Arthur Loesser, Da Motta. Now that I'm listening to old orchestra recordings it's because of the composition more than the performer, and am more picky about sound for cost reasons.


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

It's nothing but marketing fluff; it has no technical meaning. It's purely a way to get you to buy something and as such should be viewed with caution.


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