This remnant will be replaced soon. The FAQ is back, with a new design! How should I count tape generations? Basic idea: Tape duplication can result in loss of sound quality and the addition of noise, as the tape that's made records not only the music being copied but the sounds of the two decks involved. Generations are a way of keeping track of this process: when a tape is copied, the copy is (or has) one more generation than the tape it's copied from. DAT vs Analog: Copying DAT tapes to other DAT tapes doesn't add any noise from the sound of machine (the "signal-to-noise ratio" is generally unchanged) since the signal is digital. Note, however, that "diginoise" can occur where there is instability in the dubbing process, resulting not in degredation of sound quality, but short blips during which you will hear digital squelching nonsense; and, if is any weakness or interruption in the process, the result is "dropouts", short holes of silence. Counting gens: There is no dispute that you add one generation for each analog copy made. The disputes lie with respect to whether or not to count the first analog tape, and about whether an analog taped directly from the source (soundboard or mics) is the same as an analog tape copied from DAT. (Indeed there is dispute about whether the phrase "analog master" should be reserved for original from-the-source analogs or applies more generally to the first analog, even if from DAT.) For some, generations are understood as the transmission, the process of copying, and the step between two tapes. They argue that since there is no step for the first analog, then the first analog is 0th gen. (Some even argue, incoherently, that a soundboard master is 0th gen but a microphone master is 1st gen.) Nevermind that there is a step before the first analog (the signal from source or DAT, with possibly non-digital noise from either). More importantly, generations are more commonly understood as stopping points, not as the step between them. Generation X is not the difference between twentysomethings and their parents; it's just the kids. The next generation of computers is not the gap between what we have now and what comes next, but what does actually come next. For folks (like Ellis, if you couldn't tell) who think this way, the first analog is 1st gen whether its from the soundboard, microphones, or DAT. Reporting gens: It doesn't so much matter how you count gens. What matters is that you report how you count gens, particularly if you're doing something that may be unconventional. The top of your tapelist should clearly specify how you count gens, particularly if you're an analog trader (but, otherwise, for any analog tapes you have). Other source info: As time passes, the demands for information (and quality) get higher and become more specific. Generations are largely gone in the digital age, since copying the bits doesn't change them (at least not until superior copyright protection is designed into the bits themselves). Meanwhile, many other aspects of recording have become important. Here is a great summary of abbrevations to the various source info you may encounter. "The mathematical sciences particularly exhibit order, symmetry, and limitation; and these are the greatest of the beautiful."" -- Aristotle" This page last updated January 24, 2007. All contents © 1992-2007 Ellis Godard. All rights reserved.