Analog Archive Journal
Technical notes, format history, and practical archive guidance from the most recent year. Current archive range: March 21, 2025 through March 13, 2026.
March 13, 2026 • 6 min read
A practical buyer's guide to comparing VHS and cassette transfer services by playback chain, file delivery, QC discipline, and long-term preservation value.
March 6, 2026 • 5 min read
A practical, technically accurate guide to VHS RF capture, the vhs-decode workflow, and when raw RF preservation is worth the extra complexity.
March 3, 2026 • 2 min read
A practical pre-delivery checklist for cassette and VHS conversion projects to keep masters accurate, organized, and long-term ready.
March 2, 2026 • 2 min read
A practical guide to recording digital source files onto high-quality blank VHS and cassette media without compromising stability.
February 20, 2026 • 1 min read
A practical explanation of why FLAC is the right archival format for cassette transfer, and how bit depth, sample rate, and listening copies fit together.
January 24, 2026 • 2 min read
What deck-side TBC/DNR stages and external full-frame stabilizers actually do, and why stable timing is critical for VHS capture.
December 19, 2025 • 1 min read
A short technical guide to azimuth alignment and why careful playback setup can make or break cassette transfer quality.
November 21, 2025 • 1 min read
From ferric to metal tape, how cassette formulations evolved and what those differences mean when digitizing old recordings.
October 24, 2025 • 1 min read
Upscaling can be useful, but native-resolution high-bitrate masters remain the most important deliverable for preservation.
September 19, 2025 • 1 min read
A concise history of VHS adoption, recording modes, and why so many family archives still depend on this format.
August 22, 2025 • 1 min read
Why the Nakamichi Dragon still matters for serious cassette capture workflows decades after its original release.
July 18, 2025 • 2 min read
A non-jargon explanation of sample rate and bit depth choices for household tape digitization projects.
June 20, 2025 • 1 min read
Simple pre-intake steps that reduce risk and improve transfer efficiency for home archives.
May 23, 2025 • 1 min read
A look at cassette mixtape culture and why informal recordings are often historically meaningful local artifacts.
April 18, 2025 • 1 min read
How AI upscaling can improve viewing comfort while still respecting the limits of source VHS material.
March 21, 2025 • 1 min read
A practical system for naming and organizing transferred cassette and VHS files so they stay usable over time.
