USB keys are great little devices....and they keep getting better. Emtec just came out with a great USB key that comes with your company Logo preloaded and displayed on a small LCD screen.
It is a great promo item and they can be preloaded with your company data as well as the logo. 200 units is the minimum on these and capacities range from 1GB to 8GB.

Recording music professionally used to mean loading in a bunch of analog open reel 2 inch tape. The main manufacturers Ampex (Quantegy), 3M and BASF (Emtec...now RMGI) all had great products with enough differences that a band or engineer could choose the right tape for their session. 3M jumped ship first as the demand for analog tape grew smaller. Emtec shut down their production and finally Quantegy closed their doors leaving the tape purists in a tough situation. When Quantegy reorganized and started production again back in 2005 things looked good. RMG International came along with the great BASF/Emtec formulations and the market looked even better. It's hard to believe there is one tape maker currently around supplying product now that Quantegy shut down the tape lines again. RMGI tape is meeting demand for those who like analog recording. It has been a crazy road for sure getting product back out there but from what we can tell the demand is still strong, just not as huge. Hopefully ATR Magnetics will have their product available soon as well. It might be a digital world but Long Live Analog!

I get amazed by how many genres of music are out there now. The electronic music world is a great example: House, Deep House, Trance, Psy-Trance, Techno, Drums & Bass, etc. I'm glad there in not a test on these...

There is a company in Denver called Beatport  that has done an excellent job compiling a huge selection of music for DJs, clubs and anyone interested in electronic music.

You can kill a few hours just sampling the tracks and there is a good chance you end up filling your crate before leaving their site.

This ad has been on my office wall for quite awhile.  I found it back in the mid 1990's when going through some papers in the warehouse; it came from my old friend Bill Pugliese who used to own B&L Sales, Inc. in North Hollywood, CA.

The complete system could be purchased for $3499.00; blank 8-track cartridges were additional.  The manufacturer Make a Tape, Inc. was out of Fraser, MI and it looks like they were set up to sell through distribution.   I have no idea how well these sold...I just like the great graphics on the ad. 

 The brochure I have is from 1972; blank 8-track tapes sold for $3.50 and you spent another 50 cents to make the copy.  It looks like a pretty nice profit margin...

Archival Gold media has become a very popular storage choice for many of our clients.  Prices for CD-R, DVD-R and DVD+R discs can vary widely depending on the brand and type of media.  Thanks to Lora Swenson of MAM-A for her input!

 1. Gold media is priced higher than most of the standard grade media on the market...why should someone go with a gold disc?

Gold media will last longer than silver.  A Gold reflective layer won't corrode over time but this is possible with non gold media.  MAM-A has a Silver vs. Gold page which answers many of the common questions.

 2. DVD-R or DVD+R...is either format better than the other?

We hear from MAM-A that both formats are essentially equal.  There are some who favor the minus R and others the Plus R; based solely on our sales the DVD-R format is more popular.  Here is more information on DVD-R and DVD+R formats.

 3. What are the ideal record speeds for gold media?

Lora told us:  "Our gold DVD-Rs are indicated to write at a top speed of 8X, but we think 4X is ideal.  Since gold is not as reflective of a metal as compared to silver, the dark organic dye used for all recordable DVDs does not allow for  good performance at 16X.   Gold CD-Rs are made with Mitsui's patented Phthalocyanine dye, which is translucent, therefore allows the gold reflective metal layer to perform at top speeds of 52X."

Visit our Gold CD-R, DVD-R and DVD+R pages for complete product information.