Keywords: Audio, archive, strategy, digitization, data centre, restoration, compression, metadata, quality,
multichannel audio, up-conversion.
1. Scope
Most modern audio production and processing technologies work in the digital domain and handle
audio as files. This fact opens up many possibilities that could not have been contemplated in the
analogue era. If an analogue audio archive can at best serve as a warehouse of magnetic tapes
(hopefully, perfectly organized and documented), then the role of a digital archive will be
considerably broader. The user will be in much more frequent contact with it, he will use it during
preparation of his projects, during the production process and when making decisions about further
usability of finished works.
The goal of this document is to provide germane information to those who plan to digitize their
sound archives. The EBU (European Broadcasting Union) has many Members who have already
trodden this path and whose experience is a very valuable commodity. The information provided
here is not a set of universal instructions on how to proceed; the main idea is rather to point out
the significant principles, learned from experiences and findings that should be observed in case of
newly developing projects.
This material is the result of work done by the EBU’s P/CRA (Conception of Radio Archives) Project
Group and it draws on work previously performed by the P/DAW and P/NAP Project Groups, both of
which focused on implementing information technologies (IT) in standard studio environments. It
should be noted that another output of P/CRA, EBU Recommendation R105-2008, is conceived in
the same way, but it only deals with the process of digitization and with the determination of
appropriate parameters for this purpose.
Thanks: 
EBU TECHNICAL
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