Digital radio, using Eureka-3 digital audio broadcasting (DAB), is now up and running, although receiver prices are high, and the emphasis so far has been on in-car units rather than home units. There are, however, several other digital options that have now opened out for audiophiles, particularly for those with computing interests. The problem might be that, with so many options either available or promised, no one can really decide what to buy until the situation settles.
Video Recorders
At the time when Beta and VHS video recorders where competing for the United Kingdom market, several makes of Beta recorders, notably Sanyo, offered the option of sound recording by digitizing an audio input and recording it as if it were a video signal. These recorders have become prized possessions of some audiophiles because of their good sound recording quality and low-cost media. That’s assuming they can still get hold of Beta tapes, which, although now rare in the United Kingdom, are still easily available in other parts of the world and are still manufactured for the professional grade of Betamax camcorders.
Looking at more modern equipment, manufacturers such as Hitachi have incorporated audio facilities (including audio dubbing) into Nicam recorders. The input audio signals are converted to Nicam stereo digital format, which implies some compression and recorded. This offers at least 3 h of good-quality music on a standard El 80 tape. One drawback is that automatic gain control settings often result in rather low-level recording so that you need to adjust your volume control settings on replay.