I would like to backup my MiniDV tapes using the FireWire port in a raw format (byte for byte) to avoid any degradation in quality.
What (preferably open source) software would you recommend for Vista Basic?
Also, is there a standard file format?
How to backup MiniDV tapes
backupdvdfirewiretape
Related Solutions
Use a 3.5 mm stereo-to-RCA cable from the RCA out of the cassette tape deck to the Line In jack of the sound card.
Select Line In as source for your recordings.
Then grab Audacity and record/cut your tapes. Keep the the results in a lossless format (e.g. WAV - or compressed as Monkey's Audio or FLAC to save space) for further processing before converting to MP3.
Note: Audacity requires the LAME MP3 Encoder for MP3 conversion.
Note: This would not be a fully digital remaster as you're still using an analog tape player.
I would recommend one of two ways:
1: If your tapes contain rare or special recordings:
Get this $130 USB tape deck and rip your tapes to your computer. (Note: there's a $100 USB turntable available as well.) Consider using this $35 preamp and noise filter if needed. Plan on spending many long evenings filled with tape swapping and mp3 editing.
2: If your tapes contain currently available mainstream music:
Realize that the above effort is just too much compared to what you get out of it. Spend a while listening through your tapes and make notes of what music you really want to keep, then purchase those songs digitally (Amazon, iTunes, whatever).
3: If you have lots of time and just want to hook up your old tape deck:
In response to the good comment: I've tried some tape ripping earlier which was simply done by hooking up a normal tape deck through the computer's audio-in and recording into a cd-ripping program named "Exact Audio Copy" which also has a line-in recording option. That might be the cheapest way of them all, but also rather time consuming because EAC's ability to automatically split tracks has its limitations depending on the tape's audio quality.
I would choose option #2 unless your tapes contain unique material. This is something I need to do myself, too. So many old recordings from my youth, listening to the radio... oh, the memories :-)
Best Answer
Tape is actually a very stable storage medium. Keeping the original MiniDVs on a shelf, plus a spare player (preferably with a FireWire output) is a solid backup strategy.
DVD-Rs suffer from bit rot even in the "archival" quality discs -- it's a technology issue. And hard drives, while fairly stable if they're not left connected to a machine but instead shelved, are delicate in comparison to tape. You could look in to solid state drives but the cost per byte there is quite high. Long term data archival is usually done to tape at the corporate level: it's cost-per-byte is very good and the durability goes from respectable to very good if you can store them in a well-controlled environment.
So, my answer is: don't bother. Put the tapes in a box and keep a spare player around.