Audio-related Information

The Archival Standard for Audio Capture is

96 KHz 24-bit ("96/24") WAV files on DVD-R
see: CDP Digital Audio Working Group: Digital Audio Best Practices, Version 2.1, October 2006

But note, since the above was written:

ARSC Technical Committee: Preservation of Archival Sound Recordings

ARSC Technical Committee: AUDIO PRESERVATION AND RESTORATION DIRECTORY (= Vendors)

Essential Resources for Audio Preservation

The following is from Maria Victoria Fernandez on 2022-06-24.

Below are some of the best practices for audio file preservation from the Society of American Archivists/International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives.

Audio files from Analog Sources

• Preservation Master
• High quality uncompressed file
• No filters, edits or processing
• WAV (.wav) or Broadcast WAV (.bwf)
• Uncompressed PCM (pulse-code modulation)
• 96kHz 24 bit
• IASA (international association of sound and audiovisual archives): 48kHZ 24 bit acceptable
• (Optional) Production Master
• High/intermediate quality copy of preservation master
• Processed, edited, used for derivatives
• Same as preservation master or reduced
• Access Copy
• Lossy compressed file for access and distribution
• Lesser quality for file size savings
• Compressed file (i.e. mp3)