Umatic (1610/1630)

A tape format that for many years was the worldwide standard for storing and interchanging CD masters. Although a reliable medium in terms of audio quality, Umatic tapes degrade slightly each time they’re played, and the maintenance of a Umatic 1630 machine alone could cost as much as it would to buy several CD-R drives at today’s prices. Umatic decks for audio were made by Sony, but are no longer produced. However, uses for video editing and recording still exist for Umatic tape, as do modern Umatic video tape machines (which, although they function in a mechanically similar fashion, are not compatible with Umatic decks for audio).