David Looser wrote:

few studios still offer analogue recording to those clients who like
distortion, but it is a kind of technological ludditeism.

On Jan 11, 7:58 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Perhaps, but it still sounds good, it's still billable, and there are still
plenty of customers demanding it. Equipment and media production have
dropped down to stable levels to support the low but constant demand of
the market. I don't see it expanding, but I don't see it going away either.

I spent some time at CES yesterday chatting with Jeff Jacobs of J-
Corder. He rebuilds and resells the Technics 1500 series recorders,
including updating the electronics for lower noise, more headroom, and
bias and EQ to accommodate modern tapes.. Most of his customers are
high end audio addicts who don't record on them, but some have been
sold to studios and mastering houses. He chose to specialize in this
particular model and a better-than-new one goes in the $4500-5500
ballpark depending on the model, accessories, and finish.

That's more than a thrift shop Sony or an eBay AG-440, but consistent
with how Mike Spitz of ATR Service prices the rebuilt ATR-100s that he
sells (or charges for rebuilding one that you own).

People are indeed buying them. Not as many as are buying pocket sized
flash memory card recorders for sure, but then they're being used for
different purposes.