I’ve worked with vintage Ampex AVR 2 and 6(?) 2 inch VTRs. The machines have held up better than most of the tapes I was sent.
The plan was to archive hundreds of quad tapes to digital beta. The digital beta format was dropped in favor of DVC pro. When (if ever) the digi beta deck at my former place of employment goes, who will care? No one cared about most of that old quad stuff.
Digital beta was to me much better overall than DVC Pro.
You mean the broadcast-grade ones? With the air bearings? Whoa.
They made a beautiful sound when they were running in sync, as I recall. That high-pitch vertical-retrace frequency, or some integer fraction of it.
I used to be able to hear that when I was a kid. Now I couldn't, but no one else can either. It's gone.