Audio Data Reduction: Pros and Cons

Today, nobody within the archival community has a desire for data reduction, in particular in the audio field. But in order to rate the pros and cons of data reduction it is advisable to understand how data reduction works. Basis for that is the human hearing sense and the anatomy of the human ear. Its construction is rather complex and offers several possibilities for manipulation. In other words: it can be deceived. There is a spectral selectivity and a temporal sensitivity of the human ear, and both can be used to reduce the amount of sound information. However, from today's view these reduction processes are rather complicated and in consideration of the available IT technology antiquated. Some sound demos illustrate that the human ear is easily deceivable. The final confrontation of pros and cons makes clear that today data reduction provides nearly no advantages; and most of all, it is incompatible with archival principles