LFL archived all three original audio tracks for ANH during the work on remixing the soundtrack from original elements for the blue-ray release. They archived all three versions - mono, stereo matrix, and 4 channel. And magnetic tape does not deteriorate that quickly. It has been the main method of recording for more than 50 years and even the oldest ones can still be used to issue better sounding remasters than the original release. In some cases, the oldest magnetic tapes, such as the recordings going back to the 40’s or late 30’s, could only be played once to archive the data digitally, but the materials used from later periods are superior and not prone to degradation. Especially magnetic tape masters from the 60’s and 70’s.

Each major home video release of the original Star Wars movies has had a different audio mix. The earliest releases have the original theatrical audio. In 1984, Ben Burt created the first digital master audio which appeared on subsequent new releases starting the following year. For the 1993 Definitive Edition, there was a new audio master. Both of these differ slightly from the original in terms of channels matrixed into the final stereo and the stereo width of the mix as well as the volume and clarity. They again got a different mix in 97 and 2004 (with that one having considerable issues with the music in the surround channels. For the blue-ray, Ben Burt went back to the original and remixed ANH to be closer to the mono mix. He did not use many of the alternate takes of lines found in the mono-mix, but virtually all the effects sounds are there. He is the one who stated that they archived all the original mixes from 1977 while working on the blue-ray. The newest mix exists as 6.1/7.1 on the blue-ray and as 5.1 on the latest DVD release.