DAT's

[Masterlu]

One thing I never owned, and often thought I missed out on. DAT, those who have or used to have one; tell us your experience.

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

One thing I never owned, and often thought I missed out on. DAT, those who have or used to have one; tell us your experience.

I had one (TASCAM professional) in my recording studio and also a portable SONY forget the model, but it was ~$1K. I was dazzled at first by the clarity - the same way I was dazzled by CDs when they first came out. Somehow, I ended up using analog tape most of the time. Now I now that while dazzling, the digital sound lacked the deliciousness of analog tape - especially when there was a bit of saturation.

To make a long story short, Ivan you did not miss much.

Alberto

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by Alberto

I had one (TASCAM professional) in my recording studio and also a portable SONY forget the model, but it was ~$1K. I was dazzled at first by the clarity - the same way I was dazzled by CDs when they first came out. Somehow, I ended up using analog tape most of the time. Now I now that while dazzling, the digital sound lacked the deliciousness of analog tape - especially when there was a bit of saturation.

To make a long story short, Ivan you did not miss much.

Alberto

Thanks for sharing Alberto.

[iiaudio]

I had a Sony Dat walkman for a while, super for recording live shows, especially when one needed to be stealth. Moved on to a Tascam DA-P1 for better quality. Before CD-rs were cheap, all our studio stuff was mixed down to DAT because it was cheaper than 1/4" tape.

[f1 fan]

Originally Posted by Alberto

I had one (TASCAM professional) in my recording studio and also a portable SONY forget the model, but it was ~$1K. I was dazzled at first by the clarity - the same way I was dazzled by CDs when they first came out. Somehow, I ended up using analog tape most of the time. Now I now that while dazzling, the digital sound lacked the deliciousness of analog tape - especially when there was a bit of saturation.

To make a long story short, Ivan you did not miss much.

Alberto

Alberto...I concur. I trashed the first Sony because repairs were so expensive then bought another one same thing happened. Not worth the trouble.

Dave

[Dj_AmTraX]

I have a rarely used Denon DTR-2000 and a box of tapes sitting in the garage. CD-R really killed the DAT. Maybe I'll pull it out this weekend for some pictures. I've been wanting to put it up on the bay.

http://www.datrecorders.co.uk/dtr2000.php

[metaphacts]

Worked with Stellavox while they were developing the Stelladat.

[Masterlu]

iiaudio Welcome to AA!

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by f1 fan

Alberto...I concur. I trashed the first Sony because repairs were so expensive then bought another one same thing happened. Not worth the trouble.

Dave

That's right Dave. While I never had problems with mine, I was both amazed and horrified when I looked inside the Sony - which you had a chance to do when loading the cassette. So many moving parts in such a small package. Before it started recording you could hear it whirring and clicking and shifting "gears". So much that could go wrong. Mine kept on working fine, but I knew that if something broke it would probably have to be thrashed.

The best evidence that DAT's time has come and gone is that it took me a few seconds to parse Ivan's original post. DAT? What's that? ... ... Oh, yeah, those things

Alberto

[jdandy]

I have the Sony 60ES DAT recorder in my studio. It's purpose is to have the ability to transfer a client's DAT audition or master tape to CD. I offer transcription services, and a DAT audition tape comes in from time to time, although most of my transcription work is old cassette and 1/4 track reel to reel audition tapes that then get transfered to CD. Of course, live recording is captured to hard drive, mixed and mastered digitally, then burned to CD. No one sends DAT or cassette audition tapes like in the old days. I most recently converted some CD tracks for a client to MP3 files, and emailed them to Holland for airplay on a Blues station, along with MP3 files of some voice overs from the artist.

My 60ES DAT recorder has worked flawlessly for years, although the spinning head (similar to a VCR) requires regular cleaning. The 60ES DAC is a bit long in the tooth, but I bypass it using glass fiber to the ESS DACs in the MCD500. The results are excellent, and DAT sounds very good using this arrangement. Still, it is old technology, tape based, and I don't have much call for it. I keep my Sony 60ES DAT recorder just in case I need a DAT machine for transcription. Other than that, it doesn't see much use.