As a general rule, I don't. but what about ya'll:
Anybody re-use DATs - for original mixes that is. What are the pitfalls of recycling DATs?
Comments
JA, as cheap as hard drive space is and free programs like cool
JA, as cheap as hard drive space is and free programs like cool edit demo (that has few limitations) and the CDR burning, Dat is all but a dinosaur. I have many many dat tapes as archives, some of them as old as 14 years or better and if they survive one playing, it is always with the hard drive running for archival purposes. The only use I see for them is portable high quality recording and even that, the inexpensive portables (Sony 7) do not hold up well. With the 10 gig mini hard drives that either are or already have come on line, makes it even more of a fossle.
DAT has ran its course.
What do you suggest for high quality recording... You can’t be c
What do you suggest for high quality recording... You can’t be carrying a computer for field work! It’s greatly inconvenient. I have a huge problem when recording at home because the mic is next to the computer’s fan. Therefore, I bought a DAT recorder… Mic goes into preamp and preamp goes into dat recorder. Then I transfer everything through SPDIF to the computer. Noise floor is at -120db and the sound is incredible!! Do you know if there is a better recording device that does not make any noise (no fans or hard disc clics) that records high quality uncompressed audio (please don’t tell me MD or mpeg recorders I need very good quality nothing amateurish)
Thanks for the info... I will look into those silence cases beca
Thanks for the info... I will look into those silence cases because it's very tedious to transfer from dat after every recording... For field work (I do radio reports that are 10 - 30 minutes long but at different places... sort of mini radio-documentaries for the station I work for): I use the tascam DAP1 http://www.crmav.com/mastering/70/dap1_portable_dat_recorder.shtml .
It has two balanced XLRs (but the noise floor is terrible that's why I usualy add a preamp) and transfer after to computer... I wanted to use MDs but for the same price I got the Tascam that does not compress audio... I'm satisfied but would prefer taking my laptop with me for this sort of work... However, it doesn't have SPIDF or a good sound card... Thinking of bying the extigy but not as of yet...
Anyway thanks for the info!!
The reason I asked this question is because the pastor of the ch
The reason I asked this question is because the pastor of the church at which I do live band recordings wants to re-use the DATs that I record the music onto. He wants to re-use them to record his Sunday morning sermons onto.
I suppose that re-using them for speach recording would probably be OK, EXCEPT that will nuke the original mixes of the live music performances. Hmmmmmm. I never re-use DATs when in the studio. I have tried to talk him out of it - but I don't think I'll win....
As far as recording to M/D, I use my Sony MDS-E10 M/D to record his Sunday evening sermons and I haven't noticed any reduction in quality at all. I record in mono at 44/16.
I think DAT should be obsolete at this point. Why record 16 bit
I think DAT should be obsolete at this point. Why record 16 bit to DAT when you can record directly to a computer at 24 bit and master and burn a Red Book CDR without leaving the computer. I sold my DAT machine 5 years ago and I haven't regretted it for a minute.
Now that I also record directly into the same computer the convenience is unbeatable. And I don't think that the sound is worse. In fact I think it's much better without all the AD/DA conversion.
I agree, but when you absolutely need to get out of the studio a
I agree, but when you absolutely need to get out of the studio and do field work or electronic news gathering (EFP or ENG) you cannot ask people to wait until you open your laptop make the necessary connections and start the software... Also I don’t know too many laptops that have XLR inputs with phantom power… And even if they have SPDIF you still need a preamp and a digital console… You need immediate results and easy to use equipment that is rugged and can suffer some abuse. I am not saying that the recording is extraordinary. Even some expensive DAT players that cost 5-6 thousand dollars don't produce an extraordinary result. However, it is the only thing available for non-compressed audio recording... It is pretty descent even if the noise floor is at -50db. I don't believe that DATs should be thrown away they are still good archiving tools (but obviously only for 48k). And they are extremely quiet... When I know that I will be stationed somewhere that does not need immediate results and I have time to set up my laptop then that’s what I do!
Some situations cannot be handled feasibly by hard disc recordin
Some situations cannot be handled feasibly by hard disc recording - ie: entry level set-ups whose equipment list is governed by (very) limited funds.
In the case of this church, we found a good-sounding 32-chnl analog recording console in good working condition for $500 (no, it is NOT a Mackie!) and bought a used DAT for about $300.
Can you show me a HD system (complete with converters) that we could've gotten into for that kind of money - that would produce the same big analog sound quality of a large format console?
???
We have plans to upgrade the system when funds allow, so if you have solutions, let's hear 'em....
do ya mean the tape or the machine? I have 2 units DA30 mk2 an
do ya mean the tape or the machine?
I have 2 units
DA30 mk2 and DA40
DA30mk2 has a cleaner panel, but lots of problems with the idlers after some hours and eats tape easily
DA40 is an upgrade, ya shall write text into tapes, but the panel is a mess, too many functions in one button and presents some problems of cold soldering, but it is very reliable
I use once in a while for archiving and now harder and harder for mastering
Ouch!