I've just been listening to my TCD-D8 Dat Walkman, this should have been the portable replacement for the Cassette rather than Minidisc. The sound is amazing! I suppose that size won the race at the end of the day. I connected the TCD-D8 to a Musical Fidelity X-Can v8 (Valve Amplified) Headphone Amp and now it really sounds incredible but not portable as you can imagine. You guys should look into a good headphone amp considering what we all spend on the hobby.

I just connected my iPad to the same headphone amp to compare and it sounds awful! DAT definitely managers to retain some of that analogue sound, recorded at 48Khz that is. My TC-D5M also sounds incredible, a true pro machine. I found a box of 10 x Sony Metal-ES tapes which I have been recording on, also a worthy investment.

It one of the best formats, just never caught on due to price was over $2500 for the unit and tapes was at $25 a unit. Also the TCD-D7 and TCD-D8 didn't have very long head life only 500hrs newer units didn,t have that problem, do have 10 spare headdrum for the TCD-D7 and TCD-D8 use to service those.

Yes DAT should have been the next step after audiotapes.

You know why it never took off? Because the record industry did not want it to succeed.

Don’t forget at the time the record industry were doing a lot of mastering onto DAT tapes. They feel you can have a DAT recorder and make identical copies of CD’s and not have to by the CD to get CD quality. They never released material on DAT tapes. DAT was so good it scared them.

I have a question that may sound a little silly. When you guys talk about recording on tapes and comparing them to other types of media what source do you use to record? Do you record from a "master"? What medium is that master on? I am assuming the master has to be the same for all media to do a true comparison. If you record from a CD to a tape you can't really compare the two can you, since the CD would be the master medium in this scenario. Thank you in advance for elaboration.

There's no loss between the CD and DAT recordings when using a CD as a master. Things get interesting when you make an analogue recording of Vinyl or even SACD (Super Audio CD) with a DAT recorder set to a sampling rate of 48khz rather than the usual 44.1khz for CD. The results are impressive to say the least. The headphone amp and dacs on the DAT recorders are excellent. They were very good machines because of the pro market in which they were being priced and used.

Regarding the 48khz thing I must try that. I agree DAT, albeit with a few foibles, is a fantastic medium. I was lucky enough to pick up a mint Tascam DA 20 MKII with original R/C & instructions for £25! Needed the dust cleaning out the display, but otherwise quite new looking. toocool4..."DAT was so good it scared them" is one of the best descriptions I've heard!

Thanks Nak D, well you know what I mean the record companies will do anything to relieve us of our hard earned cash. Anything that comes along threatening to making them loose money will course them to panic. Those where the days they had all the power, good for us they don’t have that kind of power anymore.

toocool4, you said a while ago you had a CR7E (now sold I believe) + MAXG ...must have been great. Do you have a DAT/high end cassette deck? Do you still enjoy proper recording in a world where people don't tend to any more (download and transfer). It appears to be a lost art and anyone under the age of 30 simply looks bemused if asked.

quote:

Originally posted by gregorybotha:
I just connected my iPad

ipad = poop

just bought a sony pcm 7010.
there is a difference in motors between 7010 and 7030/50 series, don't know about the heads. the 30/50 series motor need often maintenance. i don't know about the 7040.

the problem using DAT, are the magentic tapes = degeneration

i admit, DAT has more detail. but cassette has that smooth analog sound. especially using my b215 deck. still, love R2R most.

oja, i would never use cassette or DAT for recording cd's. only record from vinyl, R2R, or live recordings.

quote:

Originally posted by Nak D:
toocool4, you said a while ago you had a CR7E (now sold I believe) + MAXG ...must have been great. Do you have a DAT/high end cassette deck? Do you still enjoy proper recording in a world where people don't tend to any more (download and transfer). It appears to be a lost art and anyone under the age of 30 simply looks bemused if asked.

Hi Nak D I still have my CR7 plus about 40 or so MA-XG 90’s left, the Nakamichi is not going anywhere I love it. I don’t have a DAT player, I did look at the Nakamichi 2 box DAT machine but it’s was out of my range plus getting material for DAT players was not easy.

Yes I still make loads of recordings from My Acoustic Solid One to One turntable.

Heh, i have a Grundig DAT-9000 from 80's. It's fully working but havent used it much. The computers are easier to use and when you use computer you can easily backup all recordings (for example if you record vinyls and want to keep them).

Yes, dat is better replacement than minidisc .

Does anyone have any experience of a Sony Portable DAT machine? If you look on the net opinions vary a lot...I thought it might be fun to pick one up, but they won't be cheap. They appear to hold their value well...

nak d

perhaps this is a start.
about the tcd-d100, pcm-m1

http://www.sonicstudios.com/d100rev.htm

Hi 19Lexicon78, will forward the link to my home email as this is blocked for some daft reason at work. Thanks for your efforts. If any other board members have opinions of portable DAT speak up!

DAT was ment to be a high end high quality audio recorder because CD was a listen only and could not record but VHS HIFI also did a number on DAT and cheaper too.

But these things were nothing more than expensive electronic novelties at the time with some possible real use for them.

Even cassettes were ment to be used for dictaphone and not music audio.

What direction these things would go no one really knew.

What happened to EL-cassette ?

These days flash drive and MP3 has wiped out all other formats in general.

Well thats my 2-cents for this.

for portables, you should also look for other brands. stelladat or fostex pd4
problem with DAT. it's not the heads, but the motors. 3000 hours are max.


i think a nagra IV-S or stellavox SP8 would be a better choice. always wanted those.

quote:

19lexicon78

Thanks for the link to the Sonic Studio page, it looks great and a 7 page review too! I have taken a look at the Fostex. It's looks like a good one. In fact, just for a bit of portable fun, I am looking to buy a porta-dat that will fit in my pocket (not for covert recording you understand) but becuase I have always wanted one!

the pd4 is a lovely beast.

unfortunate, stelladat is the holy grail.
you'll never find this one. let alone the mk2 version. ultra rare.

still, i would prefer R2R..

Funny that earlier today I picked up my DAT SONY TCD D10 from a pile of stuff waiting to be repaired or sold. I plugged it in and it powers up. Some of you may recall 2 or 3 years ago I bought it off ebay (as-is). When I finally got a DAT for it, it shows "cassette" flashing (the tape icon)on the display but it doesn't move the tape at all.
Anyone know if the "flashing" tape icon means anything? I've tried just about everything to get it going. Of course, there was probally the seller had 20 of these things--all "as is, unknown if they work"
Thanks, Chris C

The flashing icon, can mean that the mechanics went out of phase. It 'hard to make a diagnosis without being able to see and touch the equipment. My experience on portable DAT in 1990 appeared on the market since the Walkman, Sony TCD-D3. I've had it four, I've sold three and I left one in my collection. Sounded wonderful but, like all dat, since the complex mechanics and even delicate, will stand and break often. I had to fix it once or twice a year. Good thing I do the repairs myself or I would have cost a fortune. Since I finally got it, and improved with the changes, my wm-dd9 not feel the lack of DAT.

too bad the mechanics aren't good.
but DAT is the better format. unfortunate it needs alot of maintenance.

the dd9 by far, doesn't equal DAT.
also, still prefer the dc2 more than dd9.
perhaps the dd9 has more detail, but it's boring. the dc2 makes me smile. it's fun and has a punch. sometimes detail isn't everything, prefer a smile.
if you want detail, buy a DAT or better a R2R.

Or a MZ-R30