Stereo DAT player?

[Bapu]

Anyone have one that you can transfer 4 DAT tapes to WAV?

If you don't want to sell it, I can ship you the tapes and pay you for your time to transfer the entire 4 tape(s) to single WAV per tape(I can break up the songs afterwards).

Edited January 27, 2023 by Bapu

[kitekrazy]

For once you put deleted instead of installed.

[craigb]

[Bapu]

Revived the fred,

[craigb]

So, you need DAT one, but not DIS one? ?

[aidan o driscoll]

On 1/21/2023 at 5:10 PM, Bapu said:

Anyone have one that you can transfer 4 DAT tapes to WAV?

Yip I have .. its a sony portable DAT and I just did exactly that recently. DATs I had from 90s. Only way of getting them off the Dat player is via a stereo mini jack into the Audio I/F ... works fine though.

I also have orig I/O box for it but its outputs are coax and good old optical

Only prob for you maybe .. Im in Ireland ( south coast Cork )

Edited January 26, 2023 by aidan o driscoll

[craigb]

Ohhh... Is DAT what he was talking about???  I might actually have one!  I'll look when I get back from an errand.

[Bapu]

1 hour ago, aidan o driscoll said:

Yip I have .. its a sony portable DAT and I just did exactly that recently. DATs I had from 90s. Only way of getting them off the Dat player is via a stereo mini jack into the Audio I/F ... works fine though.

I also have orig I/O box for it but its outputs are coax and good old optical

Only prob for you maybe .. Im in Ireland ( south coast Cork )

My son has one of those but it went south (but not of Cork ? )

[Bapu]

1 hour ago, aidan o driscoll said:

Yip I have .. its a sony portable DAT and I just did exactly that recently. DATs I had from 90s. Only way of getting them off the Dat player is via a stereo mini jack into the Audio I/F ... works fine though.

I also have orig I/O box for it but its outputs are coax and good old optical

Only prob for you maybe .. Im in Ireland ( south coast Cork )

I can ship you the tapes and pay you for your time to transfer the entire 4 tapes to 16/44.1 to single WAV per tape (I can break up the songs afterwards).

Edited January 27, 2023 by Bapu

[Jacques Boileau]

On 1/21/2023 at 12:10 PM, Bapu said:

Anyone have one that you can transfer 4 DAT tapes to WAV?

If you don't want to sell it, I can ship you the tapes and pay you for your time to transfer the entire 4 tape(s) to single WAV per tape(I can break up the songs afterwards).

The keyboard player in my band has a DAT recorder, more than one probably. He did some transfers of our old gigs recently, so he is setup for transfers. I'll inquire if he has any to sell or at least if we could do the transfers for you. I'll get back to you tomorrow.

[aidan o driscoll]

9 hours ago, Bapu said:

I can ship you the tapes and pay you for your time to transfer the entire 4 tapes to 16/44.1 to single WAV per tape (I can break up the songs afterwards).

@Bapu  I would be a bit nervous of that .. I find DAT tapes are not the most robust of items. My unit works for me but if using it with DATs from others I would be a bit nervous if it damaged them like mangling the tape etc .. the issues with many tape type devices back in the day. As in there is a damage risk

Edited January 27, 2023 by aidan o driscoll

[Shane_B.]

I so regret getting rid of my DAT. I should have kept it and tried to get it repaired. It was a high end Sony. I have a bunch of tapes I can't listen to now. Fwiw working ones are going for around $600 on ebay.

The drummer and I in my last band got tired of unreliable bandmates so we decide to record our basic rhythm tracks and some backing vocals. We used my 8 track analog Tascam and transferred it to my DAT. Back then we were the only band in our area to do that. Now it's the norm. I still have all our tracks/sets plus a ton of lp rips. 

It was probably a simple fix. It just didn't recognize there was a tape in it anymore. When it did work it worked perfectly.

But yeah, like aidan said, I'd be worried about putting the tapes made on one machine in a different one.

[Bapu]

15 hours ago, craigb said:

Ohhh... Is DAT what he was talking about???  I might actually have one!  I'll look when I get back from an errand.

That's one long errand craigb (ITYRN)

[Jacques Boileau]

@Bapu Ok, I just finished a call with my bandmate and he has a working DAT. He does not want to sell it but would be glad to lend it to me to do the transfers. His machine is a Sony DTC-A6. I would plug it through my Scarlett 2i4 through the audio inputs. I don't know if there is any easy way to capture the RAW digital output from the coax or optical outputs into a wav to save the DA and AD conversions. If you know how to do this let me know.

Of course you must be willing to risk sending the tapes over and accept the risk that I can't recuperate what is on them for some reason like the tapes have gone bad over the years, etc. Anyhow, I'd be willing to give it try, no prob. If you decide to send the tapes over, I will have him do a quick check first that his machine is still functioning correctly before you send anything.

And I'll try not to hit that 'Erase' button I see there in the picture! ?

[craigb]

45 minutes ago, Bapu said:

That's one long errand craigb (ITYRN)

Sorry Ed!  It looked from your replies that someone else was already helping you, so I went back to some tutorials I've been watching! 

Besides, I found that my device is a Sony MD (Mini-Disc) player, not a DAT... ?

Edited January 27, 2023 by craigb

[Bapu]

32 minutes ago, Jacques Boileau said:

@Bapu Ok, I just finished a call with my bandmate and he has a working DAT. He does not want to sell it but would be glad to lend it to me to do the transfers. His machine is a Sony DTC-A6. I would plug it through my Scarlett 2i4 through the audio inputs. I don't know if there is any easy way to capture the RAW digital output from the coax or optical outputs into a wav to save the DA and AD conversions. If you know how to do this let me know.

Of course you must be willing to risk sending the tapes over and accept the risk that I can't recuperate what is on them for some reason like the tapes have gone bad over the years, etc. Anyhow, I'd be willing to give it try, no prob. If you decide to send the tapes over, I will have him do a quick check first that his machine is still functioning correctly before you send anything.

And I'll try not to hit that 'Erase' button I see there in the picture! ?

I don't need the raw data, just 16/44.1 or 24/48 wav files (one continuous WAV file per tape, I can break down the songs from there).

In fact it's great that he does not want to sell it, as after I get these copied I'd have no use for the device anyway.

PM me when you have tested it and think its in working order.

And yes, I'll take all of the risks and would not hold you or your friend responsible for the condition of the tapes going in or coming out of the process.

 

[John Vere]

I had 2 Sony DAT machines similar to the one above back in the 90's they were the preferred way to submit masters to the duplicating plants. I needed 2 because it was the only way to make backups and to properly assemble and sequence a master.  ! no more splicing 2 track R to Rs.  They both had digital connections,  optical and  SPDIF. Stupid thing was being Sony they had copy protection coded in if you used the digital connections.  You could only make a first generation copy. Copied tapes could not be copied again. 

I sold them both to these guys who had built a home studio for their band.  I think they still have them. I had switched to using Wave Lab and a PC. Before I sold them I transferred all the taped directly into my PC using my interfaces SPDIF connection.  

If you want to preserve the best quality then see if who ever transfers the tapes not only has a DAT machine but also has a SPDIF connector on their audio interface. The tapes are worth money so the person might be willing to re use your tapes as a partial payment for their time.  

And what @aidan o driscoll  is saying could be true because DAT machines are like VCR tape machines  so subject to dirty heads and magnetic weirdness so things can get funky if they are not maintained properly.