Re: [ARSCLIST] Digital Audio Preservation Question

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I wouldn't write off DAT yet, even if new units aren't being produced at a 
reasonable price. Last year I had one machine overhauled that I bought on eBay 
for a very modest price and had repairs done on another one that had begun to 
give me grief. Repairs were done here:

ONTARIO AUDIO/VIDEO SERVICE
2074 STEELES AVENUE EAST, UNIT 21
BRAMPTON, ONT.
L6T 4Z9
PH--905-791-2020
FX--905-791-2121

As well, new tapes are still available from American Digital at around $2.59 
apiece in quantity.

The tapes are indeed holding up well. I have many that I recorded in the early 
and mid 90s, and I've had virtually no problems with them, the exceptions being 
some used DATs that I recorded over without bulk erasing them. Even my first 
machine, one of the few consumer models ever sold (a JVC), still plays back any 
dat recorded anywhere, including at 32k (long play).

dl

Richard L. Hess wrote:
> At 12:56 PM 2008-04-14, Don Cox wrote:
>
> > I suspect the biggest audio problem in the future will be DAT.
>
> There is good and bad news in this regard.
>
> Good: We are finding that by and large DAT tapes are lasting longer than 
> expected and, with care, so are the head drums.
>
> Bad: Machines are more-or-less out of production.
>
> Bad: It is an officially dead format as far as I can tell -- or if a 
> machine is available it's an $8,000 one.
>
> Coupled with this are the DTRS tapes (8 mm video tapes with typically 
> eight audio channels on them--Tascam DA88, etc.) and ADAT tapes (SVHS 
> tapes with typically eight audio channels on them--Alesis, Studer, etc.)
>
> In addition are some Akai 12-track analog cassette tapes and perhaps 
> some other vendor specific analog and digital "porta-studio" tapes.
>
> Also, I would suggest that MiniDisc is also going to be there soon and 
> DCC (Digital Compact Cassette) is there already.
>
> The Elcaset is not a huge risk as we can fairly easily pull the tape out 
> of the cassette and play it on a reel-to-reel machine as I do with 
> 8-tracks, RCA Sound Tape cartridges, and other formats.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
>
>
> Richard L. Hess                   email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
> Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.