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What is your favourite DAT unit? And Why?
- Thread starter pioneercollector
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Perry, You are thinking straight again, you almost lost it there for a split second. When you open up the digital can of worms, the money just evaporates. Lets see , hmmmm, now I need better analog to digital converters, oh and now I need better digital to analog converters, and of that other converter uses those killer sounding Burr Brown chips, you know the ones that do this better than that bit sampling. Oh wait I need, see it is good that you woke up out of that bad DAT dream.
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Hi Nando, That Fostex looks like a really nice machine, and a great price ( If it works ) and your 8 track Hi8 machine is something that i have never heard of...looks very intriguing indeed, and Hi8 tapes are cheap!
Long play! I had only just noticed that on the function panel after you mentioned it... Hmmmmm sounds like a good idea, but for the fact that my other machines ( as far as i am aware ) do not have this function... I am going to check though!
DAT is looking a lot more fun lately!
PC ( Shaun)
Long play! I had only just noticed that on the function panel after you mentioned it... Hmmmmm sounds like a good idea, but for the fact that my other machines ( as far as i am aware ) do not have this function... I am going to check though!
DAT is looking a lot more fun lately!
PC ( Shaun)
For cables, Nando, Vintage King's in-house label DB-25 connector snakes are good (I think they are manufactured by Pro-Co). The link is for a 5' snake but you can buy other lengths: Vintage King DB-25 to xlr snake You'll also need these balanced xlr > unbalanced rca adapters if you're trying to connect to your unbalanced stereo gear.
The best solution in my mind, however, is a 16 channel mixer much like my Mackie 1604 where you can plug in all 16 tracks and mix down to the two channels going to your stereo(s). Buy two sets of the DB-25 > 1/4" TRS (stereo) and plug everything in to the 16 line inputs on the mixer. If you're planning to record multiple albums using 2 tracks per album, that would give you 8 albums per tape or 4 albums per tape if you have a full-on quad setup with quad albums. Using a mixer to access these tracks as needed is a lot easier than constantly patching and repatching cables depending on which 2 (or 4) of the 16 tracks you've recorded. You don't necessarily need 16 mic inputs - that just adds cost - but you would need 16 channels each with a 1/4" line input jack. This Yamaha MG-16 is the most cost effective way out there to do this. Keep an eye on CL for older versions of the 1604 VLZ Mackie or the MG-16 Yamaha. They can be picked up pretty inexpensively. make sure theycheck out thoroughly, though. These things tend to take a beating if they've been used by a band.
Edit: the issue with either of these mixers is that they don't really have 16 line level outputs that can redirect audio from a source other than a microphone back to your DA-98. The Mackie has 16 direct outputs (one on each channel) but those are pass throughs from the mic inputs only. If you want to send a signal from your stereo to the DA-98 through the Mackie, it goes through the buss system, and there are only 4 busses. The Yamaha is worse - it only has 2 busses. You could use a Y-adapter on each of the 4 busses on the Mackie to get to another 8 channel DB-25 snake going back to your deck but that's about all you could do without moving the DB-25 input connector to channels 9 - 16 when you need them.
And as you can see, none of these options are particularly cheap. Those DB-25 connectors will mount up quickly.
The best solution in my mind, however, is a 16 channel mixer much like my Mackie 1604 where you can plug in all 16 tracks and mix down to the two channels going to your stereo(s). Buy two sets of the DB-25 > 1/4" TRS (stereo) and plug everything in to the 16 line inputs on the mixer. If you're planning to record multiple albums using 2 tracks per album, that would give you 8 albums per tape or 4 albums per tape if you have a full-on quad setup with quad albums. Using a mixer to access these tracks as needed is a lot easier than constantly patching and repatching cables depending on which 2 (or 4) of the 16 tracks you've recorded. You don't necessarily need 16 mic inputs - that just adds cost - but you would need 16 channels each with a 1/4" line input jack. This Yamaha MG-16 is the most cost effective way out there to do this. Keep an eye on CL for older versions of the 1604 VLZ Mackie or the MG-16 Yamaha. They can be picked up pretty inexpensively. make sure theycheck out thoroughly, though. These things tend to take a beating if they've been used by a band.
Edit: the issue with either of these mixers is that they don't really have 16 line level outputs that can redirect audio from a source other than a microphone back to your DA-98. The Mackie has 16 direct outputs (one on each channel) but those are pass throughs from the mic inputs only. If you want to send a signal from your stereo to the DA-98 through the Mackie, it goes through the buss system, and there are only 4 busses. The Yamaha is worse - it only has 2 busses. You could use a Y-adapter on each of the 4 busses on the Mackie to get to another 8 channel DB-25 snake going back to your deck but that's about all you could do without moving the DB-25 input connector to channels 9 - 16 when you need them.
And as you can see, none of these options are particularly cheap. Those DB-25 connectors will mount up quickly.
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I think if you go DB-25 to TRS most (if not all) semi-decent mixers will have a TRS direct in and direct out on each channel, even when only the first few channels have an XLR input with phantom power. I'm basically looking for a 24-track (minimum) console with a similar arrangement, as a mic preamp is not needed coming off the deck.
Moving into multitrack gets expensive fast...
Moving into multitrack gets expensive fast...
Getting back on track for a moment, the only DAT deck I've interacted with has been a DA-40 Tascam, PC. Liked it a lot but didn't have any experience with any other DAT decks for comparison. For the era, I did like the converters in it, which had a 48k as well as 44.1k setting. For the money, Tascam's stuff has always sounded pretty good to my ears. There's better out there, for sure, but I'm not sure I'm willing to pay for it.
Well, I've always felt Tascam was good bang for the buck. Unlike something like Behringer which has features and low cost but low quality (as a sweeping generalization). I do think their denoiser is a decent piece and I'm looking for one to add to the pile now.
Tascam is not the "best" (whatever that may mean) but decent build quality and sound at a reasonable price. Doesn't hold a candle to Studer obviously, but their gear runs about 1/5-1/10 the price too. The tapes coming off my 122 decks work well enough, no?
Tascam is not the "best" (whatever that may mean) but decent build quality and sound at a reasonable price. Doesn't hold a candle to Studer obviously, but their gear runs about 1/5-1/10 the price too. The tapes coming off my 122 decks work well enough, no?
