If you had to choose between the following 3 DAT recorder options, which would you choose, and why?
1) Sony PCM-R300 (I have one, $40 minimum for diagnostic/repair)
2) Panasonic SV-3800. Clean working local unit, $125
3) Tascam DA30MKII - Clean working local unit, $125
Shipping a DAT is not an option, not going to do ebay.
Considerations... I've had my Sony PCM-R300 for almost a year now. It worked great for the first six months with fairly regular use until last Sept, when it began to stop initiating transport after loading a tape in the tray. The deck pulls the tape in properly, but says "no tape" on the display and will not play, ff, rew or anything... At first it was an intermittent fault, but now it is failing to initiate tape load 90-95% of the time. When it does finally initiate transport and a tape loads properly (happens maybe 1 in 25 attempts) the transport is fast and snappy and it plays tapes with no tracking error problems. It sounds fantastic when it plays. But when I try to record the display says "protected" and it refuses to go into record mode. So it will play, but not record. And yes, I did check the protect tabs. Tried NOS tape straight out of the wrapper, too... My eject/load button and tape drawer get great workouts when I try loading a tape. I think the problem is obviously with the tape sensors and/or circuits, but I am just not sure if that would be cost effective to repair vs. Panny or the Tascam. This is my second Sony DAT that has crapped out on me and I am very tempted to try another brand for a change... I'm guessing repair to be in the $80-$100 range, assuming parts are even available.
This is not a huge priority, but I do have a bunch of DAT tapes of club events I would like to rip to PC and another 25 TDK & Maxell NOS tapes that I would like to record on...
Thanks in advance for your opinions.
1) Sony PCM-R300 (I have one, $40 minimum for diagnostic/repair)
2) Panasonic SV-3800. Clean working local unit, $125
3) Tascam DA30MKII - Clean working local unit, $125
Shipping a DAT is not an option, not going to do ebay.
Considerations... I've had my Sony PCM-R300 for almost a year now. It worked great for the first six months with fairly regular use until last Sept, when it began to stop initiating transport after loading a tape in the tray. The deck pulls the tape in properly, but says "no tape" on the display and will not play, ff, rew or anything... At first it was an intermittent fault, but now it is failing to initiate tape load 90-95% of the time. When it does finally initiate transport and a tape loads properly (happens maybe 1 in 25 attempts) the transport is fast and snappy and it plays tapes with no tracking error problems. It sounds fantastic when it plays. But when I try to record the display says "protected" and it refuses to go into record mode. So it will play, but not record. And yes, I did check the protect tabs. Tried NOS tape straight out of the wrapper, too... My eject/load button and tape drawer get great workouts when I try loading a tape. I think the problem is obviously with the tape sensors and/or circuits, but I am just not sure if that would be cost effective to repair vs. Panny or the Tascam. This is my second Sony DAT that has crapped out on me and I am very tempted to try another brand for a change... I'm guessing repair to be in the $80-$100 range, assuming parts are even available.
This is not a huge priority, but I do have a bunch of DAT tapes of club events I would like to rip to PC and another 25 TDK & Maxell NOS tapes that I would like to record on...
Thanks in advance for your opinions.
