Reformatting Tapes

B

BigKahuna

New member
Has anyone reformatted any ADAT tapes sucessfully? I've tried once unsuccesfully. My LX20 would sometimes be able to playback ... and other times wouldn't play at all.
I reformatted just as I would format a fresh tape. I'm just wondering if I missed a step. Maybe erase the tape first?
Just trying to save some $ by rolling over old crappy songs. :)
 
For the rest of us ADAT ignorant types:
Does the format proceed in real time?
How long does it take to format a new tape?
(specify tape time and length of format procedure)
 
Yes ADAT formatting (at least on my machine) happens in real time. The time it takes depends on the length of the tape (42min, 60min, etc.).
The tapes that I tried to reformat were 42min. To format a fresh tape, you put it in, hit format, select the sample rate (16 or 20-bit on the LX20)and then hit play and record. The machine will then go through the leader, data at the beginning and then start the time code at 0:00:00 and continue recording the entire tape until it gets to the end.
I'd think that you could reformat a tape just as easily, but it didn't happen that well for me. I know that I chose the same sample rate (20bit)that it had the first time. I just don't know what I may have missed. Maybe I shouldn't try to reuse ADAT tapes ... but that's kinda wasteful, isn't it?
 
WHAT? you can't re-use ADAT tapes?

I am considering buying an ADAT, and this is disturbing news. What about overdubbing and punching in to fix mistakes? You have got to be able to re-record over old material to do that!

Some one Tell me it isn't true!

Dom Franco
 
First thing I'd try would be a bulk erase
followed by a reformat. Those tapes are well built and shouldn't be filed like a CDR after one use. But I'm just speculating.
 
You can reuse ADAT tapes, I do it all the time. I just erase them instead of reformatting. Both operations are real time so the time it takes is the same. Erasing just leaves the format info intact. Unless you want to change the sample rate, I don't really see any need to reformat.
 
Good point loudnaybor.
I suppose there's no need to reformat anything in order to reuse the tape. That was my mistake. I wonder if I ever did need to change to another sample rate if it would be possible.
I should have just rerecorded silence over what I wanted to reuse.

Thanks for the info.
 
There really is never any need to reformat an ADAT tape once it has been formatted.

I too tried to reformat a tape one time and the machine did all sorts of weird things. I asked the dealer I bought it from what was up, and he explained that the mix up is because the heads are reading the old format and trying to make a new one at the same time, so, the chip that is responsible for all that just gets overloaded.

Anyway, no need to reformat ever. Just erase the tracks.

Ed
 
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