DATs....

  • Thread starter Thread starter Benreturns
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Benreturns

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Excuse the question - i want to buy a something to store mixes of my songs from my portastudio so i dont have to mix live every time i burn to CD or cassette. Something i can mix once onto and have a master copy there at any time to burn limiteless copies off (without any signal/noise loss - *important*).

A DAT would be what im after huh? Just checking...

Mixing down live to CD is a pain in the ass when you have to get the mix right everytime... "Dammit, i brought the guitar part on that bit up too loud again... there goes another CD..."
 
Huh????

You're already burning to CD -- isn't the CD the "master copy" of your mix????

Help me out here........

:confused:
 
Do you have any form of hard disk recorder or DAW that could capture like the burner does, but to a drive? A DAT will do it also but you might want a nice (up to date) A/D to feed it.
For the long run presumably, at some point the DAT format may be winding it's way down.
I still use an old DA30mkI-mostly for getting from 48 to 44k. It's a handy deck but I don't know if I'd want to be spending on one at this point.
:)
Wayne
 
I still don't get it...... he's already capturing it to CD......?!? That's the master copy right there!

There's a piece of the puzzle I'm not getting here......
 
BB - I think he's mixing down from the portastudio to a stand-alone CD recorder - He wants to go back so he can correct mixing errors without burning up too many discs.
 
Massive Master said:
BB - I think he's mixing down from the portastudio to a stand-alone CD recorder - He wants to go back so he can correct mixing errors without burning up too many discs.
Click to expand...

Discs are cheap, and Dat players in a car are unheard of.

If your checking your mix on other systems then CDR is the only cost effective way of doing it. I have a spindle of "mixes" I didn't like with what I didn't like written on it. I don't have any DAT stuff because I haven't needed it since 2001. YMMV

SoMm
 
I never thought I'd say this but I haven't used my DAT in close to two years. CD-Rs are just too damn cheep anymore. At around 30 cents each, if a test mix is a loser, I just use 'em as coasters. I will keep the DAT though as it looks cool in the rack.:cool:
 
I think I get what he's after;

to burn another copy of a mix, he has to run the tracks and re-mix it each time.

So what he's asking is what should he get to 'master' to so that he can just burn the same mix to a CD without having to run all the tracks and mix the whole thing each time.

I'm kind of in the same situation, in that I have ONE standalone CD burner. To make more than one copy, I have to mix in real-time each copy.

The advantage of a DAT is that it's a higher bit-rate at 20 bit, yes? And actually aren't some of the newer high end ones 24 bit? So that would be a benefit, to have a 24 bit master to work from. However, it would seem to be a dying medium; kind of a waste to spend money on it now.

If you're computer is up to the task, you COULD pick up a pair of decent converters and some software and go into the computer, store the mix on a drive, and then pull it off to CD whenever you want. It won't be the cheapest option, and your software will likely be obsolete in a year or two.

I'm wanting to get a decent 1/4" 2 track analog deck to mix to, since I'm in analog world anyway. It'd be nice to stay there right up to the last stage, IMO. Otari, Tascam, some Ampex (ATR 700, for example) are all being sold for $300-ish on ebay. If you got a low mileage machine, it'd be worth it, I'd think. That's what I've been thinking anyhow.

Chris
 
Chris Meck said:
I think I get what he's after;

to burn another copy of a mix, he has to run the tracks and re-mix it each time.

So what he's asking is what should he get to 'master' to so that he can just burn the same mix to a CD without having to run all the tracks and mix the whole thing each time.

I'm kind of in the same situation, in that I have ONE standalone CD burner. To make more than one copy, I have to mix in real-time each copy.


Chris
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That guys got it in one. I just want something to sit in my rack which i can burn up endless copies onto CD's. That ONE CD burner. And of course it does look good in a rack! The more the merrier.

Im not too bothered about keeping up with the fashion (unless there is a better alternative, which is reeeaallly better). If a DAT can store mixes with no signal/quality loss each time I burn to CD then it's worth it. Unfortunatley my Comp is in my bedroom and my studio is downstairs. Its not practical for my to running upstairs to burn mixes. Something i can stick in my rack would be great.

Its a convenience thing.
 
You can't even walk upstairs to burn a copy :confused:

If you want to do it right get an Alesis Masterlink. If you are going to spend a few hundred on a DAT machine why not get another CD burner? You could even get a cheapie computer for a few hundred bucks with a CD burner.

DAT is comparatively expensive and outdated. I haven't priced DAT tapes in years but they used to be around $15-20 and magnetic media doesn't last as long as optical.
 
Hey Benreturns, are you basically looking for a multi-2-track, rackmountable outboard burner which will allow you to produce 1,2 or more copies of your mixdowns? Why not check out Microboards Technology CWR-16 CopyWriter/CD-Duplicator. A 4U rackmount that automatically detects the format of your "master" c/d and can write up to 4 copies at 16X speed time at a time.
 
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:confused:

Why don't you just get a burner for your PC (~$50) and stick your master CD in the drive, rip it to your PC (in uncompressed wav @ 44.1/16-bit), and then use Nero or whatever to burn off more copies. You can even make an ISO image of the tracks and burn the image.
You're trying to make this more complicated than it needs to be.
 
gordone said:
:confused:

Why don't you just get a burner for your PC (~$50) and stick your master CD in the drive, rip it to your PC (in uncompressed wav @ 44.1/16-bit), and then use Nero or whatever to burn off more copies. You can even make an ISO image of the tracks and burn the image.
You're trying to make this more complicated than it needs to be.
Click to expand...
Right on baby.
 
It seems like any CD player would feed the burner...make a CD, then stick it in the player & copy with the burner. DATs are getting to be dinosaurs. I was given a project to transfer DATs to CD and had to rent a DAT deck because who's gonna buy one for the occasional job? A couple of professors at our state college here have told me they have large collections of DAT tapes (folk music, oral history) and I told 'em, hang onto those decks! You'll be up the tree 10 years from now...it'll be like trying to find an 8-track cartridge player is now.
 
Buying a dat for this purpose would be a total waste of money.
 
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