wave files on DAT?

[jmorris]

I have a friend that has 5 reels of 2" masters. I cant presently do anything with them with regards to remixing his project but he also has bunch of DAT tapes from the project too. It is from 1997. Would the studio have saved wave files on DAT? I thought that kind of thing was possible but it beyond my knowlage. Maybe seperate tracks? Im assuming they are just 2 track mixes, he thought they were more than just 2 tracks. Any thoughts?
Jim

 

[cusebassman]

DAT tapes have 8 channels of audio. Perhaps the studio he did his work at was recording to both 2" analog and to a DAT recorder (or three, in the event that 24 tracks were being used in tandum)... when you digitally transfer from DAT tape to a computer, I'm not entirely sure what format they come in as, but Im sure you can find a studio (Hell, even someone on this board), who would be willing to transfer the audio files from DAT to DAW for ya, for a fee of course.

 

[jmorris]

Thanks for scoop. I have a DAT.....with dust on it I can use. I assume lightpipe it in to DAW. Would a studio have saved waves files on DAT instead of a cd or dvd?

 

[Massive Master]

Hold on here - DAT is two-channel, stereo PCM data at 16-bit (although there is a rarely seen 24-bit machine out there also).

ADAT is 8-channels of PCM data on a SuperVHS 1/2" video cassette.

Which one are we talking about here?

In either case, if it's DAT, you need a DAT deck. If it's ADAT, you need an ADAT machine. The interface is another story.

 

[mixsit]

Dat's right.

 

[cusebassman]

Aaaah, totally forgot about the distinction. I'd assume he's talkin about ADAT... although maybe the stereo mixdowns from the 2" got put on stereo DAT tape... *hmm*

In any event, you have the info necessary for either

 

[jmorris]

No I do not mean ADAT. I mean(and wrote) DAT digital audio tape. I wonder were the 8 tracks was coming from. I am wondering if seperate wave files would have been stored on DAT tape.

 

[Reggie]

Well, when you transfer them into your DAW through SPDIF or whatever, you will have wav files so to speak. But they are recorded in raw PCM on the tape I believe.

And if it is a little microcassette looking R-DAT, it will be 2-track stereo at either 44.1k or 48k. If it is a VHS-looking ADAT, it will have 8 possible tracks on it.

 

[cusebassman]

DAt and ADAT get tossed around interchangeably on occasion, so yeah, sorry about that

 

[Farview]

No I do not mean ADAT. I mean(and wrote) DAT digital audio tape. I wonder were the 8 tracks was coming from. I am wondering if seperate wave files would have been stored on DAT tape.

Some people do get confused between DAT and ADAT. DAT audio tape is a 2 track mixdown medium. There was (in the early 90's) a machine that would back up computer data to dat tapes, but that was very high end and the data would have had to be on a computer in the first place. At that time, it was very unlikely that the 2 inch got transfered into a computer. I'm not sure you could record 24 tracks at once into a windows 3.1 machine. (or the mac of the era)

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

At that time, it was very unlikely that the 2 inch got transfered into a computer. I'm not sure you could record 24 tracks at once into a windows 3.1 machine. (or the mac of the era)

Considering we'd probably be talking about something like a 40MHz 486 with ISA I/O slots (not counting RS232 or Centronics parallel), and the beta version of Sound Forge 2.0, I'd agree that'd be highly unlikely .

G.

 

[Farview]

Considering we'd probably be talking about something like a 40MHz 486 with ISA I/O slots (not counting RS232 or Centronics parallel), and the beta version of Sound Forge 2.0, I'd agree that'd be highly unlikely .

G.

Back in my day....

 

[mrface2112]

I am wondering if seperate wave files would have been stored on DAT tape.

i highly doubt it. most studios would simply record the "board mix" to DAT (live) while the tracks were being made simply as a backup. so what you've got there are probably the "backup" board mixes from the tracking.

either that, or you've got the actual mixes.


cheers,
wade

 

[mrface2112]

Considering we'd probably be talking about something like a 40MHz 486

in 1997?!? i was deploying Pentum Pro 200's in 97. your 486 dx33's and 66's were more "vintage" 1992/3.

you can go a LONG way with a PII-450mhz and 200mb of ram, actually. providing, of course, you're running Win98 or 2000 (and NOT XP). trust me--been there, done that.


cheers,
wade

 

[Farview]

in 1997?!? i was deploying Pentum Pro 200's in 97. your 486 dx33's and 66's were more "vintage" 1992/3.

We were talking about the early 90's.

 

[mrface2112]

We were talking about the early 90's.

LOL, my bad. i missed your "there was (in the early 90s)". i thought y'all were talking about the original poster's 1997 date and were giving moore's law a little more credit than it deserves.


cheers,
wade

 

[cusebassman]

Considering we'd probably be talking about something like a 40MHz 486 with ISA I/O slots (not counting RS232 or Centronics parallel), and the beta version of Sound Forge 2.0, I'd agree that'd be highly unlikely .

G.

You could do it... you would just have to record at 4-bits per channel, with a sample rate of... 8khz, lets say?

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

you can go a LONG way with a PII-450mhz and 200mb of ram, actually. providing, of course, you're running Win98 or 2000 (and NOT XP).

While I have a 3GHz P4 main mixing/editing system, I do still have my vintage '99 system up and running as well (in fact it's the one I have connected to the 'net and is the one I'm typing on right now). It's a PIII-450MHz with 384MB RAM, running Win2K Pro. Before getting the bigger system, I used (and stull use, when the big guy is busy doing something else) this puppy for plenty of 24-bit audio and high-rez digital video mixing and editing, and it worked/works just fine.

The only real drawbacks to it are it's molasses-slow rendering times (1hr MPEG videos with plenty of transitios and graphic effects can take 14 hours to render), and when working with more than a dozen or so audio tracks with liberal use of plugs, I have to get creative with locking channels I'm not currently working on in order to free up the CPU. Also, I can't run my Nuendo3 on it because the current Cubase engine refuses to install on Win2K. But other than that, the machine is actually quite servicable.

People are often suprised to find out that back when I worked for D-Vision Systems (mid-late 90s), we used to build turnkey pro video editing systems that handled multiple D1 pro digital video streams and multitrack audio that worked just fine using a platform based on dual-processor 90MHz Pentium motherboards running WinNT3.51 and WinNT4. Imagine Sony Vegas designed for pro and broadcast work and you pretty much had our stuff (in fact, some guys I worked with there I hear are now working for Sony). Of course we had the expansion slots filled to the brim with high-end Matrox video boards and the like, but still, pretty impressive for the tech of the time.

BTW, Win98 systems can still work, but you're pretty much limited to 16-bit software applications there, I believe.

G.