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Errors On The Last 30-45 Minutes Of SOME of My DATs :(
OldNeumanntapr:
This is really puzzling me. I'm almost finished with my DAT transfers, from a total of 650 down to the last 60. I was using my DA-P1 to transfer until it died last year. For the last 7 months or so I've been using: TCD-D8 >S/PDIF >DR-100mkII.
(Thanks to Randy Vogel for the loan of the digital cable.)
Out of five DAT machines, the D8 is the only one that still works, so I can't really check some of these problem tapes on another machine.
The problem is, I'm experiencing errors in the last part of the tape, usually starting about 90 to 100 minutes into the tape. Some times it's just a few and other times it's many. I always unpack the tape by doing a FF/RW before the transfer. Most of my DATs have been stored tail out. I've hardly ever had errors in the first part of the tape. If they are present it is ALWAYS toward the end. Why is this? I seem to remember that the Sonys seemed to be more forgiving than the Tascams as far as errors. If I had a tape that errored on the DA-30 usually the D7 or D8 would play it. I don't remember this happening before. Is it because of age? Some of the DATs that I have transferred that are almost 20 years old play fine, and some that I copied from a friend's collection in 2001 have problems, but Only at the end of the recording. Yeah, that's still a long time ago...
It's not specific to one particular brand, though it seems that TDK DDS tapes are the worst.
My DATs have been stored in the wooden drawers of my library card catalog cabinet. I live in California, near the coast, away from high temperatures and humidity. The DATs were never played except to copy to another DAT for a trade or to be transferred. (I never wanted to just 'play' tapes because of worries of added wear and tear on the machines.)
I found errors all through a Zero DAT last week, but I figured that was because of poor head alignment on the original record deck. It's a shame, because that one was a first clone of a AKG 414 >HHb PDR 1000 master and I've never seen that source before. (Ventura Theater 1998). I don't remember the taper's name, but I got it in trade through DAT Heads in late '98 or '99.
Fortunately, I have transferred my masters already. These are the last of my trade DATs, though some sources don't seem to be in circulation.
Any ideas?
ONT-
BradM:
Have you tried doing partial transfers? Transfer the first half of a tape, take it out, shut everything down, wait a while, and then transfer the rest. I'm wondering if it might be the D8 getting "tired" and glitching up after playing the first big chunk of the tape.
Aloha,
Brad
twatts (pants are so over-rated...):
Do you have a list of the DATs you have left to do??? I'd be willing to run some thru my R500 for you...
Terry
OldNeumanntapr:
--- Quote from: twatts (Where Are My Pants?) on June 20, 2014, 03:20:31 PM ---Do you have a list of the DATs you have left to do??? I'd be willing to run some thru my R500 for you...
Terry
--- End quote ---
Thanks Terry for your offer. I am going to continue to try and transfer these and I will give you a list of the ones that are problematic for me.
So far I've been lucky and have found similar sources on friend's lists to get copies of. (Soundboards). The only one so far that has errored that is a one-off source is Phil & Friends 4/17/99 Warfield Theater, recorded with my old Neumann KM-184s >Wendt NGS-X2 >Sony TCD-D100 @ Drink Rail. (I sold my KM-184s to another taper to buy the KM-140s and he sent me a DAT of the Phil show that he recorded.) Also the afore mentioned Zero Ventura Theater 1/18/98 Ventura Theater AKG 414's >HHb PDR-1000 PortaDat.
ONT-
danlynch:
The "partial transfer" is a great idea and something that I have used successfully.
Its either a "tired" deck or more likely the DAT is shedding so much that its dirtying up the heads by the time you reach the second half of the show. I would transfer the first half or so, stop at a dead spot in the show and then rest the deck, clean the heads and try to do the second half. When you're mastering the wav file in whatever software you use, joining the two files should be fairly painless.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
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