Topic: DAT or JB3? Whats your 2 cents?

[Sterling]

Some say:

it might be worth picking up one of the aes > optical converters that brian skalinder is testing out and playing with it before you ditch the jb3.  dats are a pain in the ass (and an added expense) which i'd avoid if at all possible.  just my .02
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What do you think?

[caymanreview]

well, considering the fact that he was talking to me, il throw my opinion in there

i was running a ua5, and had an optical out. the ua5 > jb3 combo is really the only way to go for 16bit imho

now im running a mini-me. and im without the optical output... its really a hassle to have to do a coax/aes > optical conversion. but i guess that once i get a good converter, im getting the one brian is testing, it wont be so bad

ive ran dat and jb3. and overall i really like the jb3 better. with the 5 minute transfgers and no tapes to buy i think it is the way to go

but you are also giving up coax inputs, and decent level meters going with the jb3

im not sure at this point wether i want a dat to hold me off till i get a lappy, or stick with the jb3 untill then

[chuckcage]

For what it's worth, I've been really pleased with my NJB3.  I honestly expected more problems than I've had.  I assumed that as it's consumer gear it would break right away, and I expected glitches.  Amazingly, I've had neither issues.

I suppose I should say that I'm extremely careful with mine -- I essentially treat it like most people treat their D8s.  I use it only for recording (no playback or MP3 player mess), I keep it in a nice padded case inside a strong hard case, and I generally pamper it.

There seem to be some combinations of hardware that don't really mesh with it, but if you've got (or are getting) one of the good combos, I'd recommend it fully.

Chuck

[drumminj]

I haven't babied my JB3 like Chuck has.  that's not to say I purposefully abuse it, but I used it as an mp3 player for a while before I got into recording (before they had firmware with level meters).  I used it in the car, at work, etc, and carried it around from place to place.  Hell, I even spilled a glass of wine on it once(while recording a show. Ooops).  Pulled the batteries and let it dry off, pulled it apart and cleaned everything with isopropyl alcohol, and it works just like new.

Now that I'm recording with it, I don't use it for much else.  Take much better care of it.  But it's gotten some abuse, and it's held up quite well.  I've had it for about a year and a half now.  Not sure how long I expect it to last, but just wanted to share my experience with giving it a beating and having it hold up quite well.

Also, I run a UA-5 in front of it.

[waltflanagansdog]

Cayman:  You have a PM

[zowie]

I've had a JB3 for about 6 mos.  During that time I've used it for about 8 live shows, at least 50 hours of air check recordings, and as a portable MP3 frequently on my commute.   It has given me ZERO problems, with the sole exception of locking up when its plugged into my cigarette lighter and I start up the car ("doc, it hurts when I go like this . . .").

Just be aware of the issues with using the internal mic pres discussed elsewhere (short answer: don't, they're a total joke).   The internal A/D converter, while not state of the art or anything, is in my view perfectly acceptable on a line level signal.

I don't see any reason to first get into DAT today.  The format's days are numbers.  It has a number of inconveniences.  NJB3 is virtually as good and potentially cheaper depending on what external gear choices you make, plus you get a fabulous MP3 player.

Save the money for a laptop rig.

[Sterling]

Great input guys +T all around. I am however wanting some input fomr the dat users out there. I mean what about festivals, how do the JB3 empty their HD for more room? (Sorry if I'm ignorant here) Also, what about tranfers, are they as easy as everyone says, assuming of course that one has an optical input intot heir computer. Thanks again guys, you are the best resource there is for this stuff...and more!

Peace, Love and the Beatles
SS

[Brian Skalinder]

The transfers are a complete breeze and super-fast over firewire - 2 hour show in 5min or so, something like that.  Slower over USB, but still much faster than a real-time transfer.  No need for an optical input on your laptop.

Haven't used mine for festivals - or much at all, yet, for that matter! - so I'll let others speak to that one.

[chuckcage]

I mean what about festivals, how do the JB3 empty their HD for more room?

20 gig is a lot of music.  At 650 meg/CD, that's 30 CDs worth, or many hours of music.  The biggest festival concern for the NJB3 is battery, but there are some solutions to that.  

Also, what about tranfers, are they as easy as everyone says, assuming of course that one has an optical input intot heir computer.

Actually, there is no optical output on the NJB3, so no optical in required on your computer.  The NJB3 has both USB (and much better) firewire, so you don't transfer at "1x speed."  You're pushing the data as fast as it can go.  For example, I can come home after a show and transfer a 3 hour monster in about 3-5 minutes.  The WAVs are right on your HD, and you can go from there, splitting them, renaming them, whatever.

Chuck

[ingsy]

For more NJB3 recording info, check out the yahaoo group called NJB3 Tapers.  Try this link (not sure if it will work)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/njb3tapers/

There are many posts about creating your own battery pack that could power the NJB3 through festivals.  I agree with previous posts that say 20 gigs is more than enough storage than you would need.  I say go with the JB3 or a laptop...DAT will be gone soon,

[Scuba Jeremy]

If I were to do it all over again today, I'd probably go with the JB3 over DAT. I bought a new PCM-M1 a few years back after taping on MD for about a year and a half. I love the M1, but now I'm starting to lust after those 24 bit tapes.

The only two advantages I see to DAT right now are the hard copy archive (master DATs are nice to have) and the 48Khz resolution, which in 16 bit is barely noticable anyway. However the JB3 should completely phase MD out of the picture, I'd imagine. Too many pluses over that.

[drumminj]

JB3 will record 48khz, so I don't know that DAT has an advantage there.  Actually, it will lock on to whatever digital signal you send it (but will do the A/D conversion at 48khz, I believe). I personally have recorded a 96khz signal with it fed from my UA-5.

[Scuba Jeremy]

Ah, right on then. My bad!

[drumminj]

I should clarify this...

JB3 will record 48khz, so I don't know that DAT has an advantage there.  Actually, it will lock on to whatever digital signal you send it (but will do the A/D conversion at 48khz, I believe). I personally have recorded a 96khz signal with it fed from my UA-5.

If you feed the JB3 an analog signal, I believe it will do the A/D conversion at 48khz.  If you feed it a digital signal, it will lock on and record whatever you feed it.  At least I'm sure it will lock on 44, 48, and 96khz signals.  It does not resample down to 44.  However, the header is incorrect if you feed it anything above 48khz, as it will say "48khz".  It's a very quick edit in Wavelab (and I'm sure other software as well) to fix this.

[pfife]

I should clarify this...

JB3 will record 48khz, so I don't know that DAT has an advantage there.  Actually, it will lock on to whatever digital signal you send it (but will do the A/D conversion at 48khz, I believe). I personally have recorded a 96khz signal with it fed from my UA-5.

If you feed the JB3 an analog signal, I believe it will do the A/D conversion at 48khz.  If you feed it a digital signal, it will lock on and record whatever you feed it.  At least I'm sure it will lock on 44, 48, and 96khz signals.  It does not resample down to 44.  However, the header is incorrect if you feed it anything above 48khz, as it will say "48khz".  It's a very quick edit in Wavelab (and I'm sure other software as well) to fix this.

If you feed the JB3 an analog signal, you can decide what sample rate you want, up to 48khz.

I think the JB3 is completely awesome.  I use it for recording only, and I baby it.  Have had no issues (knocking on wood...).

As far as hard copies goes, I just burn a .shn of the .wav as soon as I transfer it (but there are issues w/ physical cd-r quality there... ) ;

Mine has a 40 gig HD, which is 10 gigs larger than my computer's hd.  I have no worries about filling that thing up...

Once downside - I believe they are discontinuing it.  Which, unfortunately means that that upgrade to make it record at 24bits ain't gonna happen anytime soon...  

But other than that, I think it rules.