so is a 60 meter tape giving me 120 min of recording time in lp mode or not? whats the differetial from regular to lp mode as to each tape.
A 60M tape will give you ~2 hrs at either 44.1kHz or 48kHz. LP (32kHz) will get you ~25% longer.
i saw 125 meter tapes too, whats that translate to in time?
Depends on your sample rate: 44.1, 48, or 32 (LP). For 44.1/48, 1 meter = ~2 minutes.
so when im looking for blanks im having 1 major set back, they all (brand names) use different ways of listing there media and none show or indicate the length of recording time in either mode. a select few did indicate lenght in meters, but are they the only type i can confidently buy and know my recording time?
If you're going to use DDS instead of audio DAT, best bet IMO is Maxell HS/4 60m and 90m. Some folks like the Sony DGP series, too. Can't speak to audio DAT or other DDS as I haven't used them.
also i know the pcm-m1 is very common, anyone have advice on settings for levels, or anything else from a digital source?(my pre-amp)
FWIW, your preamp is an analog source, not digital. Your M1 will be performing the analog-to-digital conversion. Set the M1 rec level knob around 7 and set your preamp so the M1 levels are a little below 0. Then fine-tune with the M1 rec level knob. (Signals registering above 0 on the level meters risk clipping, which doesn't sound real good.)