Topic: Transfer from DAT to a new mac?

[ChrisBert]

I have a number of DAT's that I'd like to rescue from oblivion.  They were made with a Casio DA-R100 (which I still have - it's the only DAT machine I own).  Can I transfer these to a new mac via, say, a USB (or any other way)?  Can I do it without getting a whole new machine?  And if I need a new machine, can anyone recommend one reasonably priced?  I just need to do the transfers, I don't need to record or have any D/A or A/D converters. 

Thank you kindly. 

A newbie,
Chris

[eric.B]

does your mac have a optical input?  if it's new it prolly does..

if so..  i think your DAT deck has optical in and out sooo.....  all you need is software to do a real time transfer of the data..

http://www.hairersoft.com/AmadeusDownload.html

[dgale]

In all liklihood you are going to need some sort of device that can receive the digital feed from your DAT deck and in turn feed it to your Mac via Firewire.  If I remember the DA-R100 correctly, it is basically identical to the Denon DTR-80P and has a coax in/out via an 1/8" stereo mini jack (or actually in the case of at least the Denon deck, it was actually a 1/8" TRRS jack - I can't remember what the third set of connectors was for?).  If I'm not mistaken, the optical jack on these decks was only an input and did not have optical output.  So you need a device that can receive a coax input and in turn send it to your Mac via Firewire.  Lots of options to do this - the first question would be how many tapes are you talking about?  If the # is low, you may just want to get someone to do it for you instead of buying a device if this is your only need.  Otherwise, I can't readily offer any inexpensive options to get this done that won't resample the recording or go D>A>D in the process.  I have a Motu Traveller that can get this done (and a whole lot more), but even used they're going to run you probably $300-$400 and are total overkill if you don't want to use it for multi-track recording and the other features for which it is intended.  Alternatively, any of the HD recorders that have a digital input (i.e. the Sony M50, Marantz PMD661, Tascam DR-680 and there are some others) can all do this (you would transfer the recording to the CF or SD card and then transfer to your Mac via this card), but this is also overkill to buy if you don't also want it as a recording device.  Perhaps others can suggest some inexpensive gizmo to do this?

[ChrisBert]

Thank you.  Eric, the mac does have an optical input (which I didn't know - it really is brand new to me) - they have it combined with the 'audio line in'.  Unfortunately, dgale is right, the optical port on the Casio DA-R100 is an input only port.  So going to the mac would require making use of the Casio's digital coaxial in/out port.  As dgale points out, doing this on the cheap may be not possible now.  I'll keep my eyes open for a solution.  I was going to get some other equipment soon - maybe I can find something to cover this base, too - so at worst it will have to wait a bit. 

Thank you both,
Chris

[dgale]

I'm not very up to speed on optical connections but I imagine there is some sort of gizmo that can readily convert coax<>optical (?)  I also don't know anything about the optical in on your Mac - I have a MacBook Pro and it does not have such an input.   You would still need some sort of software to accept the digital input - I'm guessing folks can advise on some freeware that might do this.  Of course, if you're also in the market for a portable recorder then you may wish to consider one of the HD recorders that has digital in - they cost a bit more then say the Edirol R09HR or the Sony M10 but I personally view digital in/out as an essential feature on any recorder of mine and hence worth the extra $$.

[Brian Skalinder]

Digital format converters (S/PDIF coax > optical):  Hosa ODL-276(16-bit) or -276A(up to 24-bit).  Shouldn't run you more than ~$50 new.

Software:  Check the sticky at the top of the Computer-Related forum.

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

Get the Hosa unit Brian mentioned and run your DAT through that into your MAC via the Optical SPDIF input...

Or get an external device, like the MT2496 and do transfers to that.  Remove the Mem Card and transfer to the MAC like any data file.  I do this way, but with different gear (DAT>Tascam HD-P2>CFCard>PC).

Terry

[flipp]

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=136610.0

Though the price of the above is rather expensive for what you need, the RMD3K is another alternative in format conversion. It can take both optical and coax signals, though not simultaneously, and output both formats simultaneously so it is actually a converter/pass-through unit. This is a fine unit and suspect it is only because of price that it doesn't get mentioned nearly as often as the Hosa units.

[greenone]

Get the Hosa unit Brian mentioned and run your DAT through that into your MAC via the Optical SPDIF input...

Or get an external device, like the MT2496 and do transfers to that.  Remove the Mem Card and transfer to the MAC like any data file.  I do this way, but with different gear (DAT>Tascam HD-P2>CFCard>PC).

Terry

This is exactly what I do with my MT24/96. Only caution is to not leave it plugged in (i.e. constantly charging) when you're not transferring as it'll kill the battery life. But it's a cheaper solution than buying a dedicated piece of equipment just for transferring.

[jb63]

I'm not very up to speed on optical connections but I imagine there is some sort of gizmo that can readily convert coax<>optical (?)  I also don't know anything about the optical in on your Mac - I have a MacBook Pro and it does not have such an input.   You would still need some sort of software to accept the digital input [snip]

sitting on a bus right now, staring at a phone, so I'll look this up later, but the coax > optical unit I was looking into wasabout $150.

Also, dg, if you have a MacBook pro, then the 1/8" audio in Jack does indeed double as an optical in!

Jb

[todd e]

if it's good music i'll transfer for free, and send you dvds

[dgale]

Also, dg, if you have a MacBook pro, then the 1/8" audio in Jack does indeed double as an optical in!

I learn something every day...what type of optical connector plugs into an 1/8" mini jack? 

[greenone]

Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-THIN-TOSLINK-MINIPLUG-THINTOSMIN6/dp/B00016W6Y6

Of course, you'd need a DAT deck with optical out, which the DA-R100 doesn't have.

[jb63]

Yup, that TOSMINIPLUG is what fits into the mac.
I think you can buy them as a piece that fits right onto the end of standard optical cable pretty cheap.
I may even have one sitting around somewhere...

Here is the thing I mentioned earlier. $22.
That should get you from your existing DAT to your mac. I haven't tried this unit, but signs point to yes:

Digital Coaxial (RCA) to Digital SPDIF Optical Toslink Audio Converter

http://www.mycablemart.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=1128

[H₂O]

FWIW - I use a Ratoc Firewire SCSI adapter, an external Sony SDT9000 DDS drive, and use DATXtract under OSX 10.6 - it works very good.


I still prefer DAT2Wav under WinXP though as it attempts to correct errors on the tape and corrects minor ones pretty well in the Sony drives.  DATXtract skips errors on the tape.


I definitely prefer this method over using a DAT deck as:
 - It transfers 2x the speed
 - It provides an error output with A-Time, P-Time, etc and makes it easy to locate in the WAV/AIFF file
 - Does not put hours on my DAT decks


I still do one off xfers on my DAT decks but only when I hit a tape with alot of errors (only my PCM-7040 seems to do better then the SDT-9000 though).