DAT into PC, how?

[dgk]

Hi, I'm new here so I'm hoping that I asked this in the right forum. I have a hundred or so DAT tapes that I'd like to transfer to PC. I'm doing the same with cassettes and reels so I figured that DAT would be easier since they're already digital. Wrong. I can't find any USB import device that will take a coax or optical input, and although I do see a few soundcards that have coax or optical inputs, I'm not sure if they'll do what I want.

I have a portable Sony D7 that is sort of working and I have the 7 pin output > Coax cable for it, but my Tascam MK20 deck is dead, making things more difficult.

I have an old (vintage 1999) DATPort, which I once bought for just this purpose. It takes a coaxial input and connects to a USB port on the PC. But the drivers are for Win98 and the manufacturer (OpCode) is long out of business. But I plugged it in, Win7 found some drivers, and I tried importing some stuff from the D7. I'm using Audacity and I'm not sure I have it set up correctly for this but the DATPort does show up as an input device. It appears that tapes recorded at 44.1 work perfectly. Tapes recorded at 32 are too fast and garbled. Tapes recorded at 48 (the vast majority) cause Audacity to simply sit there with the recording line pinned to the left side of the window, shaking. Headphones connected to the D7 work perfectly.

Since the D7 is having trouble loading the tapes, I just got a used Panasonic SV3800 off Ebay. It works exactly the same in terms of how the three sampling rates work from the D7, except it won't even play the 32 tapes. They show in the display as 32, but after a few seconds of garbled noise the 3800 just freezes and needs to be turned off and back on.

So, any comments on how to do this without going through an analog stage would be greatly appreciated.

 

[crossedover]

Hi, I'm new here so I'm hoping that I asked this in the right forum. I have a hundred or so DAT tapes that I'd like to transfer to PC. I'm doing the same with cassettes and reels so I figured that DAT would be easier since they're already digital. Wrong. I can't find any USB import device that will take a coax or optical input, and although I do see a few soundcards that have coax or optical inputs, I'm not sure if they'll do what I want.

I have a portable Sony D7 that is sort of working and I have the 7 pin output > Coax cable for it, but my Tascam MK20 deck is dead, making things more difficult.

I have an old (vintage 1999) DATPort, which I once bought for just this purpose. It takes a coaxial input and connects to a USB port on the PC. But the drivers are for Win98 and the manufacturer (OpCode) is long out of business. But I plugged it in, Win7 found some drivers, and I tried importing some stuff from the D7. I'm using Audacity and I'm not sure I have it set up correctly for this but the DATPort does show up as an input device. It appears that tapes recorded at 44.1 work perfectly. Tapes recorded at 32 are too fast and garbled. Tapes recorded at 48 (the vast majority) cause Audacity to simply sit there with the recording line pinned to the left side of the window, shaking. Headphones connected to the D7 work perfectly.

Since the D7 is having trouble loading the tapes, I just got a used Panasonic SV3800 off Ebay. It works exactly the same in terms of how the three sampling rates work from the D7, except it won't even play the 32 tapes. They show in the display as 32, but after a few seconds of garbled noise the 3800 just freezes and needs to be turned off and back on.

So, any comments on how to do this without going through an analog stage would be greatly appreciated.

tascam us144 mk2 or similar will work.. I also use adobe audition for the transfer software

 

[sterling shoote]

I use a Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD and its recording software to get DAT to computer. Since my Sony PCM-7010F DAT Recorders have a coax output and the X-FI has an optical input, I convert to optical with an M Audio CO2 and then send to the X-FI where signal converts to USB for input to computer. I don't recall any problem with material recorded at 32 since at some point in the stream it can be upsampled.

 

[dgk]

Thanks. I'm more likely to go the route of the Sound Blaster (usb version) than the Tascam us144 mk2 since I can use the SB for some other things, like phono input. I'm actually trying something else first - I figured that since the DATPort was designed to work with Win98 I'd take an old XP box and install Win98, which I did last night. But the floppy drive had trouble reading the OpCode driver disk so I'm going to have to use some other way to get the drivers onto the machine. I know the disc is ok since I read it the other day with a USB floppy drive, but of course I don't have Win98 drivers for the USB floppy and I'll need to figure out some other way to handle that. I can do it several ways but had to go to bed.

Maybe it will work, and if not, I'll order the SB.

But is it odd that the Panasonic SV3800 chokes on the 32 tapes? Is it broken in some way or is 32 not standard enough to worry about? I can still play those back on the D7 or, since they're mostly recordings off the radio, I don't really care if I have to use a line-out for them.

 

[sterling shoote]

I don't know much about the Panasonic DAT Recorders, that's to say, I don't know why your unit is choking. I use my PCM-7010f's so little these days that I hardly know how to use them. I need to take a refresher course on their operation every time I do any editing of DAT material as I am sometimes compelled to do. But, I like DAT still today as it is a quick way to record music off internet radio which cannot be easily downloaded.

 

[dgk]

I just can't get the driver disk to read so I ordered the SB. I'm looking forward to trying to get this to work.

 

[avliner]

Been using this for quite some time, with excellent results for both, tape deck & phono transfers though:

Behringer U-Phono UFO202 Audio Interface | SamAsh

 

[dgk]

Been using this for quite some time, with excellent results for both, tape deck & phono transfers though:

Behringer U-Phono UFO202 Audio Interface | SamAsh

Yes, I have a similar model (maybe the 232?) that I've been using for the reels and cassettes but mine doesn't have the phono input. But this is why I was sort of pissed - for $35 or something like that I was able to get a decent A/D converter, but I can't find a single cheap passthrough for a signal that is already digital!

 

[sterling shoote]

Did you get the X-FI HD? It's like a Swiss Army Knife, should help you get any digital or analog signal from a stereo component to PC or PC to HT in digital or converted to analog.