Dat player into MBP, is this possible?

[tmt]

Hi folks,
I've got a Sony Dat because I have lots of dat tapes available with a band I used to play in.
Its hard finding a nice CDR as they too are gone with the wind 😀
Is it possible to record it directly into my MBP or with some interface of some kind?
The dat player has both coax/optical out.
Grateful for any info on this 🙂
TIA/J

 

[motulist]

If you want to keep the signal digital then you'll need to buy a device for the computer that has a spdif input.

Edit: that's assuming your dat player has a spdif out port.

 

[tmt]

Yeah, it has optical out. But is there such a device? I haven't found one, and what software would I use to record it?
Many thanks 🙂

 

[Fishrrman]

I suggest you visit gearslutz.com.
One of the best "audio/recording" sites on the net.
Perhaps folks there can offer suggestions.

I think you'd need an audio interface (connecting via USB), that has either an SPDIF input or Coax input, or both. Not all come so equipped.

If nothing else works or is within budget, I'd suggest a simple digital-to-analog converter. It could take the digital signal from the DAT, then convert it to plain analog going into the Mac.
Better than nothing.

 

[lemonkid]

Maybe you already made your choice, but my advice is to use the coax output. It has the best SPDIF signal. BUT....... you must be able to sync the sample rate from recorder to computer. This can be done by making your dat the MASTER and your computer the SLAVE.

If that sounds too weird, this is normal language in the audio industry. You need to make one of them 'obey' to the master clock signal (word-clock). That way you will get an exact copy of the original file on the DAT-tape. It actually means that the sample rate signal produced by the recorder, will also be used on the computer. The clock signal will then be sent through the SPDIF coax cable along with the music.(or when you prefer to use the word clock of the computer, the recorder will follow the sample rate as is set by the computer)

Optical signals are usually not good enough. But there are some who can live with the result of such a connection.