[ProAudio] DAT Transfers

Bob Katz bobkatz at digido.com
Tue Apr 6 13:45:29 PDT 2021


Dear David:

The MOTU interface does not have any available SRC and it does not have 
an option to sync to the USB, ever. Which is a good thing given the 
nature of USB.

In fact, ALL USB interfaces give you clock options based on their I/O 
sections (AES, SPDIF, Analog), not on their connnection to the computer 
(USB). Generally the USB just carries DATA between the computer and the 
interface, and any clock that may be in the USB is ignored. Industry 
practice is to try to ignore any clock in a USB line and to use a 
handshake and FIFO method to exchange data via USB.

The MOTU can only sync to AES/EBU or wordclock or SPDIF or be on 
internal clock. The DAW itself may or may not do bad things with sample 
rate. You want to avoid those sorts of DAWs (the kind that adapt to any 
incoming rate and perform an SRC on the fly.... ouch! Apple is notorious 
with that in their operating system. That's why you can intermix any 
sample rate material in iTunes without getting a glitch, if using an 
Apple internal interface.


Bob


On 4/6/21 4:36 PM, David Josephson wrote:
> Bob, what I was getting at is that some of these interfaces sync to 
> the USB and perform a sample rate conversion no matter what. If the 
> MOTU doesn’t do that, fine.
>
> David
>
>> On Apr 6, 2021, at 1:21 PM, Bob Katz via ProAudio 
>> <proaudio at bach.pgm.com <mailto:proaudio at bach.pgm.com>> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Jim:
>>
>> I don't know what David is getting at. If you put your DAT machine on 
>> internal sync and lock the MOTU via SPDIF or AES/EBU it will do a 
>> good job capturing the DAT.
>>
>> The major cautions working in this mode (slaving to the DAT) is some 
>> DAT machines revert to outputting 48k clock when they are stopped, so 
>> you need to ensure that the DAT machine is putting out the intended 
>> (44.1k) clock before you hit record in your DAW. And if you have a 
>> MOTU control panel, watch what rate it says it is slaved at.
>>
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>>
>>
>> Bob
>>
>>
>> On 4/6/21 2:04 AM, Jim Brown via ProAudio wrote:
>>> I need to transfer a few dozen DATs to a hard drive for archiving 
>>> before it's too late to find hardware on which to do it. 20-25 years 
>>> ago when I was recording this material, I had a tower machine set up 
>>> as a DAW with all the interfaces needed to do the transfers. It's 
>>> been 15 years since that machine was booted, and it was more than 
>>> ten years old then. And I don't remember the logon. :)
>>>
>>>  So I need advice about hardware. I still have the Tascam DA-P1 on 
>>> which they were recorded, but I'm not sure it will live long enough. 
>>> I'll try it first. It outputs S/PDIF, so I need an interface to get 
>>> into my Windoze machines. All use USB, but I think I might have one 
>>> with Firewire.
>>>
>>> I found a MOTU 8D with USB 2.0 and S/PDIF I/O. David Josephson has 
>>> cautioned me that some interfaces may not sync well enough to the 
>>> stream for a clean transfer. Can anyone advise about this particular 
>>> product? The material is all acoustic jazz with important artists, 
>>> so quality is paramount. Most if not all of the masters are 44.1.
>>>
>>> Can anyone suggest another interface? Also suggestions of a source 
>>> for a good used DAT if mine doesn't make it through the process? 
>>> I'll be 80 in the fall, my last recording was 12 years ago, this 
>>> project is going to be a one-off, so I don't want to spend big bucks 
>>> if I don't need to.
>>>
>>> Thanks, Jim Brown
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> ProAudio mailing list
>>> ProAudio at bach.pgm.com
>>> http://bach.pgm.com/mailman/listinfo/proaudio
>> -- 
>> If you want good sound on your album, come to Bob Katz 407-831-0233 
>> DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO Author: *Mastering Audio* Digital 
>> Domain Website <https://www.digido.com/> No trees were killed in the 
>> sending of this message. However a large number of electrons were 
>> terribly inconvenienced.
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>
-- 

If you want good sound on your album, come to Bob Katz 407-831-0233 
DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO Author: *Mastering Audio* Digital Domain 
Website <https://www.digido.com/> No trees were killed in the sending of 
this message. However a large number of electrons were terribly 
inconvenienced.

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