[winnie@teleport.com: DAT to computer]

[Dan Fain <fain@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

We recently inquired about this problem (connecting a DAT to a
computer) on "rec.audio.tech," and got the following very helpful
response from Jon Edelson.

Dan Fain
Tanner Research, Inc. and California Institute of Technology
Pasadena CA


Return-Path: <winnie@teleport.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 10:00:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jonathan Edelson <winnie@teleport.com>
Reply-To: winnie@pucc.princeton.edu
To: fain@tanner.com
Subject: DAT to computer
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


Not sure what you mean by cheap, but yes, there are ways of getting
digital audio into a computer without going through a D/A A/D conversion
process.

I have a card produced by Zefiro Acoustics, it has S/PDIF coax and
optical interfaces, as well as AES/EBU capabilities.  It is currently a
beta test item and costs about $500; they alos have a lower end card
which goes for something like $400.

Zefiro Acoustics
4961 Barkwood Ave
Irvine, CA 92714
+1-(714)-551-5833
hanssen@netcom.com

The nice thing about the ZA products is that they are being developed by
a guy who has kept the arcetecture open; you can play with the DSP
coding, and write your own interface code.  This is also the problem with
the card; you have to futz with it.  I prefer being able to fool around
with such stuff.


There is (I think) Digital Audio Labs, they make a product called the
CardD; as well as a card called the 'I/O Only CardD'; I really am not
sure about the names here, but this should be enough info to get a pro
music store to figure it out; $400 to $1000 range.  This should be a
'professional' product that simply works; it costs more and does less.

Finally, there is someone in Germany making something called the
'TripleDAT'; an interface card that includes remote control outputs, so
that you can plug a DAT drive into your computer, and the computer will
be able to do things like start and stop the drive.  Expensive ($1300 +).

-Jon