Portable DAT Walkman and Sound Quality at DVinfo.net

Glenn Gipson · August 12th, 2003, 08:10 AM

How good is the sound quality for portable DAT walkmans when recording location dialogue?

Mike Rehmus · August 12th, 2003, 04:30 PM

Good. But they are technology on the way out. I'd not buy a new one these days.

Glenn Gipson · August 13th, 2003, 05:22 AM

What are some new replacement technologies for small portable DATs?

Bogdan Vaglarov · August 13th, 2003, 06:16 AM

DAT has the best possible quality out there for portable at 48kHz sampling rate.

It's tape format so it has it's downsides.

MDs, wireless mics are good portable replacements. You can also put in the game field mixers or even small HD multitrack recorder - options are unlimited.

Mike Rehmus · August 13th, 2003, 10:45 AM

Products like the Marantz MD670 solid state recorder are starting to knock DAT out of the box.

At less that $1,000, the Marantz, for example will record 1.5 hours of stereo sound on a 1 gig memory card at 48 Khz in PCM recording mode.

In MP3 mode, it will record stereo for 7 hours at at 48 Khz sampling rate and a storage rate of 320 mbps.

The small MP3 'jukeboxes' that record are also starting to be an option. I just finished modifying a little $80 MP3 recorder/player to use as a narration source for a Lost Boat (submarine) memorial. The sound quality is excellent for voice.

Before you run out and buy one of these little jewels, understand that only a few of them have a microphone input and they tend to be the more expensive of them I'M TOLD (I haven't seen one myself.) So you use an outboard box to drive them.

Jay Rose covers this very issue in his column, "September Song," in the September issue of DV Magazine. He certainly believes that DAT is on its way.

Bogdan Vaglarov · August 13th, 2003, 09:50 PM

Very good point Mike,
thanks for the overview of the new possibilities!

Glenn Gipson · August 14th, 2003, 05:17 AM

Hmmm...I was thinking about using an MP3 recorder as a dialogue recorder...but how good does the MP3 format work with any post-processing?

Mike Rehmus · August 14th, 2003, 10:40 AM

Works fine for me.

August 12th, 2003, 08:10 AM	#1
Glenn Gipson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Plainfield, New Jersey Posts: 927	Portable DAT Walkman and Sound Quality How good is the sound quality for portable DAT walkmans when recording location dialogue?

August 12th, 2003, 04:30 PM	#2
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	Good. But they are technology on the way out. I'd not buy a new one these days. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

August 13th, 2003, 10:45 AM	#5
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	Products like the Marantz MD670 solid state recorder are starting to knock DAT out of the box. At less that $1,000, the Marantz, for example will record 1.5 hours of stereo sound on a 1 gig memory card at 48 Khz in PCM recording mode. In MP3 mode, it will record stereo for 7 hours at at 48 Khz sampling rate and a storage rate of 320 mbps. The small MP3 'jukeboxes' that record are also starting to be an option. I just finished modifying a little $80 MP3 recorder/player to use as a narration source for a Lost Boat (submarine) memorial. The sound quality is excellent for voice. Before you run out and buy one of these little jewels, understand that only a few of them have a microphone input and they tend to be the more expensive of them I'M TOLD (I haven't seen one myself.) So you use an outboard box to drive them. Jay Rose covers this very issue in his column, "September Song," in the September issue of DV Magazine. He certainly believes that DAT is on its way. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

August 14th, 2003, 05:17 AM	#7
Glenn Gipson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Plainfield, New Jersey Posts: 927	MP3 as Recorder Hmmm...I was thinking about using an MP3 recorder as a dialogue recorder...but how good does the MP3 format work with any post-processing?

August 14th, 2003, 10:40 AM	#8
Mike Rehmus Wrangler Join Date: May 2002 Location: Vallejo, California Posts: 4,049	Works fine for me. __________________ Mike Rehmus Hey, I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel!

August 13th, 2003, 05:22 AM	#3
Glenn Gipson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Plainfield, New Jersey Posts: 927	What are some new replacement technologies for small portable DATs?

August 13th, 2003, 06:16 AM	#4
Bogdan Vaglarov Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Yokohama, Japan Posts: 366	DAT has the best possible quality out there for portable at 48kHz sampling rate. It's tape format so it has it's downsides. MDs, wireless mics are good portable replacements. You can also put in the game field mixers or even small HD multitrack recorder - options are unlimited.

August 13th, 2003, 09:50 PM	#6
Bogdan Vaglarov Major Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Yokohama, Japan Posts: 366	Very good point Mike, thanks for the overview of the new possibilities!