[Tiemen]

I was thinking of using a second hand, broken DAT recorder as a external DAC for my M-Audio Audiophile 2496 soundcart. Using the digital out.
At the moment I use the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 as source for my PC audio.
Would adding the DAT DAC be an improvement, or merely a waste of money?

 

[Matias]

Try it yourself, it's the only way to be sure.

 

[grawk]

Most dat recorders that I've had experience with have really lousy dacs.

 

[Tiemen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most dat recorders that I've had experience with have really lousy dacs.

Thanks, that is what I wanted to know.
Does that also apply to the ES series of Sony DAT recorders?

 

[grawk]

I haven't heard any of the sony ES dats. I had friends that liked them, but I think everyone went digital out.

 

[stchenhua]

Most of Sony ES DATs sound bad except a few top ones such as 1000ES(too old and cannot receive 44.1khz digital signal), 77ES (87ES in US), 1500ES and 2000ES.

 

[henryflower]

I have used a Tascam DA-P1 as a DAC/AMP in the past (because I had one lying around). While it isn't as good as a modern (24/96) dac, It wasn't bad. However, unless you can get one for super-cheap, I suspect you can do better.

-Noah

 

[stchenhua]

Portable dat recorders are not worth it since they normally have to sacrifice the playback quality to A/D converter and preamp considering the compact size. However if you can find some decent home DAT decks to be used as DACs they can be more "hi-fi" than soundcards since they are made for it, while soundcards are always made by people who don't KNOW audiophiles' aesthetics.