[tjkurita]

OK. I have a DAT deck that I have not been using to its full potential, so I ordered a really great set of mics from www.sonicstudios.com, and I plan on getting a USB converter to send my DAT to the HD of my computer (from here: www.m-audio.com). Finally, I plan to get a software package from www.syntrillium.com.

I know it sounds like endorsements or something, but I post these things to find out if I am picking the right stuff. I know the mics are right. But I am not sure of the gear I need to really get good recordings to my computer.

Until now I had a friend of mine who works in pro-audio transfer all of my DAT to cd. I know absolutely nothing about this process. In fact, I don't even know how coaxial interconnects work, and I just got a SPDIF cable.

A single coaxial RCA cable (or jack) is a stereo cable, right? Unlike analog RCA which has one left and one right cable... The reason the SPDIF cable I have has two RCA ends is because one is an input and the other is an output, right? Am I completely wrong. This is my intuitive understanding.

Also, can anyone comment on or recommend other gear to use for transferring digital data from DAT to hard drive? Also perhaps comment on the pluses and minuses of USB connection vs new soundcard installation? Lastly, can anyone recommend or comment on the best audio editing software?

Thanks a lot.

John

 

[ph0rk]

if the coax is used as a digital interconnect then it will pass mono, stereo, or whatever else you throw down it.

If you wish to move your recordings to your HD, you need to make sure you have an SPDIF in (probably your soundcard) and then some recording software. (many of which is free, hunt around fon sourceforge.org). A quick look for "windows audio recorder" shows up Audacity (http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/).

It has more functionality than you need, but it will work.

plug your DAT to your sound card, assign the program to record off of the dac input, and off you go.

One thing, most DAT recordings are at 48khz. If you wish to move these to CD you'll need to downsample, or your soundcard will do it for you (and sound bad, if it is a soundblaster)

good luck.