You can find these tapes and DAT recorders for sale online via eBay and Amazon. Where Can I Still Buy Digital Audio Tapes? Audio quality also affects the size of digital files, so better DAT tape recordings will take up more space on CDs and USB drives. Likewise, elite recordings over two hours may not fit on a two-hour tape. These tapes could be set to different recording qualities, so a low-quality recording on a two-hour tape could be longer than two hours. How Much Audio Fits on Them?ĭAT tape capacity ranges from 15 minutes to three hours long. Sony eventually stopped making DAT players in 2005. Competition from the CD and pushback from American record execs curbed DAT tapes’ success. Digital audio had already been on the market since 1982 when the compact disc (CD) came out.

That same year, ‘Full House’ first aired and the search for the Loch Ness monster ended. Your DATs could be up to 30 years old as Sony debuted DAT tapes in 1987. If you have music on DAT tapes, conversion to CDs and flash drives is the best way to save it.Ĭommon questions about DAT Tapes How Old Are My Tapes? And like most tapes, DATs are prone to damage like mold and decay. The machines have been phased out, so you won’t find a new DAT player and might struggle to find a working one. They also yield some of the best audio that we’ve worked on. So if you’re ready to convert your DAT tapes, you should know that these tapes were a big hit with the pros. So in 1992, a new tax on DAT machines and blank tapes kept them from catching on with the public.ĭAT’s high quality did find a home with some musicians and studios. They can record audio without a loss in quality which sparked concerns about music piracy. One unique DAT tape characteristic is that they offer lossless audio recording. Yet the tapes’ key selling point is what hurt their sales in the U.S. The tapes also store track numbers and time codes, so it’s easy to skip tracks and find guitar solos.ĭAT tapes are rare compared to CDs and other audio tapes.

‘DAT’ stands for ‘Digital Audio Tape’ – unlike many tapes, DAT stores digital audio that smoothly transfers to digital. EverPresent can convert DAT tapes to CD and USB flash drives.

Dat converter