DAT Digital Audio Tapes
Digital Audio Tape (DAT) is a professional 4 mm digital format introduced in 1987, delivering clean, lossless 16‑bit audio at 32–48 kHz for mastering, archiving, and field recording. All DAT tapes use a high‑coercivity metal‑particle formulation, giving the format consistent performance across brands. Compact, reliable, and precise, DAT became a studio standard throughout the 1990s.
Note 1: 30 Mins: DIC DAT 30XR: Low inventory. One was open for photography. It will be offered as "brand new" if you order 2 or more.
Note 2: 90 Mins: Panasonic RT-R90P: Low inventory.
Note 3: 120 Mins: Panasonic RT-R120P: Very few available.
Note 4: 124 Mins: BASF DAT Master: Very few available.
Note 5: 125 Mins: Maxell DAT125 Pro: Very few available. These are not factory sealed... they are factory Unsealed.
Note 6: 12 Mins: Maxell DDS Cleaning Cartridge: Only 1 available. Careful: This is a used cartridge. It looks like it was not used much though.
About DAT Technology:
Digital Audio Tape (DAT) was developed by SONY and introduced in 1987 as a compact, high‑fidelity digital recording format using 4 mm metal‑particle tape and a helical‑scan mechanism adapted from video technology. It delivered and enabling exact digital clones, and quickly becoming the studio standard for mix-downs, mastering, and archival work through the 1990s.
DAT Today: Consumer adoption remained limited due to cost and copy‑protection concerns, but today DAT survives among enthusiasts who restore old recordings, transfer archival masters, and preserve early digital history—valuing its precision and role in bridging analogue and digital eras.