Audacity Forum

Ok I've tried this on two computers thus far.

DAT player: Tascam DA-20
->digital audio spdif cable->
Tascam US-144mkII->laptop


Operating system on both laptops I've tried is windows 7, one is 32-bit and the other is 64-bit.

I followed the instructions regarding installing the drivers and updating firmware from the Tascam website.

I've gone into audio properties and set the Tascam 144 as the default recording device.

I've gone into Audacity preferences and under devices selected the Tascam 144 as the recording device. Host device has been both MME and Windows DirectSound. Playback device left as speakers. project rate matches sample rate of DAT i am trying to transfer.

When I hook the DAT player up and play it back, i get nothing when i try to record. However, if I line out from the DAT players headphone jack to one of the guitar inputs on the 144, audio is there.

I've tried 2 separate digital audio cables.

unfortunately i have no other devices with SPDIF input so i can't determine if maybe the DAT player is not exporting anything from the digital out, however it was in pretty great condition in original box when i purchased it and everything else seems to be working just fine.

help! i really hope it's just some weird setting i am missing and not a hardware issue!

I was hoping that one was optical digital and the other was coax, but no, you should be able to plug one right into the other. The mixer/interface has no meters, so you're stuck.

I'd be dragging out my scopes and meters to make sure the signal is there. As it stands, that or testing with another digital device are the only ways.

Make sure all the systems are 48000,16-bit, stereo. That's DAT native format.

Transferring the work from the headphone jack is a time-tested desperation method.

There is one other failure mode. Many a shooter has gone out with a DAT machine and a backup and used the backup when they got back because the DAT machine threw up. Many audio people just stopped taking the DAT machine into the field. That would affect both the digital and the analog outputs, but maybe not.

Koz

im not entirely clear on everything youre saying, but it sounds to me like youre agreeing with me that its a hardware issue and not a settings issue?

not looking to do analog transfers here; these are historical DAT tapes i want to preserve at the highest quality possible.

thanks for your response!

Particularly if you can get it all to work with the mixer analog input but not the digital. It almost has to be the digital DAT link in some way. There are no convenient shortcuts for testing digital. You can't touch it with wet fingers and hear it buzz. I would send you off to a Mac, but they have Optical Digital, not Coax Digital. Is your Audacity set for 48000, 16bit, Stereo?

Sorry,

Koz

I am recording my LP collection to HD using a S/PDIF connection as the transfer medium between my external ADC box and the PC. My experience has shown the S/PDIF receiver has to be locked to the the sender otherwise the symptoms are exactly as you describe. You record silence. How do you set the Tascam US-144mkII S/PDIF data link speed? Is this setting controlled, and user selectable, by the Tascam US-144mkII driver sw? I have had a brief look at the specs of the Tascam US-144mkII but I cannot see any information regarding a S/PDIF lock indicator. If there is a lock indicator then removing the DAT to Tascam US-144mkII S/PDIF connection should cause the lock indicator to toggle (locked to unlocked). This would be a good indication the S/PDIF data is getting from the DAT player to the Tascam US-144mkII. If there is no lock indicator then your only other options are either to connect to a known good working S/PDIF record interface or, as Koz suggested, get out your 'scope. Sorry I cannot be more helpful but I would certainly investigate the S/PDIF connection.