Digital Audio Tape

(dat)

The recording of data onto tape using digital signals (ones and zeros) instead of analog data (continuous voltages levels). DAT was first used for audio in the mid-1980s but the basic format has been expanded to any digital data.

DAT recorders are similar in nature to a video cassette recorder. The head moves across the tape and traces a long diagonal path across the tape (so called "helical scan"). Both data and information about the data being recorded can be placed onto the tape. Use caution; not all tapes can be read on every DAT machine. You should also use computer-grade tape as data is much more sensitive to dropped bits than audio.

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