Tascam DA-P1 chewed my DAT tape!!

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

I recently recorded a very important student concert on DAT. As I was
transferring the tape to computer, I heard a high pitched noise from
the tape mechanism, before it grinded to a stop. I then realized my
Tascam DA-P1 chewed my tape.
I spent a long time trying to get the tape out of my Tascam DA-P1.
Luckily none of the tape broke; it was just wrinkled. So I proceeded to
put the tape back in to play it because I could not afford to loose
this audio.
It played, but I heard no sound whatsoever.

I then put in another DAT tape with previously recorded sound on it,
and again, no sound, no timecode/track numbers, even though the
mechanism was moving.

I figured my DAT machine was probably broken, so I tried another deck.
I first put in the non-chewed tape in and it played no problem. Then
the student concert DAT, and no sound. Put the first tape back in, and
no sound either! It seems like I had ruined or contaminated the heads
of two DAT machines!

Two days later, I tried the Tascam DA-P1 again and it worked no
problem. Did I temporarily ruin or contaminate the heads by feeding it
crumpled tape? Should I buy a head cleaner?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

If you run a crumpled tape over the heads you are pretty likely going to get
some tape oxide shedding and blocking up the heads - your assumptions are
correct. A tape head cleaner would certainly not do much harm if you follow
the instructions, but I have never found them to be particularly thorough.
To manually clean the heads requires some dismantling of the casing as far
as I recall and is a risky operation for the inexperienced anyway.

What you need to be aware of is the question of why the machine ate the tape
in the first place. If nothing has changed it may well do it again. The
only solution is a proper service, but this will not be cheap. There is an
outside chance that cleaning the heads properly will solve the problem, but
only if the eating of the tape was caused by a dirty/sticky head snatching
the tape. There are all sorts of other reasons for tape eating, and often
it is a combination of all of them that only a service can cure.

If you can't afford the service, you could perhaps take the machine to a
video repair place and see whether they would be prepared to just clean the
heads and transport manually for you - a DAT mechanism is just a minature
VCR really.


Gareth.



<greglee@umich.edu> wrote in message
news:1117078336.657274.241160@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>I recently recorded a very important student concert on DAT. As I was
> transferring the tape to computer, I heard a high pitched noise from
> the tape mechanism, before it grinded to a stop. I then realized my
> Tascam DA-P1 chewed my tape.
> I spent a long time trying to get the tape out of my Tascam DA-P1.
> Luckily none of the tape broke; it was just wrinkled. So I proceeded to
> put the tape back in to play it because I could not afford to loose
> this audio.
> It played, but I heard no sound whatsoever.
>
> I then put in another DAT tape with previously recorded sound on it,
> and again, no sound, no timecode/track numbers, even though the
> mechanism was moving.
>
> I figured my DAT machine was probably broken, so I tried another deck.
> I first put in the non-chewed tape in and it played no problem. Then
> the student concert DAT, and no sound. Put the first tape back in, and
> no sound either! It seems like I had ruined or contaminated the heads
> of two DAT machines!
>
> Two days later, I tried the Tascam DA-P1 again and it worked no
> problem. Did I temporarily ruin or contaminate the heads by feeding it
> crumpled tape? Should I buy a head cleaner?
>

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

greglee@umich.edu wrote:
> I recently recorded a very important student concert on DAT. As I was
> transferring the tape to computer, I heard a high pitched noise from
> the tape mechanism, before it grinded to a stop. I then realized my
> Tascam DA-P1 chewed my tape.
> I spent a long time trying to get the tape out of my Tascam DA-P1.
> Luckily none of the tape broke; it was just wrinkled. So I proceeded to
> put the tape back in to play it because I could not afford to loose
> this audio.
> It played, but I heard no sound whatsoever.
>
> I then put in another DAT tape with previously recorded sound on it,
> and again, no sound, no timecode/track numbers, even though the
> mechanism was moving.
>
> I figured my DAT machine was probably broken, so I tried another deck.
> I first put in the non-chewed tape in and it played no problem. Then
> the student concert DAT, and no sound. Put the first tape back in, and
> no sound either! It seems like I had ruined or contaminated the heads
> of two DAT machines!
>
> Two days later, I tried the Tascam DA-P1 again and it worked no
> problem. Did I temporarily ruin or contaminate the heads by feeding it
> crumpled tape? Should I buy a head cleaner?

I sure hope it wasn't one of those "extra-long" DAT tapes, using the
very-thin tape. Always to be avoided, in ANY tape format.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

It was only a 90 min DAT tape; not "extra long", brand was Maxell. I
usually use TDK Pro 90 min, so I hope switching brands did not cause it
to chew.

One crucial mistake: I forgot to fast forward and rewind the tape when
I first opened the package.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

The DAT format holds a special place in my Hall of Extremely Annoying
Things.

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <1117120166.588702.301180@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com> greglee@umich.edu writes:

> This recent tape chewing event has caused me to think about getting
> tapeless solutions; such as digital recorders. Can anyone recommend a
> portable digital recorder with the same quality and inputs/outputs as
> the Tascam DA-P1?

If there was such, I'd have one. Try the Fostex FR2 or the Edirol R4,
or for some more money, the Sound Devices 722(?).

> some kind of removable memory card would also be nice.

If you're willing to settle for only a removable memory card (no disk)
the Marantz 660 looks like it might work for you.

--
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