Tascam DA-45HR

Name: Tascam DA-45HR
Brand: Tascam

The DAT deck that put true 24-bit audio on a tape format everyone had already written off.

Overview

The DA-45HR is not a conventional DAT machine. Tascam built a 3U rack-mount professional recorder that writes genuine 24-bit audio data to a standard DAT tape. It does this by running the transport at double speed, so a 120-minute tape yields 60 minutes of 24-bit recording time. Tascam's own documentation is plain about the tradeoff: the machine records at twice the normal speed of a 16-bit deck to get a 24-bit word length on tape. The manufacturer recommends against 180-minute tapes because the stock is too thin, which caps maximum 24-bit recording time at one hour. The same literature makes the pitch bluntly - 256 times the accuracy of 16-bit resolution, with the 24-bit signal represented by more than 16 million steps per sample against just over 65,000 for 16-bit.

Backward compatibility is what makes the machine useful. In Standard mode it works as an ordinary 16-bit DAT recorder, capturing and playing back 120 minutes per tape, and it can handle 16-bit tapes made on machines from other manufacturers. During playback the deck automatically recognizes the tape's bit rate, so nobody has to switch modes by hand. Both 44.1 and 48 kHz sampling rates are supported in either bit resolution. The converter chain is lopsided - 24-bit analog-to-digital converters feeding 20-bit digital-to-analog converters on the way out.

The I/O is professional throughout. Analog input and output are on both balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA jacks, and digital connections cover 24-bit AES/EBU and S/PDIF. There is word sync I/O, and a 15-pin parallel interface adds control via fader starts of General Purpose Interface (GPI). The front panel has a data/shuttle wheel, independent L/R input-level knobs, a phone jack with its own level control, and a two-point Memory/Locate function. The menu-driven operating system runs through an LCD. Sub-code editing is thorough: Start ID write/erase, character write, re-number, and TOC re-number all live on the machine.

The recording feature set is unusually deep for a DAT deck. Auto ID can be set at -48, -54, -60, or -66 dB. Copy ID Select provides copy protection, Reference Level is selectable at -20, -18, or -16 dB, and Record Mute runs from 1 to 8 seconds in half-second increments. A Repeat function plays from two to fifteen times or can be set to free or unlimited repeat, alongside Single, Skip, and Program Play modes. Each program ID can be titled with up to 60 characters, which is handy for cataloging mixes.

Mix (August 1998, p.122) opened its spotlight on the DA-45HR by noting it had been twelve years since the first DAT prototypes. It observed that the deck had almost no learning curve, and that anyone familiar with a DAT machine could start using it immediately. Electronic Musician (2000) was more effusive, calling the DA-45HR a winner in any year and reporting that months of studio and field testing had performed admirably throughout. That same review found that 16-bit recordings made on the DA-45HR sounded better than those from standard 16-bit devices, presumably because of the 24-bit A/D converters. The 24-bit recordings delivered greater dynamic range, quicker transients, more low-level detail, and evenly blended frequencies across the spectrum. The reviewer's summary verdict was that the machine was as easy to use as any other DAT deck but left room for growth, calling it the new benchmark in DAT technology.

Pricing moved around over the model's run. Electronic Musician listed the DA-45HR at $1,999, while a distributor listing quoted a manufacturer's list of $2,165 and Mix advertising through late 1998 and into 1999 carried it at $2,149. Tascam's own advertising billed it as "The World's First 24-bit Master" DAT recorder. That is marketing copy, but the machine backed it up. A wired remote, the RC-D45, was offered as an option.

Anyone hunting for one today gets a rare DAT deck that can serve as a 24-bit mastering recorder and still play every 16-bit tape in the collection. The caveats are the format's own. DAT transports and heads are wear items, and a machine this dependent on mechanical precision needs a careful checkout before money changes hands.