I did some sleuthing through some accompanying documentation for the
collection from which these DATs came and found out what machine they were
originally recorded on, which is definitely a 16-bit device. So, the
recorder's other notes saying that they're 24-bit turns out to have been a
red herring.

Brian



On Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 2:51 PM, Shai Drori <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi guys
> The only dat machine capable of 24 bit recordings was the Tascam 45. These
> will not play at all on normal dat machines. And there was also the Pioneer
> 96kHz dat. Also not playable on normal machines.
> Shai
>
> Sent from my ringing donkey
>
> On 28 באוג 2012, at 18:58, "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi, Brian,
> >
> > That is great to hear...(or in your case not to hear), but this does not
> resolve the question in my mind that the original post said 24-bit DATs and
> then there was a brief discussion that some HR DAT machines could record 24
> bits (not yet confirmed from another source) and I did confirm that the
> DA-20MKII is a 16 bit machine (the MKII supplement says everything the same
> except...and does not show performance specs, so I found it in the main
> manual).
> >
> > So, if you have 24 bit DATs and are using the DA-20MKII, I think that
> the signals are being truncated (not even dithered) at 16 bits.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Richard
> >
> > On 2012-08-28 11:25 AM, Brian Carpenter wrote:
> >> To my very great chagrin (mixed with relief), the error was a very
> simple
> >> matter of some dislodged wiring in the jungle of wires. Nonetheless, all
> >> the suggestions that everyone provided is much much appreciated, as it
> >> re-familiarized with some finer points that I shall be glad to have at
> the
> >> ready for any mysterious troubleshooting scenarios that should arise in
> the
> >> future.
> >>
> >> Much obliged,
> >>
> >> Brian
> >>
> >>
> >> ------------------------------------
> >> Brian Carpenter
> >> Mellon Digital Audio Archivist
> >>
> >> American Philosophical Society
> >> 105 South Fifth Street
> >> Philadelphia, PA  19106-3386
> >> (215) 440-3418
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>
> >>> On Aug 28, 2012, at 9:49 AM, Brian Carpenter wrote:
> >>>
> >>> I couldn't find this question addressed in the ARSCLIST archive, so,
> >>> apologies for any redundancy. I'm transferring a set of DATs, recorded
> at
> >>> 48/24, using a TASCAM DA-20MKII and WaveLab 6 software. The .wav files
> I
> >>> end up with in WaveLab are highly, highly glitchy. Errors and dropouts
> >>> galore. However, when I listen to one of these tape directly from the
> deck
> >>> itself, it sounds completely fine. No problems at all. I've transferred
> >>> hundreds of DATs and have never encountered this before. Any ideas as
> to
> >>> what's going on here?
> >>>
> >>> Any pointers much appreciated!
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Brian
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ------------------------------------
> >>> Brian Carpenter
> >>> Mellon Digital Audio Archivist
> >>>
> >>> American Philosophical Society
> >>> 105 South Fifth Street
> >>> Philadelphia, PA  19106-3386
> >>> (215) 440-3418
> >>>
> >
> > --
> > Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
> > Aurora, Ontario, Canada           (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
> > http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> > Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
>



-- 
------------------------------------
Brian Carpenter
Mellon Digital Audio Archivist

American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street
Philadelphia, PA  19106-3386
(215) 440-3418