Digital Audio Tape

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Digital Audio Tape

A 90-minute DAT cartridge, with a AAA battery (LR03) for size comparison
Media type	Magnetic cassette tape
Encoding	Lossless real-time
Capacity	Up to 120 or 180 minutes (consumer tapes on non-LP mode)
Read mechanism	Rotating head, helical scan
Write mechanism	Rotating head, helical scan
Developed by	Sony
Usage	Audio storage
Extended to	Digital Data Storage
Released	1987; 38 years ago (1987)
Discontinued	2005; 20 years ago (2005)

Digital Audio Tape (DAT or R-DAT) is a discontinued digital recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987.^[1] In appearance it is similar to a Compact Cassette, using 3.81 mm / 0.15" (commonly referred to as 4 mm) magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. The recording is digital rather than analog. DAT can record at sampling rates equal to, as well as higher and lower than a CD (44.1, 48, or 32 kHz sampling rate respectively) at 16 bits quantization. If a comparable digital source is copied without returning to the analogue domain, then the DAT will produce an exact clone, unlike other digital media such as Digital Compact Cassette or non-Hi-MD MiniDisc, both of which use a lossy data-reduction system.

Similar to most formats of videocassette, a DAT cassette may only be recorded and played in one direction, unlike an analog compact audio cassette. Many DAT recorders had the capability to embed program numbers and IDs into the recording which can be used to select an individual track like on a CD player.

Although intended as a replacement for analog audio compact cassettes, the format was never widely adopted by consumers because of its expense, as well as concerns from the music industry about unauthorized high-quality copies. The format saw moderate success in professional markets and as a computer storage medium, which was developed into the Digital Data Storage format. Sony ceased production of new recorders making it more difficult to play archived recordings in this format. Magnetic tape degradation has been noted by some engineers involved in re-mastering archival recordings on DAT, which presents a threat to audio held exclusively in this medium.