Digital Audio Tape is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a Compact Cassette, using 3.81 mm / 0.15" 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 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.
A 90-minute DAT cartridge, with a AAA battery (LR03) for size comparison
Aiwa HD-S1 portable DAT recorder from 1990 with DAT tape for size comparison. It is 146 mm high and 95 mm wide, the thickness is 38 mm.
DAT Recorder (Kenwood DX-7030)
DAT was also used in professional environments like recording studios and broadcasting institutions. The depicted device is a professional Sony PCM-7030 DAT recorder which had a recommended retail price of 8000 US dollars.
Sony Group Corporation , formerly known as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. and Sony Corporation (ソニー株式会社), commonly known as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group comprises entities such as Sony Corporation, Sony Semiconductor Solutions, Sony Entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Financial Group, and others.
Headquarters in Minato, Tokyo
Sony's first product was an electric rice cooker in the late 1940s.
Advertising for Sony transistor radios (TR-6, TR-63 & TR-72), 1957
A Sony TR-730 transistor radio made in Japan, c. 1960
