The Sony 7-pin interface uses the S/PDIF data format but its voltage
levels are not per the standard. If you need a strict S/PDIF-standard
signal, the Sony signals must be converted to the proper levels. We
offer our
Digital Format Translator and
Midiman CO2 format converter for this purpose --
please ask us about them!
7-Pin-To-Coax Cable: Straying from the ideal (i.e., you don't need a
strict S/PDIF-standard voltage level), if you want to record from a Sony
portable DAT to another device's coax (RCA) inputs, almost all of them
will accept the Sony's levels even though they're not per the S/PDIF
standard. We've found that Sony DTC-75ES, -59ES, -60ES, -670, -690,
PCM-2600, PCM-R500/R300, Tascam DA-20, -P1, -30 Mk II, Panasonic SV-3700
and -3900, Radius Telecast and Audio Media II and III cards (for the PC
& Mac computers), Zefiro ZA1 and ZA2 cards (for the PC), Lucid
Technologies PCI-24 card (for the Mac and PC), Event Gina, Audio Alchemy
DTI Pro32, Audiowerk 8, Terratec EWS64XL, Creative Labs SBLive, Opcode
DATport and Sonicport, the DAT-heads DSD, Fairlight CMI3 Digital Sample
Card, Yamaha 03D digital mixer, Midiman/M-Audio's Audiophile and DIO,
Philips Acoustic Edge, all Turtle Beach cards and our DFT and DPP
products all accept it with no problems. So we offer the
"7-pin-to-coax" cable at low cost ($45). It works fine with every deck
it's been tried with, including between the new Sony TCD-D100 and the
Tascam DA-20.
Coax-To-7-Pin Cable: If you want to record from a device with a coax
output to your Sony portable, another simple cable: the "Coax-to-7-pin"
cable will do the job. It too is $45. This cable will work fine with
all modern Tascam decks including the DA-P1, DA-20 and DA-30, most Sony
decks including the DTC-59ES, -A7, -R500/-R300 and PCM-2600, the MTU
Microsound system, Fairlight CMI3 Digital Sample Card, Lucid
Technologies PCI-24 card (for the Mac and PC), Yamaha 03D digital mixer
and Roland VS-880 hard disk recorder. It also works fine between the
TCD-D100 and the Audio Alchemy DTI Pro32. It works fine between the
newer Sony portable DAT decks (PCM-M1 and TCD-D100) and the Opcode
DATport/Sonicport, however older Sony portable decks (TCD-D3, -D7 and
-D8) will not accept the Opcodes' voltage. There are some devices that
do not generate the right voltages for the Sony portable DATs -- these
include the oldest Sony DAT decks (e.g., DTC-75ES), Marantz CD players,
some Turtle Beach sound cards, the older Creative Labs SBLive card (the
newest cards do work!), some Event cards (Layla), E-Mu ESI-4000 turbo
sampler, Ensoniq ASR-10 sampler and the Audiomedia III card for the PC
computer -- you can use our Midiman CO2 data format
converter to mate to these; Sony also makes a cable (the RK-DA10P)
that will work with these. The Zefiro ZA2 card will work fine after
shorting one resistor on the ZA2 -- contact Zefiro for details. Some
Event Gina card work fine. If you have a deck or device that we haven't
mentioned please contact us.
7-Pin Combi Cable: The two simple 7-pin/coax cables can be hooked
together with a simple coax-jack-to-coax-jack adapter (a "barrel").
This creates a 7-pin-to-7-pin cable assembly identical in function to
our TCD-Cable (see a description of the TCD-Cable further on). You can
use it to record from one Sony portable DAT machine to another Sony
portable DAT. And you can disassemble the cable assembly and use its
two cables to interface your Sony portable to other devices. We can
provide this very useful assembly for $95.
7-Pin-Coax-I/O Cable: If you need both input and output from your Sony
portable, a third cable provides them in a single product. It's a "Y"
cable with a 7-pin plug at its base and two RCA coax plugs at its
branches. Each branch is three feet long. One coax plug is for input
and the other is for output. This cable is called the "7-pin-coax-I/O"
cable and is priced at $70. The same limitations hold for it as for the
7-Pin-To-Coax and Coax-To-7-Pin cables. For the Audiomedia III card,
you'll need a Midiman CO2 data format converter
-- please ask us for details.
TCD-Cable: If you need to connect two Sony Portable DAT machines, Core
Sound is pleased to offer the TCD-Cable, a three-foot cable with a 7-pin
plug on each end; it allows direct digital connection between two Sony
TCD-D3s, TCD-D7s or TCD-D8s. One end is labeled "play/out" and the
other "record/in." The "play/out" side is plugged into the playing
machine; the "record/in" side is plugged into the recording machine.
The TCD-Cable is $65.
7-Pin-to-XLR Cable: We're pleased to introduce a new cable that allows
Sony portable DAT machines (TCD-D8, -D7 and -D3) to transfer digital
audio to the Fostex D5, Otari DTR-8S, Tascam DA-30, Panasonic SV-3800,
T.C. Electronics Finalizer and Sony PCM-2600 via their AES/EBU XLR
inputs; it works between the Sony TCD-D100 and the Otari DTR-8S. It
also works fine transferring data to an EMU E4X sampler. The Fostex,
Sony and Tascam are all smart enough to recognize the Sony's S/PDIF data
stream, ignore the the non-standard voltages and even accept Start ID
information; they also ignore SCMS. The SV-3800 respects SCMS but does
not increase generation counts. We expect to have more information
about this cable's suitability for use with other AES/EBU decks soon.
The 7-pin-To-XLR cable is priced at $45.
XLR-to-7-Pin cable: We're please to now offer our newest cable, to allow
porfessional digital audio devices using the AES/EBU XLR interfaces to
send data to Sony's PCM-M1 and TCD-D100 DAT recorders. (This cable will
not work older Sony DAT recorders.) We know that it works fine
with the StellaDAT, and expect that it will work well with any device
using the standard AES/EBU data and physical format. The XLR-to-7-Pin
cable is priced at $45.
All of our cables come with right angle 7-pin-plugs.
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