ADAT — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Digital audio tape format}} {{About|the digital tape format|the digital audio transfer standard|ADAT Lightpipe|Indonesian law|Adat|the tRNA-specific ADA|adenosine deaminase}} {{Use American English|date=December 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox storage medium | name = Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT) | logo = ADAT logo.svg | image = ADAT-XT.jpg | caption = An ADAT XT 8-channel digital audio recorder | type = Magnetic cassette tape | encoding = Lossless real-time | capacity = | blocksize = | read = Rotating head | write = Rotating head, helical scan | standard = | owner = Alesis | use = Professional digital audio | dimensions = | weight = | extended from = S-VHS | extended to = | released = {{Start date and age|1991}} | discontinued = }} [[File:Victor XG180 S-VHS videocassette.jpg|thumb|An S-VHS tape, which is also used for ADAT]]

'''Alesis Digital Audio Tape''', commonly referred to as '''ADAT''', is a magnetic tape format used for the recording of eight digital audio tracks onto the same S-VHS tape used by consumer VCRs, and the basis of a series of multitrack recorders by Alesis. Although originally a tape-based format, the term ''ADAT'' later also referred to hard disk recorders like the Alesis ADAT HD24.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cooper |first=Michael |title=Alesis ADAT HD24 |url=https://www.mixonline.com/technology/alesis-adat-hd24-369644 |website=MIX |publisher=Future plc |date=July 1, 2002 |access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref> In 2004, recognizing the ADAT for "beginning a revolution of affordable recording tools," it was inducted into the first-ever TEC Awards TECnology Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web|title=TECnology Hall of Fame 2004|url=http://legacy.tecawards.org/hof/04techof.html#23 |date=2004|access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref>

==History== Alesis announced the first ADAT model at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California in January 1991, with the first ADAT recorders shipping over a year later in February or March 1992.<ref>{{cite book |last=Peterson |first=George |editor-last=Robair |editor-first=Gino |date=1999 |title=Alesis ADAT: The Evolution of a Revolution |publisher=Mixbooks |page=2 |isbn=0-87288-686-7 }}</ref> This original ADAT model recorded up to 8 tracks of 16-bit digital audio on a standard S-VHS tape cartridge.<ref name="muzines">{{cite magazine|last1=White |first1=Paul |last2=Mellor |first2=David |title=Alesis ADAT |url=https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/alesis-adat/9503 |magazine=Sound On Sound |publisher=SOS Publications Group |date=September 1992 |access-date=December 20, 2023}}</ref> Additionally, up to 16 ADATs could be connected to each other to record up to 128 tracks simultaneously with sample-accurate timing. This capability and the ADAT's low cost (it was originally introduced at {{usd|3995}}) were largely responsible for the rise of project studios in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Petersen |first=George |title=In Memoriam: Keith Barr 1949-2010 |website=Mix Magazine Online |url=http://mixonline.com/news/keith_barr_obit_2508/index1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829053857/http://mixonline.com/news/keith_barr_obit_2508/index1.html |date=August 25, 2010 |archive-date=August 29, 2010 |access-date=September 25, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1991 Alesis ADAT Modular Digital Multitrack |url=https://www.mixonline.com/technology/1991-alesis-adat-modular-digltal-multitrack-383615 |website=MIX |publisher=Future PLC |date=September 1, 2006 |access-date=December 20, 2023 }}</ref>

{{Multiple image | direction = vertical | image1 = Alesis ADAT XT LRC Remote Control.jpg | caption1 = LRC (Little Remote Control) | image2 = Alesis BRC Master ADAT Controller.jpg | caption2 = BRC (Big Remote Control) Master ADAT Controller }}

Alesis produced several models of ADAT recorders. The original ADAT (later referred to as ''Blackface'') and the ADAT XT record 16 bits per sample (ADAT Type I). A later generation of machines—the XT-20, LX-20 and M-20—support 20 bits per sample (ADAT Type II). All ADAT machines use the same high-quality S-VHS tape media. Tapes recorded in the older Type I format can be read and written in the more modern machines, but not the other way around. Later generations are capable of recording at a sample rate of either 44.1 or 48 kHz, common in the audio industry. Pitch control is available by varying the sample rate and thus tape speed accordingly.<ref name="manual">{{cite web |url=https://alesis.de/sites/default/files/2018-04/adat_hd24_manual.pdf |title=ADAT HD24 Reference Manual |website=Alesis.de |publisher=Alesis |page=4 |date=August 2001 |access-date=October 24, 2022 }}</ref>{{Rp|42}}

With locate points, it was possible to store sample-exact positions on tape, making it easy to find specific parts of digital recordings. Using ''auto play'' and ''auto record'' functions made it possible to punch in/out at predetermined points, rather than relying on human timing ability to start and stop recording at precisely the right instant.<ref name="muzines" />

ADAT machines could be controlled externally with the Alesis LRC (Little Remote Control), which could be attached to the ADAT with a 1/4" tip/sleeve plug, and featured the transport controls and most commonly used functions. Alternatively, the BRC (Big Remote Control) could be used, which included many more features that the stand-alone ADAT did not have.<ref name="manual" />{{Rp|4}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Audio storage Category:Audiovisual introductions in 1992 Category:Digital audio transport