I have this beautiful Tascam DAT deck from about 10 years ago. It was a bonus given me by a former employer when a particular project went off very well. It was a show of appreciation, and I…appreciated it greatly. I used the deck to mix a couple of records in my home studio back in the day, but since then, I have obtained different equipment that allows me to mix straight to CD. For all intents and purposes, at least my purposes, digital is digital, and the CDs are really a lot easier to deal with.

Problem is, now I have this nice DAT machine I haven’t used in quite a while and I’m thinking about its future. Actually, I’m thinking online auction, but I am concerned about performance. It doesn’t have a lot of hours on it, but it also hasn’t been used in ages, so…who knows. As a result, I am hesitant to demand top dollar since I’m no tech or anything. Then again, I don’t want to just give it away.

Anybody need a DAT?

BTW – if you don’t know what a DAT is, you don’t need it. And don’t feel bad. On one occasion, doing some impromptu mixes of a project when my drummer made a surprise visit, I tried buying DAT tapes at half a dozen stores. My favorite encounter was Radio Shack of all places. The guy working there had no idea what I was talking about and kept trying to get me to buy micro-cassettes, like for a Get Smart spy recorder. Just one of many times the Shack let me down.