Digital Audio Stationary Head - Tape

Tape

One significant advantage offered by DASH recorders over the analog recorders of the day was that 'proper' tape biasing was unimportant, as there is no means for the tape to 'color' the sound of the recorded data. This was a nice advantage, and routine maintenance amounted to not much more than keeping the tape guides clean. Due to this fact, the formulation of tape does not change the sound quality, unlike analog machines which must be set for specific formulae.

The 2-track DASH machines use 1/4" wide tape, while the 24 and 48 track versions use 1/2" wide tape. One interesting thing of note is that the 24-track machines only utilize half of the tape's width, and can be played on the 48-track machines with no modifications. Similarly, the 48-track tapes can be played on a 24-track machine, but only the first 24 tracks are capable of being reproduced.

DASH recorders (as well as any other type of digital recorder using magnetic tape) require the use of metal-particle formulation magnetic tape. Given the correct bias, professional analog tape recorders could possibly benefit from the use of metal particle tape as consumer cassette decks had; but the headstacks will wear at a significantly accelerated pace compared to oxide-based material, and therefore outweighing any benefits. Due to this fact, open reel tape of this type was previously not widely available before or after these digital machines were in fashion. Some examples of metal particle tape compatible with DASH machines are 3M Scotch 275, Ampex / Quantegy 467, EMTEC 931, and Sony's own tape formulation. These tape formulations are not directly compatible with any analog open-reel tape recorder.

The DASH format is not compatible with the only other popular open reel stationary head digital recording format, Mitsubishi's ProDigi, which was available as 2-, 16-, and 32-track variations.