Tape Format
Digital tape format identifies the recording system and media used by a digital audio tape machine.
DAT, DCC and NT use different cassette systems. A PCM processor instead prepares digital audio for recording through a video recorder. Similar-looking media do not make formats interchangeable, and analog tape machines use different systems.
Tape Format — Digital Tape Recorder
Identify the format before choosing tapes or planning playback of an existing recording. Check the machine's supported recording modes and rates within that format as well. DCC can provide conventional analog cassette playback, but that backward compatibility does not make DAT or NT cassettes interchangeable with it.
Compare audio machines with multitrack recorders and computer data drives carefully: a drive intended for data storage is not automatically an audio DAT player. A car unit or integrated music system also describes a different installation. The format label alone does not establish the connections, channel count or operating modes of a particular machine.