Re: + GEAR: DAT (One more time) +

Elson Trinidad
Thu, 19 Mar 1998 12:29:34 -0800


At 12:13 PM 3/19/98 -0500, k kiernan wrote:

>scms means once you've copied a dat, you can't make a copy of the new dat;
>the 'serial' copy has been 'protected,' and henceforth you can only make
>analog copies of that dat. if you can possibly afford avoiding scms, do so.

To clarify, SCMS only affects copies made through the digital in/outs. SCMS
was proposed by the record industry who were afraid of mass piracy (as it
turns out, DAT eventually became an exclusively professional
(non-consumer) recording format!)

>one of the most frustrating things in the studio is seeing those nasty words
>"cannot copy" pop up on a scms machine (or 'din unlock' on minidisc). if
>you're going for a rack mounted, go for the panasonic pro models. i don't
>know if sony has much that does not employ scms (since sony is a software
>provider--sony music--they have a vested interest in keeping consumers from
>making dats at will).

The whole thing was worked out years ago that consumer/lower-priced model
DATs would include SCMS, but the pro model, high-end do not have SCMS,
hence if you buy a rack-mounted pro model, it's not likely to have SCMS.
All the Sony DAT Walkmans do have SCMS, but the more higher-end models don't.

I also heard of a way to "hack" an SCMS-equipped DAT by disabling the SCMS
circuitry. I heard it's not very complicated, but you have to go in and
open the unit and know what you're doing.

Elson
- 30 -
:. e l s o n t r i n i d a d
:. elson@westworld.com :. www.westworld.com/~elson
:. los angeles, california, usa
your opinions are just as wrong as mine.