This is an article about the digital recording format. For Indonesian law, see Adat Alesis Digital Audio Tape or ADAT, first introduced in 1991, was used for simultaneously recording eight tracks of digital audio at once, onto Super VHS magnetic tape - a tape format similar to that used by consumer VCRs. ...

Alesis Digital Audio Tape or ADAT, first introduced in 1991, was used for simultaneously recording eight tracks of digital audio at once, onto Super VHS magnetic tape - a tape format similar to that used by consumer VCRs. Greater numbers of audio tracks can be recorded by synchronizing several ADAT machines together. While this capability had been available in earlier machines, ADAT machines were the first to do so with sample-accurate timing - which in effect allowed a studio owner to purchase a 24 track tape machine eight tracks at a time. Alesis is a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments based in Cumberland, Rhode Island. ... Simultaneity is the property of two events happening at the same time in at least ONE Reference frame. ... Digital audio describes sound recording and reproduction systems which work by using a digital representation of the audio waveform. ... S-VHS or Super VHS was an improved, backward-compatible version of the VHS standard for domestic video cassette recorders. ... Magnetic tape is a non-volatile storage medium consisting of a magnetisable coating on a thin plastic strip. ... The video cassette recorder (or VCR, less popularly video tape recorder) is a type of video tape recorder that uses removable cassettes containing magnetic tape to record audio and video from a television broadcast so it can be played back later. ... Audio can mean: Sound that can be heard. ... In telecommunication, the term synchronizing has the following meanings: Achieving and maintaining synchronism. ... Wind turbines A machine is any mechanical or organic device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of tasks. ...

This capability, combined with their relatively low cost (in comparison with other ways of achieving the same effect) enabled the creation of project studios. In addition, these machines pioneered light-pipe interfaces, which transported audio from machine to machine 8 tracks at a time over fiber-optic cables with no signal degradation.

Several versions of these machines were produced. The original ADAT (a.k.a. "Blackface") and the ADAT XT machines used 16 bits per sample, creating ADAT Type I tapes in the process. A later generation of machines was released to support 20 bits per sample, the XT-20, LX-20 and M-20. The LX-20 is basically a trimmed down version of the XT-20, while the M-20 is a more complex machine for high end professional use. The tapes created by these machines are designated ADAT Type II tapes. All ADAT's use the same high quality S-VHS tape media. Tapes written in the older Type I format can be used in the more modern machines, but not the other way around. Both machines were capable of recording at a variety of sample rates including the 44.1kHz and 48kHz rates popular in the audio industry. A kilohertz (kHz) is a unit of frequency equal to 1,000 hertz (1,000 cycles per second). ...

Today, ADAT is simply a format for transport of (up to) eight tracks of digital audio at once. The format is no longer strictly tied to ADAT tape machines, and is utilized by AD converters, input cards to DAWs, effects machines, etc. One of the benefits of utilizing ADAT versus S/PDIF or AES/EBU is that a single cable can carry up to eight channels of audio. Thus, a user can save eight tracks at a time with one ADAT computer interface. This article or section should be merged with Analog to digital converter In the strict sense, an AD converter, or more properly and Analog_to_Digital converter is just that something that converts an analog signal into a digital representation. ... Overview A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is a system designed to record, edit, and play back digital audio. ... Fiber optic transmitting module TOTX173 S/PDIF or S/P-DIF stands for Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format, also IEC 958 type II, part of IEC-60958. ... The digital audio standard frequently called AES/EBU, for Audio Engineering Society / European Broadcasting Union, that is officially known as AES3, was first published in 1992 as a standard (and revised in 1995, 1998, and 2003) for carrying digital audio signals between various devices. ...

ADAT is considered a professional format, and while it is slowly being replaced by the computer-based DAW, it is still a format widely used in the recording industry. Because of its high reliability, it is also still in use for scientific work, and to drive laser light shows. A computer is a device or machine for processing information from data according to a program — a compiled list of instructions. ... Overview A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is a system designed to record, edit, and play back digital audio. ... The record industry (or recording industry) is the industry that manufactures and distributes mechanical recordings of music. ... A laser lighting display or laser light show involves the use of laser light to entertain an audience. ...

See also

• Digital Audio Tape
• Multitrack recording