In spite of the impending arrival of new domestic digital replacements for the ubiquitous analogue cassette recorder (namely DCC and MiniDisk), DAT machines are still proving popular with studio users and musicians at all levels. Apart from the top professional machines, the majority of DATs on the market are reasonably priced — some ridiculously so — and are blessed with audibly superior performance to almost anything in the immediate price range. No doubt close scrutiny and testing reveals differences between machines, but essentially a DAT machine produces hiss-free digital sound with no distortion and no wow and flutter, which has to be good news for anyone who's used the cassette format.

And so to the DA-R100, the latest in Casio's line of portable DAT recorders, which turns out to be just about the smallest machine on the market, and which also has one of those reasonable price tags I was just talking about. This hasn't always been the case, mind you, but Casio have recently given the DA-R100 the benefit of a couple of hefty price cuts.

WALKING THE DAT

Design-wise, we're in familiar territory, with various cosmetic similarities to Walkmans and the small DAT machines already on the market. Unsurprisingly, that makes the DA-R100 small and black. So diminutive, in fact, that without its battery pack Casio's little machine fits nicely into the palm of your hand. It's not exactly over-sized when the battery pack is attached, either.

A reduction in size invariably means compromises with regard to connections, controls and facilities. But with the DA-R100, Casio have come up trumps with a very friendly and accessible front panel. Although very small, the transport controls and ID buttons are still quite usable, and misfiring is not quite the hazard I was expecting. There are still compromises on the connection front, however: all analogue and coaxial digital audio connections are on stereo mini-jacks, except the optical digital input. The use of mini-jacks means that you will have to resort to adaptors to connect to the outside world, though two stereo mini-jack to phono cables are thoughtfully provided. The various input choices are selected by a couple of sliders, giving the choice of optical and coaxial digital, mic input, mic input at -20dB and line level. A recording level control, stereo headphone socket and phones volume control complete the picture — and note that the line output has no volume control.

As for the rest of the machine, what do you get? All the expected transport controls are present, and fast winding (during Play) is quiet, but still audible. A track search facility is available, either during Play or from stop.

The sub-code functions are a little tricky, but only if you're used to having a separate button for each function. Pressing the Mode button cycles through the different functions (Start ID Write, Delete, and Renumber). The liquid crystal display initially seems a bit dull, but a quick look in the manual reveals that pressing and holding the Display/Hold button brings the LCD to life with a tasteful blue backlit effect. Lit or unlit, it's as informative as it needs to be, if perhaps a little small.

As with all DAT machines, sampling resolution is 16-bit, and there are three sampling rates available: 44.1kHz (digital recording only), and 48kHz and 32kHz (digital and analogue). Thirty-two kHz recording, at 12-bit resolution, is used in a special long play mode. This is self-explanatory: an hour-long DAT tape will now last for two hours, continuous, albeit at a lower bandwidth. But panic not: the lower bandwidth is evident only through a slight dulling of higher frequencies. In circumstances where full bandwidth is not strictly necessary (AM radio broadcast and the recording of speech or conferences, for example), the 32kHz sampling rate makes for amazing economy, especially given the four-hour recording time available on the longest blank DAT tapes.

Also in the box with your brand-new DA-R100 are a carrying case, the aforementioned stereo mini-jack to phono adaptor cables and a rechargeable battery. This allows up to two and a half hours of operation in ideal conditions, on a full charge of eight hours.

NEGATIVE, CAPTAIN

There is a downside to the DA-R100. First of all, there is the five-minute switch-off: if you leave the machine unattended, it dies (metaphorically speaking) after five minutes. On the 100's big bro, the DA7, there was a clever way of disabling this feature, which isn't present on the smaller machine, but at least a press of the Stop button returns the DA-R100 to its normal state. To continue with the negatives, we get to the digital connections: this is a domestic machine, so it's no surprise that the format is S/PDIF only, but be warned that this isn't compatible with AES/EBU standard gear. Luckily, the majority of gear on the market will co-operate, but check your existing hardware first if this one small fact will render your new purchase useless.

The last problem is the unfortunately necessary SCMS (Serial Copy Management System), or copy prohibit code. This renders digital-to-digital copies impossible beyond one generation. Copies via the analogue connections are unaffected, however, and there is salvation in the shape of a couple of special boxes on the market that allow you to remove the copy code from the digital stream.

Another small problem is the way in which the 100 automatically rewinds when it hits a long (nine second) break in the sub-code, or the end of a tape, although this doesn't occur during fast forward. This is more of an irritation than a major gripe.

The last problem may be the small size of the unit — but if this really is a problem for you, you shouldn't be looking at this machine in the first place. Speaking personally, and given my budget restrictions, I would be happy to have the DA-R100 as a main DAT, purely because of its remarkable portability, and if you already have a more substantial studio DAT, the DA-R100 makes an ideal walkabout companion for location recording.

DAT'S ALL, FOLKS!

Using the DA-R100 is fun. The small size is not a problem, and the sound is as good as we can expect from domestic digital — ie. excellent. Even before price cuts reduced the DA-R100 to a retail price of £399, including carrying case and rechargeable battery, I would have recommended it. The unit's slight drawbacks can be sidestepped — stripped out in the case of SCMS, and remember that the money you save in buying a DA-R100 can go towards one of the new code strippers — or are not major problems in light of the low price. Undoubtedly one of the market's gems at the moment, and worth a listen on cost grounds alone.

Further information

Casio DA-R100 £399.99 including VAT.

Casio Electronics, (Contact Details).