The Onkyo DT-9000 DAT Recorder was produced from 1990 to 1994 and was manufactured in Japan as a high-quality Digital Audio Tape recorder. Designed during the early 1990s period when DAT was being positioned as a serious digital recording format, the Onkyo DT-9000 DAT Recorder combined the compact DAT cassette system with digital input and output connectivity, rotary head recording, and support for the main DAT sampling frequencies used across domestic and professional digital audio sources.
The Onkyo DT-9000 DAT Recorder uses the DAT format’s rotary head recording system, allowing digital audio to be recorded to compact cassette-sized DAT media. The recorder supports 48kHz, 44.1kHz and 32kHz sampling frequencies, giving it compatibility with different digital audio sources and recording modes. With 16-bit linear quantisation, the Onkyo DT-9000 DAT Recorder was designed around the standard digital audio architecture of the DAT format, offering a clean digital recording path with the practical handling of a cassette-based machine.
The head section of the Onkyo DT-9000 DAT Recorder uses amorphous-ferrite composite heads. This head construction was part of the recorder’s digital tape transport system and supported the precision required for helical-scan DAT recording and playback. The machine was also equipped with high-speed search capability, listed at 400-times normal speed, allowing rapid navigation through recorded DAT tapes.
Digital connectivity was a key part of the Onkyo DT-9000 DAT Recorder’s design. The recorder includes both coaxial and optical digital inputs and outputs, allowing direct digital connection to compatible digital audio equipment. This made it suitable for recording from digital sources and transferring digital audio without unnecessary analogue conversion stages when used with compatible equipment.
The Onkyo DT-9000 DAT Recorder was finished in black and built as a full-width hi-fi component. It has a listed power consumption of 25W and weighs 7.6kg, giving it a substantial physical presence for a DAT machine. Its combination of Japanese manufacture, DAT recording, multiple sampling frequency support, digital inputs and outputs, amorphous-ferrite composite heads and high-speed search capability places it among the more serious domestic DAT recorders of its period.
Features
- Digital Audio Tape recording and playback
- Rotary head DAT recording system
- 16-bit linear quantisation
- 48kHz, 44.1kHz and 32kHz sampling frequency support
- Amorphous-ferrite composite heads
- 400-times high-speed search
- Coaxial digital input and output
- Optical digital input and output
- Japanese manufacture
- Black full-width component design