[MPA] DVD -> DAT digital transfer?

[Scott Jacob Loehr]

	I also own an SV-3700, though I only use it about once a year 
these days... CD-R wound up replacing almost all of my DAT usage.
	You've got RCA S/PDIF and AES/EBU digital I/O on your DAT. 
I'd probably go with the RCA approach... if your friend's Sony has 
RCA S/PDIF, you're probably in good shape.  You should be able to 
select the audio output on the Sony, choosing between analog & 
digital audio out, and choosing between stereo and multichannel.  (If 
it's like my JVC DVD deck, it might be buried in a menu that you 
access via the remote control while hooked up to a TV... you'll 
probably need the Owner's Manual.)  If the Sony has a Toslink (or 
mini Toslink) fiber optic connector, you can buy a Toslink Digital 
Optical Cable to Digital S/PDIF RCA Coax Digital Audio cable 
Converter from Ram Electronics for $25.95.  They've also got 
converters to go from pretty much anything to anything.  Just be 
careful to match sample rates & bit-resolution... if your DVD's audio 
is 24-bit, you'll need to go analog to analog.

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/audio_toslink_adapters.html#pof-830

Here's an excerpt from the bottom of the above link:

"Toslink and RCA (S/PDIF) Digital Audio ... what?!!  What are these 
for?  Many new audio devices have built in digital audio Inputs 
and/or outputs, the trouble is that many have a Toslink (or mini 
Toslink) fiber optic connector and many others have a "Coax" RCA 
jack connector.  The coaxial connection is referred to as S/PDIF (for 
Sony/Philips Digital InterFace) and uses a 75 ohm "video" cable 
(typically RG59) and standard "RCA" connectors like those of your 
stereo connections.  Optical connections are called Toslink (Toshiba 
link) and usually use a squareish looking connector, with a centered 
round fiber optic "connection".  How do you connect them?  You use a 
converter.  Also, for some reason most Surround sound receivers have 
a single Coax input and several Toslink inputs.  What do you do when 
you have several components with a Coax S/PDIF output?  You need a 
converter so you can convert the Coax to Toslink so you can connect 
it to one of the Toslink inputs of the receiver.  While Toslink 
cables can supposedly be up to fifteen meters long, we recommend 
using Toslink cables no longer than around three meters.  If you need 
to run longer lengths than that, you should use a Toslink extender. "

>I do not own a Mac with DVD (only an old G3 desktop 266Mhz system 8.6) and
>I want to make a digital copy of the audio from a DVD to my Panasonic DAT
>SV-3700.
>
>The DVD player (of a friend of mine) is a top-of-the-line Sony with coax
>digital out, but I do not know if it comes out with a digital 5.1 channel
>signal or normal SPDIF.
>
>I could record the audio from the analog outs but I would prefer digital
>transfer...
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>thanks
>
>Massimo de Majo
>
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                                                 Massimo de Majo
>                                          www. piccolitraslochi.com
>                                        massimo at piccolitraslochi.com
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