Technics SV-DA10

Probably the most sturdy, reliable and indestructible D.A.T. mechanism ever - the RAA1001 mechanism will never let you down.

The SV-DA10 was the consumer version of Panasonic's SV-3200 professional deck ; the same mechanism was used for the later SV-3700, SV-3800, SV-3900, SV-4100 followers as well as in the SV-E10 down-sized version of the DA10 and in the Japan-only SV-D900 upgraded version. It was also chosen by Denon and Studer for their own DAT recorders - case in point !

Part of the features which must have helped the many sales is the very practical shuttle search and incredibly fast FF/REW... 400x speed ! Noisy and scary but completely safe.

Sold in black (less) or gold (more) until 1994 (and beyond in some markets), with a few tweaks readily available to upgrade the i/o stages and headphones plug or defeat the SCMS thing.
I believe the SV-DA10 to be the only consumer D.A.T. recorder allowing to add ABS-time after the recording !

Cassettes-wise, the best match I have found are the Maxell Pro - vanishingly low error rates, even after many rec/play cycles.
My own DA10 has seen many a tape since 1994 and I have yet to see it eat one. I even bought an SV-E10 to get a spare mechanism as, sadly but previsibly, the RAA1001 isn't available anymore.

Sold outside Japan with a "Digital Reference" tag added.

Eddie Ciletti will tell you MUCH more about the SV family and the many mods.