One of our service technicians has a great tip for all you ADAT users out there.
One of the more common repairs of ADAT machines we see has to do with the write protect switch. People are used to placing adhesive tape over the write protect tab on tapes when they want to record over a tape that has been previously write protected by breaking off the tab. This technique has been common since the early cassette days.
However, this is not advisable for ADAT tapes. Sometimes the adhesive tape comes off and will attach itself to the write protect switch inside the transport. This can cause the cassette to hit it on the way in and bend the switch, which destroys it. Further, the bent switch will not allow the tape to seat properly in the transport, which can cause all kinds of playback errors and even result in an eaten tape.
All this can be avoided by using the “write protect override” feature that all ADAT’s have. To enable this simply hold down the Set Locate button while pressing the track one record enable button. This procedure will toggle between “Prot On” and “Prot OFF.” On the M20 model hold down Peak Clear and input one record button. This feature is documented in the owners manuals for the various ADAT’s. Needless to say you need to be careful with this feature, otherwise you may find yourself accidentally recording over a tape you had write protected.