[Aloha]

There is a whole (almost) lost history about PCM Adaptors for VTR's.

Sony made some for U-Matic (3/4 in), there were some for VHS, and some that were meant to use other broadcast grade formats.

Also, ADAT, which used a SVHS tape and mechanism to store multi-channel audio

[dspig]

The Sony PCM-F1 was one of these - and was the first time I got confused between "is this live or is this the playback?" because until then it had been obvious.