a DAT, or anything that can adapt to RCA or mic jacks for that matter. I've heard that using Mini-Disc players can yield excellent sound quality but I'm not sure why you would want to transfer to Time Code DAT. You're not using a TC slate, SmartSync Aaton, or using the DAT in production so why dump to a TC DAT? I think the reason there is some confusion is because you haven't planned a production path for your film. When I say production path, I simply mean how you plan to shoot and record footage in production and then sync, edit and sweeten in post. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to plan before you get to post. If you capture good sound and get your film in the can, breathe a sigh of relief and then look very carefully and how you plan on transferring, editing and syncing sound because if you don't plan you will end up wasting a lot of money and time.
You cannot sync sound you shot with film (at 24fps) with video (30fps). It can be done if there is very short dialogue and it is planned ahead of time. However, we can tell you from personal experience that if there is any lengthy dialogue shots (more than 10-15 seconds) there will be a sync problem. The longer the shot runs, the worse the problem. Shots longer than 10-15 seconds start looking like a foreign dubbed KungFu movie. We strongly advise against it, it is very frustrating and can make for an unintentionally laughable film.
This problem can be resolved (pun intended) by having your sound slowed down (resolved) by the same amount as your video was in the telecine. This can easily (and reasonably) done at the lab either to video tape or DAT. We recommend going to DAT and then syncing on the Avid, if you intend on editing on Avid.