[Eeyore]

ansermetniac wrote:

"Richard Crowley" wrote:
"ansermetniac" wrote ...
I just played a tape that I assumed was 1/4 track but it turned out to
be half track. It sounded well. But I have seen the pictures of the
specs for 1/4 track and 1/2 track

What did I really get?

Nice Latin Big Band Jazz by Wilie Rodriguez and the Gang on Cook. But
side two was avant garde Jazz:-)

If it has a "side two" then it must be 1/2 track MONO?

If you take only the left channel, that will be a nominal representation
of what the 1/2 track width actually sounds like. As you may have
already discovered, the right channel will likely track part of the
"other side" and should be ignored.

Note that if you have some sort of serious project in mind, then you
should really play it on a proper head.

Side two was a joke. It was playing backwards.It is half track stereo.
Why did it play well on a 1/4 track deck?

Because the 1/4 track heads lie where the 2 1/2 track recordings are on the
tape. They just get half the flux.

Graham