[Richard Crowley]

"ansermetniac" wrote ...
"Richard Crowley" wrote:
"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.

If side two was playing backwards, then it is 1/2 track MONO.

Why did it play well on a 1/4 track deck?

It played on a 1/4 track deck because the left channel of the 1/4
track head is contained entirely within track 1 of the 1/2 track
tape (i.e. at the "top edge" of the tape). Typically the right channel
of a 1/4 track head catches the inner margin of track 2 of the
1/2 track format, and partly the center guard-band. Which is why
it is unsuitable for playing 1/2 track STEREO (which fortuately
you don't have here)

Whether it played "well" is a different matter. You would likely
hear better SNR if you played it on a proper 1/2 track head.



It is stereo

If it is really 1/2 track (as YOU claimed) and if you are hearing
the "other side" backwards (as YOU claimed) then it is impossible
for the tape to be "stereo". If there are ONLY TWO TRACKS,
then there is only ONE track *in each direction*. One track = mono.
It has been this way since before you were born.

But if you think you know more about your tape than you told
us here, then you don't need our advice.