I had some problems with a cassette tape I'm working on cleaning up to put
on CD. Played it several times with various setups of eq, compression etc.
to compare what they sounded like and how each responded to audio cleanup
software.

After about 6 run throughs with no problems, the tape started making
squealing sounds once it got to about the last 5 mins on either side
(...?). I read about the "tape baking" process in the archives in here, but
for grins first thought I'd try putting the tape in a better/newer case to
see if it made any difference. I put the tape in a Quantigy case I have with
a broken tape in it. No problems, went in fine, put the screws in snug,
popped it into the player and while it seems to have cured the squealing, I
also now find that there's less hiss but also less high end compared to
previous files. I changed nothing on the gear the tape is going through.

Is there any way the different case could affect the high end like this?

On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 02:56:20 GMT, "Doc"
wrote:

After about 6 run throughs with no problems, the tape started making
squealing sounds once it got to about the last 5 mins on either side
(...?).

Squealing sounds coming from the tapedeck? And *not* in the
transferred sound?

And, what tapedeck are you using for the transfers?

Good fortune,

Chris Hornbeck
6x9=42

Doc wrote:
I had some problems with a cassette tape I'm working on cleaning up to put
on CD. Played it several times with various setups of eq, compression etc.
to compare what they sounded like and how each responded to audio cleanup
software.

Were you riding the azimuth? Was the pressure pad good? If you do not
have the azimuth set right, no amount of processing will fix it.

After about 6 run throughs with no problems, the tape started making
squealing sounds once it got to about the last 5 mins on either side
(...?). I read about the "tape baking" process in the archives in here, but
for grins first thought I'd try putting the tape in a better/newer case to
see if it made any difference. I put the tape in a Quantigy case I have with
a broken tape in it. No problems, went in fine, put the screws in snug,
popped it into the player and while it seems to have cured the squealing, I
also now find that there's less hiss but also less high end compared to
previous files. I changed nothing on the gear the tape is going through.

First of all, baking will destroy cassette tapes. They do not have sticky
shed.

Secondly, when you transplanted the tape, you moved it to a case that
is slightly different in shape, so the azimuth changed. You will need
to reset the azimuth on the playback machine.

Is there any way the different case could affect the high end like this?

Of course. Half of the transport is in the case! Change the case and
the alignment is changed along with it because all the guides have
moved. Welcome to the wonderful world of the Philips Compact Cassette
where the azimuth is never correct and the NR is always pumping.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...

Secondly, when you transplanted the tape, you moved it to a case that
is slightly different in shape, so the azimuth changed. You will need
to reset the azimuth on the playback machine.

Is there any way the different case could affect the high end like this?

Of course. Half of the transport is in the case! Change the case and
the alignment is changed along with it because all the guides have
moved. Welcome to the wonderful world of the Philips Compact Cassette
where the azimuth is never correct and the NR is always pumping.

In addition, the new case may have a pressure pad that is shot. If you want
to get the best out of this old tape, buy a brand-new decent-quality
cassette, open it up, junk the tape inside and transplant the tape again.
Then play the tape and set the azimuth again. Then record.

Peace,
Paul

On 4/8/05 10:56 PM, in article
et, "Doc"
wrote:

I had some problems with a cassette tape ...
After about 6 run throughs with no problems, the tape started making
squealing sounds once it got to about the last 5 mins on either side
(...?).

This could be several things, first thought is that it's old and has dried
out of it's lubrication and is grabbing like a violin string and bow as it
is drawn across the head. This will make an acousically audible squeal from
the tape itself as well as showing up as a frequency-modulation artifact in
the playback )same pitch superimposed on the playback signal). You might try
doing the transfer in sections, when you hit a squeling section, back it up
a bit, clean the heads and tape path and try transferring the next section.
Edit it all together .



... try putting the tape in a better/newer case to
see if it made any difference. I put the tape in a Quantigy case I have with
a broken tape in it. No problems, went in fine, put the screws in snug,
popped it into the player and while it seems to have cured the squealing, I
also now find that there's less hiss but also less high end compared to
previous files. I changed nothing on the gear the tape is going through.

Is there any way the different case could affect the high end like this?

Head allignment very well may NOT match from how the tape ran in the old
case vs the new case. Try alligning the head to the new one till the highs
are maxed.

Many (?) Nakamichi decks have a pressure-pad lifter that pushes the pad away
from the tape. This, combined with a well-engineered transport, reduces the
interaction of the tape with the shell.

If you're serious about trying to make a good transfer, try to borrow a 680 or
(especially) Dragon. Both have the asymmetrical diffused-resonance transport,
and the Dragon automatically adjusts its playback azimuth to the tape (if the
recording has sufficient HF energy).

The quality of the see-through shims inside the shell, sandwiching the
pancake is very important to the transport path. Some specialised, better
makes have a mildly "corrugated" profile.
So is the nature of the springyness of the pressure pad (this varies
immensely).
Hiss and high-end loss after transferring tape to a different enclosure seem
to me to be occurring due to a new, unoptimised azimuth or improper wrap at
repro head.

"Doc" wrote in message
news
I had some problems with a cassette tape I'm working on cleaning up to put
on CD. Played it several times with various setups of eq, compression
etc.
to compare what they sounded like and how each responded to audio cleanup
software.

After about 6 run throughs with no problems, the tape started making
squealing sounds once it got to about the last 5 mins on either side
(...?). I read about the "tape baking" process in the archives in here,
but
for grins first thought I'd try putting the tape in a better/newer case to
see if it made any difference. I put the tape in a Quantigy case I have
with
a broken tape in it. No problems, went in fine, put the screws in snug,
popped it into the player and while it seems to have cured the squealing,
I
also now find that there's less hiss but also less high end compared to
previous files. I changed nothing on the gear the tape is going through.

Is there any way the different case could affect the high end like this?

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
Many (?) Nakamichi decks have a pressure-pad lifter that pushes the pad
away
from the tape. This, combined with a well-engineered transport, reduces
the
interaction of the tape with the shell.

The three-head machines have the lifter; the two-head machines don't.

Peace,
Paul

On 4/9/05 9:50 AM, in article , "William
Sommerwerck" wrote:

Many (?) Nakamichi decks have a pressure-pad lifter that pushes the pad away
from the tape. This, combined with a well-engineered transport, reduces the
interaction of the tape with the shell.

As long as you hav ea double-capstan closed loop drive that's fine... But
there ain;t many (ANY?) anymore.

On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 18:05:57 GMT, "Paul Stamler"
wrote:

The three-head machines have the lifter; the two-head machines don't.

And only the older transport family. The BX300 doesn't either.
But they're still better than the average bear, with fresh rubber.

Chris Hornbeck
6x9=42

On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 02:56:20 GMT, "Doc"
wrote:

I had some problems with a cassette tape I'm working on cleaning up to put
on CD. Played it several times with various setups of eq, compression etc.
to compare what they sounded like and how each responded to audio cleanup
software.

After about 6 run throughs with no problems, the tape started making
squealing sounds once it got to about the last 5 mins on either side
(...?). I read about the "tape baking" process in the archives in here, but
for grins first thought I'd try putting the tape in a better/newer case to
see if it made any difference. I put the tape in a Quantigy case I have with
a broken tape in it. No problems, went in fine, put the screws in snug,
popped it into the player and while it seems to have cured the squealing, I
also now find that there's less hiss but also less high end compared to
previous files. I changed nothing on the gear the tape is going through.

Is there any way the different case could affect the high end like this?

-- I know this. Due to poor housing and its mechanism, some cassette
tapes can mechanically squeal like hell. Since the tape is fluttering
across the surface of the (active ie. switched on) reproduce head, the
squeal can, under circumstances, remain recorded as well!

Often I squeeze the cassette tape housung quite hardly a bit to set
the windings, but in the most cases replacing the casing helps.

{Scott, I have some golden colored Scotch tapes from the seventhies
and they are backcoated with black backcoat; they tend to squeal a
lot. Now this could be a "sticky shed" of some sort. Yes I remember
Scotch had made a lot of blurb about that backcoating in these times,
and at the end, that backcoating produces diametrally opposite
effect}.

Realigning the head to the new casing is of course a must.

Anyway, if one is transferring the cassettes to a PC it is best to
either have a deck with automatic/manual head setting or work without
the tape compartment lid alltogether. I liked the decks without any
tape doors in late seventhies.

Edi Zubovic, Crikvenica, Croatia

"Edi Zubovic" edi.zubovic[rem wrote in message ...
snip
Often I squeeze the cassette tape housung quite hardly a bit to set
the windings, but in the most cases replacing the casing helps.

That sounds like a good way to cause edge damage.

Edi Zubovic wrote:


Often I squeeze the cassette tape housung quite hardly a bit to set
the windings, but in the most cases replacing the casing helps.


Just slap both sides of the cassette shell against your thigh, that
packs the tape down more evenly.

On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 22:04:17 -0700, S O'Neill
wrote:

Edi Zubovic wrote:


Often I squeeze the cassette tape housung quite hardly a bit to set
the windings, but in the most cases replacing the casing helps.


Just slap both sides of the cassette shell against your thigh, that
packs the tape down more evenly.

Oh, I do the both, sometimes with a partial results only. But yes, the
most problems with the transport is solved by changing the packs with
new cases. Decades ago, you could find here a bunch of no-name
cassessete brands only, some had really bad polycarbonate housings and
a so-la-la tape. While good made recordings are today still
listenable, the main problem is still just the transport. There has
been a such no-name brand in the second half of seventies, which
stated "Chrome Dioxid" tape but contained Agfa Ferrichrome! -- Some
years later the brand switched to a rough chrome dioxide tape which
has been a head killer but the people wouldn't notice.
So we imported the cassettes from Italy, money permitting in that
student days. And do you know what cassete has been the best for me?
-- Ampex Grand Master! Besides of a terrific look, they had a tape (I
mean of ferric type, there were chrome dioxid ones too), which once
jammed, they would cure by theirselves if the jam has'nt been too hard
(stretch etc.). Really!

Edi Zubovic, Crikvenica, Croatia