Hi guys. Thanks for the heads up. The cassettes are off-air recordings
many from the 1970s from Long Wave / Medium wave and some FM. They are
Beeb airings - likely all long since deleted, wiped or junked. These
are the only recordings extant. It is important to rescue the
contents.
The situation started after a few cassettes had gone though. The
C-120s seemed OK. I then decided to process the C-60s first: Ferro,
Scotch and BASF. I had two cassettes loaded. Huh - I fell asleep and
the first started all over again. When I checked the digital file -
using Audacity - I found that the first was nearly perfect first time
round - but then when it got repeated the sound level was not only
lower but it was also muffled. I used a tape head cleaner and tried
again, the sound came back as loud as it should have been, but then
quickly deteriorated.
I'm not sure that I can retrieve the situation. It seems that the
tapes are shedding and clogging the heads badly. I am nervous about
baking - I only have a microwave!!
Issues with azimuth lining is rather too advanced for the project
which is more one of rescue rather than faultless archiving.
Chris B.
On 31/03/2018, Marie O'Connell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I have had good success with baking cassette tapes suffering from SSS and
> the brands are random. Keeping the heads clean is paramount.
>
> Like Steve, re-housing the cassette can help along with renewing the slip
> sheets. As a matter of course I check the felt to make sure it's intact.
>
> Happy Easter!
> Marie
>
> On Sun, Apr 1, 2018 at 8:23 AM, John Haley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> I am not recalling exactly what I paid for the Nak Dragon, but it was
>> something like $1100. I bought it on Ebay and got lucky--it is in
>> flawless
>> condition.
>>
>> The Nak Dragon is missing one desirable feature--there is no speed
>> control. But it is rock-steady with moving the tape--probably getting
>> rid
>> of the tiny bit of friction of the tape pulling past the pressure pad
>> helps. It has a piece that pushes back the pressure pad so it is out of
>> the way, and tape tension against the heads is provided by the closed
>> loop
>> dual capstan design.
>>
>> Best,
>> John Haley
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Mar 31, 2018 at 1:57 PM, Steven Smolian <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > If I remember correctly, the NAK draws the tape away from the pad,
>> > bypassing
>> > it.
>> >
>> > For what it's worth, I've found the slip sheet inside the cassette
>> housing
>> > will exhibit signs of sticky shed.
>> >
>> > One answer is to rehouse each cassette into a new shell. I've done
>> > that
>> > many a time.
>> >
>> > Steve Smolian
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
>> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lou Judson
>> > Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2018 1:02 PM
>> > To: [log in to unmask]
>> > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Sticky shed - clogged heads?
>> >
>> > Dragon is the gold standard, the Rolls Ryce of cassette decks. Wish the
>> > project I have could make it affordable! :-)
>> >
>> > Maybe I don't want to know what you had to pay for it. ePay shows $1200
>> > -
>> > 3200 today.
>> >
>> > I got my lesser Naks for around $400 each. one needed service, the
>> > other
>> > was
>> > perfect.
>> > <L>
>> > Lou Judson
>> > Intuitive Audio
>> > 415-883-2689
>> >
>> > On Mar 31, 2018, at 9:35 AM, John Haley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >
>> > > I recently bought a Nak Dragon, which automatically sets the azimuth
>> > > and keeps monitoring and resetting it as the cassette plays. And I
>> > > recently dubbed a cassette in which the felt pad was missing. It
>> played
>> > fine. The
>> > > sound quality is astonishingly good. It really beats my Tascam
>> > > unit.
>> > > Best,
>> > > John Haley
>> >
>>
>
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