More "In concerts"

[MATB]

I would stick with IPA (isopropyl alcohol) and a cotton bud.  A Cleaning Cassette - given that you would probably have owned it for 20 years plus, how clean do you think the cleaning fibre is going to be!  I've never been a fan of these myself.  If you cant find IPA easily, some white wipe board cleaning spray would do.

Ah, the old 'azimuth' suggestion... it had to happen.  Totally agree that it can make a huge difference, but in the hands of a novice with a screwdriver, probably best left well alone!

My biggest bugbear with old tapes is that they invariably playback at the wrong speed. Yes you can adjust speed and pitch retrospectively with audacity or cool edit etc, but there's nothing like having a tape deck with a variable speed control which lets you hear the adjustments you are making in real time.

Good luck!



--- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "rockerq@..." <rockerq@...> wrote:
>
> These old cassettes often shed a lot of their oxide onto the heads and capstans and wheels - good idea to use isopropyl alcohol and cotton bud to clean the heads - and also if you can get far enough into the machine do the capstan and roller wheels as well - you'll be surprised how much brown gunk comes off. If you can't get to any of the rollers then a head cleaning cassette is the other option - although in my experience they don't clean as well.
> 
> Worth cleaning after every cassette, too.
> 
> The other think that may affect the sound is azimuth error - the angle of the tape against the playback heads needs to be as close as possible to when it was recorded - most cassette decks have a way of adjusting the azimuth angle by tilting the heads slightly - worth googing for info on this - although as Bill said both of these problems would normally make the tapes sound duller not brighter.
> 
>  
> Cheers!
> 
> Rocker
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: viynljohn <viynljohn@...>
> To: peel <peel@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wed, May 8, 2013 9:27 pm
> Subject: [peel] Re: More "In concerts"
> 
> 
> 
>   
>     
>                   
> Or am I better using cotton buds and isopropl alcohol?
> 
> --- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "viynljohn" <viynljohn@> wrote:
> >
> > 
> > Have always used AUDACITY with an external tape recorder
> > --- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "billfromnorthwales" <billfromnorthwales@> wrote:
> > >
> > > oops VinylJohn I meant...
> > > 
> > > What's going on with the tapes? They don't ususally deteriorate that way (lots of other ways..)
> > > 
> > > >Have you tried different capture equipment or do you want one of the group to try and get a better rip?
> > > 
> > > 
> > > --- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "billfromnorthwales" <billfromnorthwales@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > David,
> > > > 
> > > > What's going on with the tapes? They don't ususally deteriorate that way (lots of other ways..)
> > > > 
> > > > Have you tried different capture equipment or do you want one of the group to try and get a better rip?
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > --- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "viynljohn" <viynljohn@> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > David
> > > > > 
> > > > > Unfortunately the 1987 tape is a total 'car crash' (very treb-ly and distorted) so going to try the 1988 tape... wouldn't mind but I used a decent casette. 
> > > > > 
> > > > > --- In peel@yahoogroups.com, David Quantick <davidquantick@> wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Please.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > On 8 May 2013, at 20:03, "viynljohn" <viynljohn@> wrote:
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > > EEEK.... not looking good for the 1987 one!
> > > > > > > --- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "viynljohn" <viynljohn@> wrote:
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Anyone for Erasure 1987/88?
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > 
> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>