Quiet Track Disease on a cassette multitracker

Z

zphillips

Member
I'm now dealing with the 4th cassette multitracker close to me afflicted with the deadly quiet track disease... what gives? I'm demagnetizing, cleaning the heads thoroughly, but it doesn't make any difference... anyone successfully cure a tape machine of "quiet track?"

I mean: you record signal at +3dB (I and it'll play back at +1 or so on 3 tracks but at -3 on one track, & that track will consistently have that problem... the tape hiss on a quiet track sounds different, too -- dirtier somehow, as if it has different EQ. different machines w/ Quiet Track have it on different tracks...

let me be clear that I am not making any ridiculous mistakes and I am not using NR. this is definitely a real phenomenon. I have seen it on a Tascam Portastudio that was new out of the box. I am testing using various line level signals coming from synthesizers. I have also flipped the tape and the quiet track remains the same (i.e. it's definitely not the tape). finally, I have made sure that the problem is not only visible on the mixer but audible when using the line outs on the various machines afflicted with Quiet Track.

any ideas? and don't say stop using these machines, I like them!
 
It might just be a case for internal calibration of the repro levels. Check the service manual of your unit and look for the bias and tape calibration procedures to ensure that your levels are set up right. Generally, calibration set up is a pretty rare occurrence on a Portastudio, but with the age that these units are creeping up to these days, it's probably long overdue for such a procedure that on many reel to reel decks is an almost constantly needed item to keep on top of.

Cheers! :)
 
good thinking. I'll look into that. any other ideas?

please note that I got my friend a portastudio new in the box and it had the same issue described above. how could this effect a machine that had never been used?

also, I have a portastudio that is broken for other reasons but that I recorded maybe 150 songs on and it has never had any problems with quiet track.
 
Nothing else for me comes to mind as calibration is key issue to have confirmed as doing these types of trouble shooting fixes is a process of elimination. So get that done and hopefully that will fix the issue.

As for why some units have issue and others don't, it's mostly just luck of the draw.

Cheers! :)
 
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