Tape path clean? Like surgical room clean? It takes VERY little debris on the R/P headstack to significantly reduce or entirely eliminate signal flow to a track or tracks.
So when I first noticed it, I cleaned the crap out of everything. There was certainly dirt coming away and this DID bring the level back up a bit, but not to full former glory. Yesterday I cleaned everything again as best as I could to test this theory. Still same trouble. When recording a vocal track on channel 1, signal is loud and clear while tracking with the Mon in my headphones, and then plays back at about half the vol of the other tracks
Did you change tape? I’m assuming you are reproducing tape previously recorded on your 388 and reproduced with no issue, so I assume the answer is “no”, but I want to ask anyway because there is an issue that often arises with edge tracks when switching to non-Ampex/Quantegy tape from those brands. I can explain more if you like or if this is the case.
Yes. I use to always use Ampex 456. But switched to RMG SM911 recently. All the other channels seem to think this tape works fine
Did you try reseating your cards in the cardbay, particularly the dbx and amp cards? Or did you try swapping amp cards to see if the problem follows the card or stays with the track?
No. I'd be a little scared.
Is the problem also present when monitoring playback from the respective TAPE OUT jack or is it only when monitoring through the mixer section?