help calibrating

[FALKEN]

I play my test tape, check the levels, make an adjutsment, rewind, and repeat. and then after 2 or 3 times of this; the levels go way out of whack..and track 16 drops off. so I clean the heads, put the tape back on, and everything back to normal. obviously, this makes doing the calibration a hell of a lot more tedius!!!! is there any way to correct this?

 

[Beck]

I play my test tape, check the levels, make an adjutsment, rewind, and repeat. and then after 2 or 3 times of this; the levels go way out of whack..and track 16 drops off. so I clean the heads, put the tape back on, and everything back to normal. obviously, this makes doing the calibration a hell of a lot more tedius!!!! is there any way to correct this?

What kind of test tape do you have and how old is it? What kind of machine?

-Tim

 

[analogelectric]

I play my test tape, check the levels, make an adjutsment, rewind, and repeat. and then after 2 or 3 times of this; the levels go way out of whack..and track 16 drops off. so I clean the heads, put the tape back on, and everything back to normal. obviously, this makes doing the calibration a hell of a lot more tedius!!!! is there any way to correct this?

A test tape isn't the be-all-end-all of adjustment. There are other things that you need to do in regards to calibration before you use a test-tape. There is a strict guide line for initial calibration and if it's not followed to a tee, you'll find yourself out-of-whack and frustrated.

Is this a new machine that you're trying to set up for yourself? Do you have the manual? What machine do you have?

There are certain steps you need to go through other-wise it's very easy to dropkick the f'er out the window

The more info you can give, the better.
-- Adam Lazlo

 

[FALKEN]

ok. so I stopped using the test tape and started using my computer to play the tones. I noticed that this machine, which i recently acquired, is calibrated slightly under 0 db. but all the faders are even so I probably won't mess with it, just run the signal a little hotter. q - will this mess up the eq and bias calibration?

q - is there a tutorial on how to calibrate a machine that has a single rec/play head? I am using a fostex e-16. thanks.