Old Cassette tape care

[odie096]

Posted in the Newbie thread about some cassette tapes I found of my Father and putting them on the PC.

Not to double post, just have some more specific questions on the tapes and player itself. These tapes are from the 70's and are mostly very cheap brands. I plan on cleaning the player I am buying after each tape because they have been sitting in a closet for around 25-30 yrs and have a lot of dust and who knows what on them.

What do I need to clean the player with?? Alcohol swabs? Should I spray the tapes with the "duster" spray?? What should I do if the player "eats" a tape?

I downloaded "Audacity," how can I enhance the sound and maybe eliminate some of the hiss that I'm sure will be there?

I have only listened to about 20 mins of one of the tapes, because the only player I had was one in a car and I didn't want to chance them being "eaten" where I couldn't get access to it.

Thanks in advance for any responses, these recordings are special to me.

odie

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Clean the head and capstan with 99% isopropyl. I find foam swabs to be more convenient than cotton. Makeup applicator swabs, with denser cotton heads, work pretty well. Keep the alcohol off the pinch roller and any other rubber parts.

Demagnetize the heads once in a while. Move any tapes away from the area while doing this.

The first thing to do to optimize signal to noise ratio is align the head to the recording. The tape noise is more or less fixed while the quality of the signal will depend on head alignment during playback. You can't assume the playback deck, even if technically correct, will match the recording's alignment. You can listen for phase and precedence effects to align the head to the recording. It does take some skill. I often alternate between the two methods when aligning to a recording.

Both of the following require a stereo playback deck.

Aligning with phase:

1. Match left and right levels using the gain controls on your interface (yes, even with mono recordings)

2. Sum playback to mono (yes, even with mono recordings)

3. Boost HF 12dB or so

4. Adjust the head for maximum clarity

5. Repeat until no further improvement can be made

Aligning with precedence (headphones recommended):

1. Match left and right levels using interface gain controls

2. Adjust head for minimum precedence effect*

3. Repeat until no further improvement can be made

*Precedence effect sounds like one side is more prominent even if the levels measure the same. Your brain's sound perception favors the first arrival of a sound.

You can sometimes use a scope for this, but often the panned signals make it harder to see these effects than to hear them.