I'm having a strange issue with some very very old cassettes. All these cassettes seem to share something in common: they have lost the shiny surface; they look somewhat matte. When I put one of them into any deck (the issue happens in almost all my high end decks), they make a very strange and disturbing noise, both mechanical and electronic (hearable mixed with the music). I guess the tape slips between the capstan and the roller and makes the roller to roll faster or something else. I really don't know. Does anyone suffered from this? Is there a solution or are they really useless from now on? thanks,
Here's a video showing the issue: [GALLERY=media, 231]Slipping tape issue by walkman archive posted Dec 30, 2016 at 12:25 PM[/GALLERY] Ps: my first uploaded video, BTW
Yes I too have had this problem with some older pre-recorded tapes, they make an awful screeching sound which can be heard from the cassette and through the system, on some of these tapes they had a felt block as a pressure pad, I changed these for the spring metal type with the small pad, this helped some tapes. I also dismantled a tape and found lots of small pieces of the tape coating in amongst the reels and tape path this probably didn't help either.
Hugo: Have you found the same issue with pre-recorded cassettes having the same shell and vintage as the Police tape? Does the music on the tape oscillate in speed when playing? I found many of the releases of the late 80's and early 90's in black and non-welded shells stood up better. Nando.
I have found some similar tapes from other artists. All them show a very similar shell (cheap white plastic) and also similar tape surface. What do you mean with 'oscillate'? W&F?
Yes, inconsistent speed, W&F. So, if you narrow it down to a specific shell of the same vintage, it's most likely to do with the innards of the shell causing the problem. If you want to prove it, you could crack open the welded shell of the Police tape and transplant the reels into a known good shell having screws. That will prove it's the shell and not the tape, itself. The tape does appear worn. Were the problem tapes all from the same seller? Nando.
No, it's not W&F. I guess it's a problem of the very tape, its grip or whatever... Could you watch the video I added? It's a very strange problem...
Hi Hugo, Yes, I viewed your video. I haven't experienced a pre-recorded tape that sounded that bad. Nando.
iv had the same issue Hugo, i just throw the tape out for the rubbish lad, which i know is of no help, to add, id be more conserned about you're system hugo as this hi pitched audiable noise could actually damage you're speakers, ie if played at high volume and that noise comes through it could actually blow you're tweeters, so hence i throw tapes like this away
I have had a few pre-recorded tapes make these squeaking / squealing sound, but the sounds through the speaker has been okay as the squeaking had not been transferred through the system. What I have done in the past is to fast wind the tape to the end and re-wind a few times, this alleviates the issue but not always getting rid of it completely. One thing I have not done so far is to transplant the tape to a new shell, I think transplanting the tape and changing the slippage sheet holding the tape would fix the problem.
Do you get that squeaking sound when you wind the reels with a pencil? All cassettes have a protective plastic sheet over the tape reels so maybe they've warped over time. Sounds like plastic noise to me. Just my opinion.
Not at all, buzbox. If you hear the video, the sounds gets into the music signal too, so it's something that affects the deck, and not only heard outside the speakers... I still don't know what causes it...
