Hello,
There is a phenomenon that I can't understand occurs with Tape cassettes or even VHS tapes being played. is that when you play the Tape cassette you might hear a very low volume of song being played behind the actual played song.
Another phenomenon is a duplicated sound or song appears with very low volume before the actual song starts. such background sound dipped in white noise & other analog magnetic artifacts which is heavily compressed.
Sometimes the background sound might be reversed due to Side B eg. being played at the opposite direction (the 3rd & 4rth track on the cassette) I'm not sure about that.
This is common in old commercial videos from the 80s. you'll hear a 2nd low volume copy that starts before the actual video.
So what causes this phenomenon?
Background sounds in Old cassettes
Re: Background sounds in Old cassettes
There are probably a couple of things going on here.
The issue of hearing sounds shortly before the song starts is called print through. The layers adjacent to a loud sound are slightly magnetised by that sound. The problem is exacerbated by heat. Professional studios store their tapes with the end of the recording on the outside so that you have to rewind the tape before you can play it. This means that the print through is more likely to occur after the music starts where it is less noticeable rather than before.
While the ghost tracks could be caused by print through, it also sounds like there have been multiple recordings on the tape that haven't been erased properly. This could have been down to a dirty erase head but it could also be due to the play head and erase head not seeing exactly the same part of the tape. Maybe the head height is wrong for one of the heads.
I'm not sure why the sounds would be reversed unless the tape had been previously used on a 4 track recorder or unless the head alignment is really really far out.
The issue of hearing sounds shortly before the song starts is called print through. The layers adjacent to a loud sound are slightly magnetised by that sound. The problem is exacerbated by heat. Professional studios store their tapes with the end of the recording on the outside so that you have to rewind the tape before you can play it. This means that the print through is more likely to occur after the music starts where it is less noticeable rather than before.
While the ghost tracks could be caused by print through, it also sounds like there have been multiple recordings on the tape that haven't been erased properly. This could have been down to a dirty erase head but it could also be due to the play head and erase head not seeing exactly the same part of the tape. Maybe the head height is wrong for one of the heads.
I'm not sure why the sounds would be reversed unless the tape had been previously used on a 4 track recorder or unless the head alignment is really really far out.
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- James Perrett
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Re: Background sounds in Old cassettes
James Perrett wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2023 1:18 am There are probably a couple of things going on here.
The issue of hearing sounds shortly before the song starts is called print through. The layers adjacent to a loud sound are slightly magnetised by that sound. The problem is exacerbated by heat. Professional studios store their tapes with the end of the recording on the outside so that you have to rewind the tape before you can play it. This means that the print through is more likely to occur after the music starts where it is less noticeable rather than before.
While the ghost tracks could be caused by print through, it also sounds like there have been multiple recordings on the tape that haven't been erased properly. This could have been down to a dirty erase head but it could also be due to the play head and erase head not seeing exactly the same part of the tape. Maybe the head height is wrong for one of the heads.
I'm not sure why the sounds would be reversed unless the tape had been previously used on a 4 track recorder or unless the head alignment is really really far out.
Thanks James Perret for your info, those prints through as you mentioned are interesting it's like footprints of the songs & those magnetic characters are unique.
I find those Prints became obvious when the tape gets older. yeah the pre erased audio pop ups sometimes getting audible just like using pencil erasure when erasing something.
I used to had my cassette damaged because of recording erasing many times then the tape start to be crimped.
Also transporting the tape forward or backward until the end (one of the reels gets full) this might protect the recorded songs from heat or dust so the open area on the tape it self will be exposed at silent regions (edges of the tape duration) this will make the tape to last longer while the recorded songs are folded more protected.
Re: Background sounds in Old cassettes
Cromoteq, have you tried the tapes on more than one cassette deck?
If you have a few tapes from different sources then it is almost impossible that all of them were made on a misaligned deck.
I have no idea what a proper alignment cassette would cost you? A lot I guess and then you still need the gear and knowledge to do the work. I am sure someone here can suggest a good tech.
Dave.
If you have a few tapes from different sources then it is almost impossible that all of them were made on a misaligned deck.
I have no idea what a proper alignment cassette would cost you? A lot I guess and then you still need the gear and knowledge to do the work. I am sure someone here can suggest a good tech.
Dave.