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Cassette-shaped demagnetizers?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted member 89059
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Deleted member 89059

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Let's say that demagnetizing is real.
I just found one of them cassette-shaped demagnetizers for cheap. I asked whether they have those wands and they said no.
I know this would only demagnetize the rec/PB head and not the erase head.
Any good (or bad)?

Thanks.
 
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I have first hand experience with the demagnitizer tape. I still have mine, somewhere. I know there was a few times (back in the early 90s) I would buy a used tape deck, and it would sound muffled. I would run that demagnitizer, and it would definitely make a difference for the better.

I think mine was only like $9 back in the day. I would say it's worth it. I never tried the wand.
 
Yep, mine is about that price.
Guess I'll be on the lookout for a wand in the future.
 
soviet123 said:
Let's say that demagnetizing is real.
Click to expand...

There is nothing imaginary or esoteric about magnetic fields & tape.

It's not like hearing interconnects or burning in speaker cables or woofer surrounds. If you understand how tape works, you'll understand this...
 
pcorbin said:
Here's one source:

http://www.nstuffmusic.com/p-7067-am-recording-d512-wand-demagnetizer.aspx
Click to expand...

Very cool, but they don't ship to Canada... :sigh:
Rob, I'm still skeptical about just how much of a field is present on the tape surface. The manual that came with my tape-degausser says "use every 30 hours of play or before an important recording". That's good? I'm kinda guessing that it wouldn't hurt to do this.
With a wand there's always the risk of not releasing the field far enough. But hey. I'll be on the lookout for one.
 
30 hours - to me - is overkill. How often your deck may need it depends on a number of things including how old it is (& therefore the technology & materials used in the heads), whether you use it for playback only or playback & recording and whether it's a 2 head or 3 head deck. And perhaps you've hot-rodded your cassette deck to run at 30IPS.:smoke:

I certainly wouldn't obsess over it, but it's a good part of routine occaisional maintenance. Maybe when you change your clocks:scratch2:.
 
It is a WM-D6C, serial 22####. Two-head "deck", the rec/PB head being an "Amorphous head".
I don't record with it much since RV301 is semi-bust, therefore I can't really set the Rec Level. What I do is connect the Line In to the headphones jack of my digital player so I can control the levels with the headphone volume knob. Yeah I checked. Sony cannot repair/replace this. They are able to transplant the pot unit but I'll need a "for parts or repair" unit off somewhere, and even then there is a chance that I get a D6C that as a different revision (mine still uses Smurf tantalum caps while the later ones are all SMT).
 
Might be that de-maging every 30 hours of use is excessive...when tape was king in the radio biz every unit...cartridge or reel...would get a full demag weekly. And a total clean with LIQUID FREON daily.:yikes:
 
So when is it needed to clean/demag? Audible artifacts? I clean the heads/capstan/pinch roller whenever I see two brown bands on the roller.
 
lots of claims they don't work but I own one and it helps demagnetizing the playback head. Really nice on cassettes that do not have access to the heads. (like the car)

But, you also need to demagnetize the pinch rollers and only a wand will do that
 
He probably means the pressure assembly (plates, center axle, etc.).
Well the entire route needs to be demagnetized, I guess. The head(s), the capstan, maybe even the two center posts there.
 
all metal in the tape path should be demagnetized when needed (i.e., when background noise increases or HF response decreases) - or prophylactically (eg., as Dogerator Celt suggested). The little cassette-shell demagnetizers are good for quick and dirty demagnetization of the tape head(s) and shouldn't do any harm. Due to the track width and tape speed, cassettes are more likely to show up issues with residual magnetism in the tape path than would be a reel to reel deck (I'd opine).
 
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