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Question about Cassette Tapedeck Speeds

M

MV-1

New Member
Hey, sorry if this is a noob question here (I'm far from a tape expert).

But I've been looking at a lot of decks as I have a Technics rs 263us and a Nakimichi 500 and both are pretty F&#K'd up.. the nak must have worn out heads as when i record the quality is terrible and one side is a lot lower, and it seems that it can't erase or overwrite... So i have been looking for a new one.

Anyway while looking at tape decks I have noticed that there are various tape speeds listed for some tape decks and most I have been looking at are either:

4.75 cm/s, 4.76 cm/s, and 4.8 cm/s.

I guess my question is are these differences noticeable at all? do these differences even matter? Does the difference between 4.75 cm/s to 4.8 cm/s change playback/recording quality at all? is there a better or preferred speed for certain things here?

Thanks, would appreciate any feedback
 
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MV-1 said:
Hey, sorry if this is a noob question here (I'm far from a tape expert).

But I've been looking at a lot of decks as I have a Technics rs 263us and a Nakimichi 500 and both are pretty F&#K'd up.. the nak must have worn out heads as when i record the quality is terrible and one side is a lot lower, and it seems that it can't erase or overwrite... So i have been looking for a new one.

Anyway while looking at tape decks I have noticed that there are various tape speeds listed for some tape decks and most I have been looking at are either:

4.75 cm/s, 4.76 cm/s, and 4.8 cm/s.

I guess my question is are these differences noticeable at all? do these differences even matter? Does the difference between 4.75 cm/s to 4.8 cm/s change playback/recording quality at all? is there a better or preferred speed for certain things here?

Thanks, would appreciate any feedback
Click to expand...

4.76 cm/s or 1 7/8th ips.
Some cassette decks provided dual speed.
But that's outside the standard of cassette deck.

Pitch can change speed in small variations.
Planned speed change should also include planned change of tape allignments like BIAS, EQ, REC Level and the physical of the tape path should also be changed to take full advantage.
 
Cassette transport speed was standardized by Philips at 1-7/8 ips (half of 3-3/4), or 4.76 cms. Anything you've ever seen other than that would be simply an error or a difference in rounding from inches to centimeters.

There were a few cassette decks that had a double speed (3-3/4) option, but Philips shut that down pretty quickly.

Happy trails,
Larry B.
 
1tumbleweed said:
Cassette transport speed was standardized by Philips at 1-7/8 ips (half of 3-3/4), or 4.76 cms. Anything you've ever seen other than that would be simply an error or a difference in rounding from inches to centimeters.

There were a few cassette decks that had a double speed (3-3/4) option, but Philips shut that down pretty quickly.

Happy trails,
Larry B.
Click to expand...

+ 1


And some cassette decks also had half speed.
 
Ah I see, thanks. So basically 4.75 cm/s, 4.76 cm/s, and 4.8 cm/s are all basically the same thing, just rounded off with different calculations?
 
Have you cleaned and deguassed aka demagnitized the heads? You have to do that regularly to keep the tape head reading and recording properly.
 
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