Board:   [DoveNet] Pro-Audio Discussion
Subject: Re: Tape deck
From:    Vk3jed
Date:    Thu Apr 23, 2020 13:01

@VIA: FREEWAY
-=> On 04-22-20 16:13, Digital Man wrote to Nightfox <=-

 DM> Good point. You'd have lower fidelity on those inner grooves. Tapes had
 DM> similar issues as the amount of tape on the spool could affect the
 DM> speed over the heads. "Mechanical music" :-)

The capstan of the tape deck is supposed to ensure constant tape speed
(obviously a stickly reel might affect things).  However, many open reel tape
decks had selectable speeds, so you could choose the best compromise between
audio qualityand economy of tape use - faster speeds for higher quality,
slower speeds for better economy.

Cassettes used a very low tape speed (1 7/8 inches/sec IIRC) and narrow tape,
because they were originally intended for dictation machines, but people found
them convenient for recording and listening to music.  Engineers then used all
sorts of techniques, from changing tape formulationsto Dolby and other forms
of noise reduction, to squeeze the best audio quality out of a format that
wasn't originally designed for hi fi.

We are so spoilt today with the availability of cheap devices capable of making
reasonably quality recordings and the ability to store countless hours of
music, even uncompressed.  Capabilities I only dreamed of as a teenager.


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