Tape Trail

Reel to reel, cassette and other analogue tape formats.

Return to Tape Trail

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

Recording noise.

72.250.134.90
Posted on January 21, 2014 at 13:54:35
DRam
Audiophile

Posts: 1309
Location: Montana
Joined: July 30, 2005
 I've noticed that my tape deck seems to amplify every pop and click on records. I have a pretty low tolerance for pop/clicks, but records that are otherwise acceptable become unlistenable when taped.

Is it normal for taping to amplify vinyl noise? And if so, how can it be dealt with?


 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
RE: Recording noise., posted on January 23, 2014 at 07:35:43
Inmate51
 What tape deck do you have? What tape do you use? Do you use noise suppression like Dolby or dbx?

It could be a combination of your deck and the tape that you use is resulting in a rising upper-mid or high frequency frequency response curve.

Not all decks are flat, not all tapes are flat, and not all decks work well with all tapes.

:)

 

RE: Recording noise., posted on January 23, 2014 at 19:56:49
DRam
Audiophile

Posts: 1309
Location: Montana
Joined: July 30, 2005
 My tape deck is an Akai GX636. There is no Dolby or dbx on it. There is selector for low noise or wide range tapes. I've tried both and can't tell any difference.

The tapes I've been using are a mix of Scotch 150, RCA Professional Standard, and Audiotape, some used, some never used. They were used by my father in the 1960's to the 1990's to back up his vinyl.

Now that you mention the difference in tapes, the deck came with a 10" reel of tape that recorded much more quietly than what I'm using now. It looks like I'll be researching recording tape. I had thought tape was tape.

Thanks for the information and a direction to go.

 

RE: Recording noise., posted on January 24, 2014 at 10:52:52
Inmate51
 That is a gorgeous looking deck!!

The tapes you mentioned are all older formulations and don't do your deck justice. Try to track down some Maxell UD, TDK GX, Agfa 469 or BASF. They would be excellent with your deck. In your research, try to find info on which of them might be subject to the "sticky shed syndrome" (I don't remember). There is a list out there somewhere - I've seen it.

Also, whatever the tape that came with the deck would be a good choice. Decks are set up and optimized for one tape or another, although a variety with similar characteristics will work just fine.

I would avoid the very high output tapes like Quantegy 499, since they are intended for pro machines with high output low noise electronics, and your machine probably isn't designed to fully take advantage of them.

hth

 

RE: Recording noise., posted on January 24, 2014 at 13:54:29
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 Tape makes a big diff and as always clean and demag the heads. Good luck!


ET
ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

RE: Recording noise., posted on January 25, 2014 at 18:52:39
DRam
Audiophile

Posts: 1309
Location: Montana
Joined: July 30, 2005
 Awe-d-o and Inmate 51:

The deck does look very nice, adds a classy touch to my den. Cleaning the tape path and demagnetizing the heads has been done.

The advice about tapes and the tip on sticky tape syndrome is greatly appreciated. I'm looking at some Maxell UD 35-90 and UD 35-180 on EBay.

A search of the forum for sticky tape syndrome was quite informative. It leads me to believe some of that had been used on my deck in the past. That would explain the time and cleaning materials it took to clean the tape path.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

DRam

 

I'd try a lower Recording Level. nt, posted on January 26, 2014 at 11:31:06
oldmkvi
Audiophile

Posts: 10581
Joined: April 12, 2002
 /

 

RE: Recording noise., posted on January 28, 2014 at 12:43:41
ironbut
Audiophile

Posts: 1370
Location: OR
Joined: February 21, 2004
 It sounds like it's a combination of over emphasis of the highs from using the wrong tape with the bias and eq set on your machine and compression of using tape with less dynamic range and/or the machine design.
The freq emphasis results are pretty obvious to most folks but compression isn't.
Most folks think about how compression lowers the volume peaks but if you look at it another way, it brings the low level sound up which makes these lower levels sounds much more prominent.
With a lot of musical content, lowering the peaks by a couple of dB is nearly impossible to perceive. But raising the low level sounds by the same amount takes it from "easy to ignore" to "in your face".

 

RE: Recording noise., posted on January 28, 2014 at 15:54:20
Inmate51
 Hmmm...

One of the "virtues" of analog tape which recording engineers have taken advantage of "since forever" is the "soft clipping" - compression, as you put it - when driven into saturation. I'm not aware of any widespread problems with people turning up the playback volume as a result and therefore exposing pops and clicks more. As you correctly said, the compression of the peaks goes relatively unnoticed, so it's unlikely that a person would attempt to compensate by boosting the overall playback level.

I would lean more toward a machine/tape mismatch.

:)

 

RE: Recording noise., posted on January 29, 2014 at 10:54:29
ironbut
Audiophile

Posts: 1370
Location: OR
Joined: February 21, 2004
 Yeah,..
You're probably right.
Just thought I'd throw that out there in case someone likes to hit the tape hard.

 

Follow up, posted on February 4, 2014 at 20:39:40
DRam
Audiophile

Posts: 1309
Location: Montana
Joined: July 30, 2005
 Progress has been made. Cleaned the tape path and demagnetized the heads, recorded on the tape that came with machine. Tried different records, checked out a different cleaning regimen for the records and cut back on the recording level.

It seems that each step made a little improvement to the point that hiss is not noticeable unless the volume is cranked up to an uncomfortable level. Once again recording and listening to tapes is a pleasure.

 

Page processed in 0.027 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]