Deterioration of cassettes in storage?

Tape Trail

Reel to reel, cassette and other analogue tape formats.

Hello tape experts.

I have a large (several hundred) collection of cassette tapes that have just been sitting in dark crates at room temperature indoors for maybe nine years since my last deck died. Included are many concert soundboard tapes from before the era when the sound guys went directly to digital. Most are chrome or metal formulations, brands including TDK, Maxell, Memorex, Sony, JVC, and others.

I'm thinking about purchasing a new deck with USB output to convert them to digital, but I'm wondering after all that time in storage if most will even be playable. I know about print-through, and the probability of shrinkage/stretching causing pitch irregularities.

But what is the likelihood of the oxide coating crumbling off or sticking to the heads? Or sticking to the adjacent tape on the reel? I imagine it has to do with the adhesives used, so would some brands have this problem more than others? Would it be best to fast fwd/rewind each tape before playing it? Any other potential problems I should be aware of?

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Topic - Deterioration of cassettes in storage? - Brian H P 16:09:01 07/25/17 (4)

RE: Deterioration of cassettes in storage? - flood2 01:04:16 07/28/17 (0)

From what I've heard - jusbe 17:09:13 07/26/17 (0)

I wouldn't worry. - Dave Pogue 06:14:15 07/26/17 (0)

RE: Deterioration of cassettes in storage? - John Elison 20:47:48 07/25/17 (0)

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