🚀 go-pugleaf

greg@zaphod.uchicago.edu (Greg Kuperberg) writes:

>My wife has an long-standing collection of cassette tapes and over
>time many of them have begun to squeak.  Typically the tape starts
>in good shape and at some point faint metallic mosquito noises appear
>and then go away.  Then they get more persistent and louder.  I can
>tell you that you don't need much of this to ruin a good musical
>piece.

>Why do the tapes do this?  Have they been played too often?  Is the
>tape deck ruining them?  Is there any way to salvage the tapes or
>should they go to the trash?  Please send a copy of your reply by mail.
>Thanks.

	In my opinion, the analog cassette format is a seriously
flawed medium. Any cassette tape that you own will steadily and
inexorably degrade over time, epecially if you play it very often.

	Having said that, there are a few things that you can do:

	If the tape in question is a manufacturer-recorded one
that you bought in a store, transfer the tape to a higher quality
shell. Even the low-end TDKs, Maxells, Denons, and Sonys have much
better shells. These can usually be taken apart with a small Phillips-
head screwdriver. You can then transfer the store-bought tape into
the TDK (or any other manufacturers') shell. This should make your
tape sound a little better and last longer, due to decreased
vibration and friction. 

	If you must buy new cassettes, consider an archival dub to
an inexpensive cassette. Then play the dub to keep the original
from degrading too severely.

	Again, the problems of cassettes are legion. I would buy
cpoies of these albums on CD, if possible. (If you don't have a CD
player, then buy one. It is a much better value in the long run.)

					-Cal
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Cal Lott          "Oh, I see-- I thought 'no' meant 'spoon'!" --Dan
Email me, baby!   cal@gsbux1.uchicago.edu   cjl1@midway.uchicago.edu
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