I don’t like to see this. Tape all over

[Bradbrews]

I’ve been the recipient of cassette collections of a few friends. I’ll always take them and give them a home.
It usually takes me quite a while to go through them, and once I give them a listen it’s either keep it as is or put it in the tape over Que.
I opened this nice type II TDK, and saw this:

Well that one goes in the tape over pile.
With the type II holes taped over the basic 2 head deck that most people had recorded this one with type 1 bias and eq. Not the right way to get the best out of the tape. Well intentioned but wrong.
It should record nicely though!

 

[aldena007]

I can see taping over the outermost notch to prevent recording over the tape. To cover the hole to trigger the CrO2 tape bias switch does no harm as the tape formulation on playback is not a big deal. Your deck will indicate a tape is Cr02 formulation but tape bias is not an issue on playback. Take the tape off and see if the tape is playable. It should be but the write protection is gone. The two outer most square holes are for record go/no go. Some of the higher end Sony and TDK cassette tapes had plastic plugs for write protection which is nice but the plugs often go missing. Play the tape, it may be a good one [if you are into Judas Priest]

 

[Bradbrews]

The issue is that the scotch tape over the top was put there to allow for recording the tape and just never removed.
That means that the tape was recorded with bias and eq for a normal chemistry tape, not a CRO2 tape.
So it was recorded poorly.
The eq on playback would be the same as on recording- 120us.
I removed the tape and re-recorded it properly already. It performed great.

 

[aldena007]

I see your point if the tape covered the Cr02 holes during recording it would be standard bias. Generally the top quality brands are capable of recording over with good results. Often the price is right.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Weren’t most machines set manually to normal or CrO2 bias ans eq on the front panel? I know there were some automatic settings machines but most decks had switches.

 

[Chad Michael]

TDK SA-X is absolutely great in my experience. Roll with it, whether you like Judas Priest, or record over it.

 

[Bradbrews]

Weren’t most machines set manually to normal or CrO2 bias ans eq on the front panel? I know there were some automatic settings machines but most decks had switches.

Of the 6 decks I have now only the TEAC C-3RX has manual adjustments. All the rest use the tape notches.
The older the deck the more likely to have manual switches.
However on this tape I know the person and have the deck, a Fisher dual well, that made the Judas Priest recording, and it’s automatic.
I asked my friend about it and he said that he never knew that the different notches on back of the tape did anything but stop recording.