Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

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Re: Actually, I'm looking to get back into cassettes!

Posted by Morse (A) on October 26, 2003 at 05:32:59

In Reply to: Actually, I'm looking to get back into cassettes! posted by tweakk on October 26, 2003 at 04:40:54:

Hi tweakk;

>>>...Actually, I'm looking to get back into cassettes!...<<<

I hear you there. Unfortunately I've had a lot of problems with tape durability. It turns out that there's an autocatalyzing chemical reaction in which the tape stock gives off acidic fumes during it's breakdown - which spurs surrounding tapes to similarly decay. The moral of that story is that when a tape is starting to go, discard and replace it with a fresh one! Also, store those buggers in a well vented, COOL, DRY place. Humidity and heat help hasten the reaction. The best cassette deck I owned back in the old days was actually a cheapie by Sanyo - it sounded decent and lasted durn' near forever (took a lightning storm to wipe it and my dear departed Betamax out....). OTOH, a mid '80's top of the line Denon that I spent far too much cash on was a real dog. Yeah, it had discrete drive motors for both reels, an autobiasing scheme, etc. But it sounded poor without the autobias and it uniformly overbiased the tape when you used the little autobiasing thingie. Best to have user adjustable bias! If I were going that way, I'd look for something like a Teac or somesuch that's simple and reasonably well built. Dolby C is okay and the old HX Pro system works too, but a nice deck with Dolby B and electronic contact controls is all you really need. Those mechanical "key" controls wear out too fast for me! :-)

Personally, I'm looking more into MD format for portable use. I've done a pretty good job of taking the digital edge off with DIY headphone amps, and I'm planning on an even smaller one to go with a MD player/recorder.

>>>...The cases are designed to open and break a hinge when dropped and it's all downhill from there...<<<

Yep. Definitely it's in your interest to stock spare CD jewel cases! I keep a dozen or so on hand at all times and hardly a month goes by that I'm not tearing apart a jewel case to replace some cracked bit on it. For the most part, by handling the CD's like LP's (!!) I've managed to limit damage to them. However, many of my friends treat them way too cavalierly and - gosh - they don't last. I've seen CD's sailed through the air like frisbees, used as bookmarks, etc. Not good for longevity!!

The best way I've found to transport CD's in their jewel cases is in a padded "insulated lunch" bag with a velcro top. It lets me carry a dozen CD's at a time and the padding does wonders for protecting the cases in transit.

Thanks for the tips on LP availability.
All the best,
Morse

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