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Hi All. It's been a while for me on here. I dug up some old 40-year cassette tapes and have been reviewing them for potential digitizing. Problem with many of the high bias Cr02 tapes is the number of cycling dead spots on playback, likely caused by the "flat spots on tires" syndrome. After several FF and Fast reverse attempts and head cleaning, problem still persists. (I really didn't think the FF/FR exercise would help much anyway.) I used (and still am using) a Technics MR270X, and the original recordings were FM radio broadcasts, King Biscuit Flower Hour stuff. I'd used a DBX II Model 128 Range Enhancer set at 1.2, and that resulting sound was then recorded on the MR270X. Playback through the Technics using its own DBX noise decoder sounded pretty good back in 1982. Anyway, the dead spot treble fallout is occurring max at about ten minutes in and continues on for twenty minutes before falling off to less noticeable levels. Tape itself is Maxell UDXL II, C90 (45 min per side). The Technics is now running through a ZPhono-USB Line In, then a MAYA22 USB sound card, to PC.
So, all that said, I'm wondering if anyone can provide some thoughts on how best to tackle this,- a series of HP/LP filters, range expansion/compression, equalizer enhancement. I don't know if I can realistically expect to resurrect any lost treble not retained by the source media. Should have used metal, since I've experienced virtually no issues with sound quality on those old tapes when played back now. Then again, my ears are also 40 years older.....
So, all that said, I'm wondering if anyone can provide some thoughts on how best to tackle this,- a series of HP/LP filters, range expansion/compression, equalizer enhancement. I don't know if I can realistically expect to resurrect any lost treble not retained by the source media. Should have used metal, since I've experienced virtually no issues with sound quality on those old tapes when played back now. Then again, my ears are also 40 years older.....