Re: [ARSCLIST] rehousing audio cassettes

["Steven C. Barr" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard L. Hess" <arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> We're seeing some second-tier tapes which are becoming dimensionally 
> unstable and won't wind well. This is where I've been pointed towards 
> metal cassette shells and other "fixes" short of a Studer A80QC to 
> play this stuff back on.
>
> The tapes tend to "cone up" on their hubs and then wedge against the 
> inside of the case. I've seen this with mostly second-tier Canadian 
> tapes, but have had a half dozen out of several hundred mixed lots 
> that have done this. They are often C-120s, but I think I had some 
> C90s do it as well.
Have NEVER had this problem...including with my few bargain tapes...!
> There is another phenomenon that has only been very poorly documented 
> and that is loss of highs just sitting in a wood drawer with no 
> magnets around. Some suggest that it is a magnetostriction effect 
> with the small radii that the tapes in cassettes move over. I don't 
> know and I haven't seen anything in the literature, but I haven't 
> done a comprehensive search for this specific item.
Reading this, I realize my "illusion" of "cassette permance" may 
well be exactly that...!! At the age of 66+...and after two major
head injuries (both diagnosed as affecting my hearing)...and a
couple of decades (give or take) as "head man" in an electric
blues band...standing WAY too close to Fender Twins turned
up to 10 to get desired distortion levels...my hearing ALSO
suffers from "loss of highs!!"

BTW, C-120's always carried warnings of "short life," and
were NEVER considered for archival use...?!

Steven C. Barr