Date:         Tue, 15 Mar 2005 11:20:05 -0800
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:       Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         Mike Richter <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Longevity of half-track reel
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At 12:48 PM 3/15/2005 -0500, Steven Smolian wrote:
>These should work and preserve as well as any other reel to reel tapes.
>
>One minor matter is that, pefore playing, I advise running the tape back and
>forth to discharge print-thru that may have accumulated by transfer in
>storage.  It's generally to late for this to work on recordings made at too
>great a level to begin with.  That print-thru you're stuck with.
>
>Steve Smolian

"Back and forth" is a bit vague. I believe preferred procedure if stored
tails-out (by far the better method) is to 'rewind' to get tails in, let
the tape rest for ten minutes or so to have the self-degaussing of the
start of the audio take effect, then play. If tails-in to begin with, then
you're right that there is no need to wait, but time consumed in tape
handling (and risk of damage) increases dramatically. For that,
fast-forward, then rewind, then play, then flip the reels and play through
again to avoid storing under excess tension. That means two fast plays and
two slow plays instead of one of each (with a rest between).

Mike
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