Tape Head Azimuth: O'scope Assisted- Part 2
Vložit
- čas přidán 29. 08. 2024
- Proper head alignment and calibration are critical for any tape machine, be it cassette or reel to reel. Especially if you plan to make tapes to be played on other machines, for instance, your car's stereo or your Walkman, or your friend's stereo. I realize not everyone has access to an oscilloscope, but this is the best way to guarantee correct adjustments are made. In this second installment of a 2 part series, I adjust the head azimuth of 2 machines using the factory alignment of a 3rd machine as the reference. All goes well, and I'm satisfied that everything is aligned for the best. Thanks for watching. Don't forget to subscribe.
Background song by Hammy Technoid titled "Trance Sub-Stance"
Ive found that in the absence of an azimuth tape, you take a prerecorded cassette in good shape and play it while turning the azimuth screw very slightly. You will be able to hear the azimuth move from left to right on your speakers (or better use a set of headphones) and will go from muddy to crisp back to muddy as you pass the azimuth point on the high hat cymbols and any higher frequency part of the music. You want to get the most 'sizzle' from the cymbols and youll definately hear a difference when you turn the screw. On a discrete 3 head like a sony TC-K71/81 the heads are able to be adjusted seperately but do not be tempted to adjust them individually . Do the playback alignment first using the block azimuth screw, then do the record head while listening to the monitor head with the back azimuth screw (as they will probably be aligned to each other from the factory), so you will be pivoting the head block in the tape path. Adjust the record head to give the playback head the most high end you can. Again, youll be able to hear the transition into and out of the sweet spot. Azimuth tapes can be recorded from an aligned deck and many are now available online. recorded from very high end decks as well as speed tapes, usually they are on the same tape.
All good advice.... I realize not everyone will have access to an O'scope, so, yes, a known good tape as a reference can be used. It's the exact method I used for years, prior to my acquiring the O'scope. Thanks for watching!
great to see the old ways
Nice, now all your tapes will sound the same across your decks. I did this a while ago. Makes recording tapes on say your Tascam and playing back on the pioneer for example way more enjoyable. Unfortunately any tapes previously recorded on decks you tweak my not sound as good, but it’s worth the chance.
Great video, in general I’d recommend going the opposite direction, ie, use the higher frequency for the adjustment, and then the lower frequencies should be spot on. Of course it azimuth is way off, you might have to start with 1K to get it close
Once you adjust it at 10k and check it at 3k should they be the same? mine is not and at 10k it has wobble But the voltage also wobbles also up and down i replacing the head so don't know if I need to move it up or down?
Assuming heads aren’t worn?
@@JeffersonDD No NOS different Head w New installed and w new Component added or modified to make it work I think the head need to be moved up? I drilled the mounting holes small so I can make them Bigger.
thank you!!! i was looking for that video for years!
Thanks, enjoyed this!...I read about it but had no idea what it would actually look like...
Good stuff!!
Thank You Hammy thank you and Happy new 2021 Year !
Hammy, just my preferences. I observe the both Left and Right using two 10Khz (or higher) sinewaves and observe - I'll see a shuffle between L/R. Even if they are aligned well (within 45 degrees), we will see the effects of tape wrap sheet imperfections. But the truth is - we'll never hear these effects. Even my Nak and Revox B215 exhibit some small oscillating L/R phase shifts, but so log at the average is good, I've gotta be happy! ;o)
I bet you've got more decks than me! ha ha. (I have seven)
Nice simply explained vid. What I was wondering is if the tamper paint is intact, how can the heads be misaligned?
Usually they aren't. That's my premise exactly. A good test is to play tapes from known good machines and factory tapes to see how they sound. If they sound muffled or lack in high frequencies, then there's a chance something is amiss.
Sir, any suggestion for getting rid or atleast reduce too much sibilance... the essess?... 😅 tnx
It could possibly be that the tape is under biased, which is a cause of the symptom you're experiencing. Try tuning the tape with a bit more bias (if you can).
1k and 10k test tones?
*Exactly!!!!!*
The lower tones are to make sure you aren't out of phase when going to the higher frequencies, in other words the lower frequencies get you in the ball park and the higher frequencies fine tune the azimuth.
Do you connect the tape RCA Output to banana cable Input of scope/VTVM?
Yes. I use an RCA female to male BNC adapter and it works with minimal signal loss.
Also, it doesn't matter which R or L you apply to each input of the scope. It just determines to which side the pattern will lean.
I have a Sony TC FX2 Cassette Deck and it has 2 screws (one on each side of the playback/record head). What are each of those screws for and do I need to adjust both?
No find the screw with the spring the other side IS NOT for adjusting azimuth if the head was replaced the other side would need to be set other than that don't touch the other screw. Typically the unit has a cut out Indicating the azimuth adjustment screw. Check 1st for a dirty head that will wipe the high frequencies out of the recordings. 2nd demagnitize the head. Those two maintenance steps 90% of the time restore the sound.
I don’t have a deck I can trust, how can I get an azimuth tape?
I went on the Tapeheads forum and they recommend the TEAC MTT-356 azimuth test tape. I incorrectly mentioned the MTT-150, which is a level 400hz tape for Dolby cal. sorry
How do you have the scope connected to the scope?
The left channel is input A, Right channel is input B... of course, this procedure will only work on a dual trace scope.
@@HammyTechnoid Ok thanks Hammy, I have an old Tektronix t922 and it does have the XY mode. Need to get another probe though to do it.
has it to be a special tape to do that?
Yes, it does. You can order one online but they are a bit spendy. If you have a deck you can trust to have good azimuth, you can use that one as the reference and make your own azimuth test tape. This is what I do. I have a tone generator to provide the frequency I use, which is about 10 Kilohertz. If you don't have a signal generator, you can still get your tone from an online source. I generally record the level about -10db. I am about to calibrate a deck using this method with the O'scope. I'm posting the outcome here on my channel. Thanks for watching.
@@HammyTechnoid thank you very much...I have a Tascam Midistudio644. Playback is ok but recording is floaterring a lot i think the problem is on the pinch roller
@@nutrisativa2891 If playback is good on a known good sounding tape, there isn't a problem with the pinch roller. That will be a problem with the recording circuits. Try cleaning the rec/play switch(es) if that doesn't help then it is likely bad caps in the recording circuits. You may want to have it serviced by a professional if you aren't confident in tackling that yourself.