Hey all
I have my Fostex B-16 which I fired up for use the other day.
Its in almost puuurfect condition! The heads look great and it sounds fine recording, all seems to be in order appart from one thing!
A couple of the channels seem to not fully wipe what was on the channel when recording over it!
I can only assume its to do with the erase head?
Is it maybe just in need of configuring or does it sound like a new head?
Thanks for any advice!
Steve

First, make sure everything is clean. Any deviation from shiny, fluff and oxide deposit free heads can cause problems - so make sure you give them a good going over with cleaner and a cotton bud.

Secondly, after cleaning, have a good look at the heads for signs of wear. You can normaly get away with quite a lot of erosion (!), but if not all channels are affected look for signs of damage specific to the area of the heads dealing with that channel, maybe some asymetrical damage has occured.

The head might also need de-magnetising, this can lead to a loss of erasing function.

Of course it still might be some electrical fault after all of this, loose transmission somwhere, but 90% of signal loss comes down to head problems in my experience.

If you feel confident you can check board seating and connection ribbons yourself.

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Which two tracks are the problem? If it's the outside ones then head wear may have resulted in 'tramlines' which stop the tape seating snugly on the edges. If you are not sure (and it can be quite hard to see sometimes) run a fingernail lightly up the head and see if you can feel a ridge.

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It wasn't me!
(Well, actually, it probably was)

Quote Folderol:

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Which two tracks are the problem? If it's the outside ones then head wear may have resulted in 'tramlines' which stop the tape seating snugly on the edges.

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That's a very good point. One problem that I've had with Fostex machines was with tape that had been slit slightly wider than normal. The edge tracks performed badly because the tape rode up over the edge of the groove that had been worn into the head by the narrower tape. Some machines have heads with small grooves next to the edge tracks in order to get over this problem but Fostex heads don't.

However, I suspect the problem here is dirty heads. It can sometimes take more effort than expected to completely clean the heads of stubborn dirt. Cotton buds and pure isopropanol are what I use.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Thanks guys.
I know channel one is effected, but I think two may be as well, and I haven't checked 16 so not sure about that?
I have the stuff to clean the heads so I'll try that first!
I'll let you know how I get on!
On another note, in your experience, how many times can you record over the same tape before you would expect to notice the quality loss?
I'm using ampex gold and quantegy tape.
Cheers!

Its difficult to quantify this since it depends on the quality of the tape, and the mehcanical 'soundness' of the machine.

Theoretically, a good new tape, that is not shedding will last a long time, but realistically the machine will begin to erode the tape if it is not in perfect alignment, or if the tolerances of the machine are insufficient, - i.e lesser quality. So obviously a well maintained pro machine can use a tape more times than a poorly kept domestic machine.

The other factor that can limit tape usage is erasing ability. The hanging around of old recordings can eventually end a tapes usefulness. Using a separate bulk eraser can mitigate this.

Check your machine for signs of wear and tear, patterns on the tape etc. Also keep some tape unused, held back for critical recordings or masters. If it is important, clean rollers and heads before any important recordings. Use one roll for experiments, keep using it until you can hear problems like lack of erasure, or mechanical problems like stretched or patternated tape. This is the only way you will know.

Also never use old tape that is prone to shedding like some old Ampex rolls!!!

Personaly for mastering I would want to use a fresh tape or less than 10 times, but would be happier for tracking using tape until I could hear dropouts. This is very hard to predict frustratingly. So use it until you cant trust it!!

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It could be the write/read alignment that is off whack in which case the erase function is fine, it is just "missing" all the signal.

Try flipping the tape over and running erase again.

Dave.

Quote vetsdiggy:

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On another note, in your experience, how many times can you record over the same tape before you would expect to notice the quality loss?
I'm using ampex gold and quantegy tape.

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It will go sticky before it wears out through over use.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net