ADJUSTING TAPE SPEED BY EAR ** My M-othership-90 SS

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Beosystem10

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It's only 0.04% slow when compared to the same Neil Young tune played on my Hacker RPC1's Nakamichi-built deck - which was set up with my CRO and a test tape less than two years ago - and I'd leave well alone as that sort of margin is just as likely to be down to a particular tape as it is to the deck on which it's played.

You could play another tape on there and find that it would be out by the same amount in the other direction purely as a result of different tension or friction, either way it's so close that unless the listener is cursed with perfect pitch and/or knows the song intimately, it's perfect. :thumbsup:

So much so in fact that I'm off to put some of the man's music on one of my own JVCs; PC11 will do the job methinks.... :yes:
 

Cpl-Chronic

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Thanx guys for the input. Beosystem10, thank you for the time you put into checking my results. It felt good to verify that it was in fact a hair slow with someone else's ears. I did some final adjustments & here's another vid to check & again if it seems a hair slow or fast, let me know. I'm pretty sure it's 'close enough for rock & roll'. This is a home recording from my SHARP 777Z & I'll do another test with the store bought tape of Neil to compare to...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yftq35uDhQ&list=UU8dvRdzmRSNoWOyxr2GYHeA

Stay tuned.....
 

Cpl-Chronic

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Well, I did some further listening tests & discovered I've overcompensated & its a tad fast now...so I decided to go to the Y-toob for a comparison against a HI-DEF recording & discovered that it was a tad fast, all along....I went back & forth, between an MP3 & the studio recorded cassette, adjusting, adjusting until they matched speeds &
this time I'm pretty sure it's almost 'dead-on' perfect....I'll post with comparison videos soon....stay tuned....

UPLOADING....

Cheers,
Cpl
 

Beosystem10

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My point was that a 0.04% error wouldn't be detectable to the human ear and that such a minor one could just as easily be found in a tape rather than in the transport mech. The reason I measured and compared with the 'scope was that I couldn't tell because you had it as close as the tolerances of purely mechanical devices would allow. Bear in mind that neither youtube nor any other digital medium can be accurate beyond doubt as its frame rate affects the pitch too, especially if you're watching in a place where the refresh rate of your AC mains is 60Hz and the clip was made at 50Hz, meaning that only certain original frame rates would give accurate playback under both mains standards and even then, your original error in the Neil Young clip really is so minor as to be insignificant.

You're clearly a perfectionist which is tremendous, but imagine the level of perfection you'd achieve with an oscilloscope. :yes: Older ones are pretty cheap and usually need only minor repairs (caps, most classic CROs are from the era of Hunts Mouldseals and/or waxies) if the picture tube is hard and other valves' emission figures sufficient to the task.
Go on, you know you want one! ;-)
 

Cpl-Chronic

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Gotcha Beosys....I'm splittin' hairs here & yeah I tend to do that sometimes.

Ok, Here's the original song from Y-toob...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugwOSB77Xgo

Alright, so here we have a store bought tape of Neil, playing on my MasterBlaster90(tm)......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWEPjRH5lJY&feature=youtu.be

I basically compared the recordings, line by line, back & forth until I could dial it in....I then compared other songs to MP3 recordings of CD's & it sounds identical to me so I'm pretty confident I nailed it this time...

Took some time but once it's done, the deck sounds so sweet...

Cheers,
Cpl
 
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