I have ahunch after listening a cassette recorded on my KX-670 that the speed is too low since on other decks the recording was a little but not shure, fast. I will get a cassete recorded of a CD with a 3khz tone. That tone I want to feed in my mic imput of the laptop and see it on a freq analizer. I do not knot any especially free software for that. please offer some guidance if at hand. Thanx!
> I will get a cassete recorded of a CD with a 3khz tone.
Is that cassette recorder running perfect speed?
While this store may not be convenient to you, this is what you want-- a professionally made calibration tape.
Audio Cassette Speed Calibration Test Tape - (Analogue Media Technologies Inc.)
Note that this also has a 440Hz tone you can check with a guitar-tuner or tuning fork.
3KHz was convenient when we all had dedicated wow/flutter meters. There may be a PC app which gives precise pitch, but most seem to be approximate.
Is that cassette recorder running perfect speed?
While this store may not be convenient to you, this is what you want-- a professionally made calibration tape.
Audio Cassette Speed Calibration Test Tape - (Analogue Media Technologies Inc.)
Note that this also has a 440Hz tone you can check with a guitar-tuner or tuning fork.
3KHz was convenient when we all had dedicated wow/flutter meters. There may be a PC app which gives precise pitch, but most seem to be approximate.
Zeitnits soundcard scope
Soundcard Scope
is the first and user friendly software that comes to mind for that purpose.
And there is an abundance of sound and spectrum analyzer and soundcard scope freeware on the net - just google for them.
If you have a friend with quartz-locked drive then you can use cassettes recorded on that - probably they will be fine for your purpose. But you can also buy test cassettes on eBay - there are some sellers that make them themselves and provide some measurement data with the cassette also. Original test cassettes may be hard to find.
Soundcard Scope
is the first and user friendly software that comes to mind for that purpose.
And there is an abundance of sound and spectrum analyzer and soundcard scope freeware on the net - just google for them.
If you have a friend with quartz-locked drive then you can use cassettes recorded on that - probably they will be fine for your purpose. But you can also buy test cassettes on eBay - there are some sellers that make them themselves and provide some measurement data with the cassette also. Original test cassettes may be hard to find.
Last edited:
Ahhh- many digital multi-meters have a Hertz mode.
20-buck DMM with Frequency 5/50/500/5K/50K/500K/5MHz ±(1%+3)
A musical semi-tone is 6%. So 1% accuracy, while good for cassette machines, is not "imperceptible" to trained ears.
This one will also check your meat temperature; there may be DMMs without a temp probe at lower prce.
20-buck DMM with Frequency 5/50/500/5K/50K/500K/5MHz ±(1%+3)
A musical semi-tone is 6%. So 1% accuracy, while good for cassette machines, is not "imperceptible" to trained ears.
This one will also check your meat temperature; there may be DMMs without a temp probe at lower prce.
Tape speed is not determined by a quartz crystal, its also dependent on the mechanical details of the drive, to calibrate that you need a known good test tape (or else use a measuring magnetic microscope to check the right number of cycles per cm are on the tape when its stretched to the correct tension? That's probably how its done to calibrate the reference machines).
Note that as things in a drive wear, it may drift out of spec. Pinch-roller elasticity and pinch-pressure probably matter, as does capstan radius and spool tensioning. The very small diameter of cassette capstans can't help here, it will mean that the thickness of the tape has an effect (compare C45 and C90 perhaps?).
Note that as things in a drive wear, it may drift out of spec. Pinch-roller elasticity and pinch-pressure probably matter, as does capstan radius and spool tensioning. The very small diameter of cassette capstans can't help here, it will mean that the thickness of the tape has an effect (compare C45 and C90 perhaps?).
I have had it adjusted with a freq reader on the phone and the 3khz tape I got. Well, now it plays and records in a good manner all recordings sounding at the right speed on other tape players too. I am not listening too often to tape and there again I enjoy it very much when I do being a better experience now that I know it is in the same ball park for where a tape player should be. Thank you all for your contribution!
I Calibrated mine with Daqarta. .. and You can't make a test tape even on a standard calibrated machine. I've got mine from duplication.ca. My Sony double decks stop with 10-15 sec difference when played a C60 cassette at the same time. Try at the beginning / middle / end of the tape and then adjust for the average reading. For Wow & Flutter measurement You can use WFGUI. This 20 year old deck measures .4%, not bad.
Last edited:
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.