Hey everyone! It is been a long while since I have posted and I was just going to get on last night to post how great my day was listening to hours an hours of quad! But I got so into the music that I didn’t post. Anyway I’ve had a few days of cleaning and checking foil spices and pads and stuff as I listen and now I have a problem with the sound. The sound coming out now is scratchy on even wonderful 8 tracks I just played the other day. I deoxited all controls of the dbx units, the 9001 and the Akai just to make sure that wasn’t the issue. And let me tell you - this system was playing even cd-4’s so wonderfully Saturday that I couldn’t believe it was still that well-calibrated since the last cd-4 session probably a year ago! And 8 tracks always sound fine.
Now for my confession of my perhaps user-error: I did buy a new homemade 8 track head cleaner in a shell from the 8 track shack folks and I ran it through the Akai several times. I also used a long q-tip thing to wipe off the heads. I had just played several of my more grungy (as far as condition) Jefferson Starship and other Grunt label 8 tracks and just from reinforcing foil splices, the tapes are just the kind that leave your hands dirty. So, I then decided I would put a little of the cleaning liquid solvent used on the long q-tip directly on the 8 track cleaner “tape” part of the cartridge. Well, then the cleaner cart did not automatically cycle through as it had before. So I guess I messed up. So, any idea what is degrading the sound and what might work to bring it back? The discrete-ness is still there - just the sound is scratchy and perhaps muffled or garbled, but I am not sure that is an accurate way to describe it. The lyrics are not as intelligible and it is nowhere near as good as the other day when I played blissfully for hours while working on tapes. It is definitely scratchy sounding. I hope y’all can help!
I seem to have been swallowed up by work and life the last few years and I am going to retire from teaching soon, so I hope to be on this, my favorite forum, more frequently. I have been checking in and am glad most people I remember are still here. That is awesome! Anyway, please advise if you can! Thanks as always! I told a friend just the other day that this whole setup would not have been possible for me to put together without the help,of my friends here. That is always a fact! Thanks in advance! I would love any suggestions.
Laura (quadgirl)
Now for my confession of my perhaps user-error: I did buy a new homemade 8 track head cleaner in a shell from the 8 track shack folks and I ran it through the Akai several times. I also used a long q-tip thing to wipe off the heads. I had just played several of my more grungy (as far as condition) Jefferson Starship and other Grunt label 8 tracks and just from reinforcing foil splices, the tapes are just the kind that leave your hands dirty. So, I then decided I would put a little of the cleaning liquid solvent used on the long q-tip directly on the 8 track cleaner “tape” part of the cartridge. Well, then the cleaner cart did not automatically cycle through as it had before. So I guess I messed up. So, any idea what is degrading the sound and what might work to bring it back? The discrete-ness is still there - just the sound is scratchy and perhaps muffled or garbled, but I am not sure that is an accurate way to describe it. The lyrics are not as intelligible and it is nowhere near as good as the other day when I played blissfully for hours while working on tapes. It is definitely scratchy sounding. I hope y’all can help!
I seem to have been swallowed up by work and life the last few years and I am going to retire from teaching soon, so I hope to be on this, my favorite forum, more frequently. I have been checking in and am glad most people I remember are still here. That is awesome! Anyway, please advise if you can! Thanks as always! I told a friend just the other day that this whole setup would not have been possible for me to put together without the help,of my friends here. That is always a fact! Thanks in advance! I would love any suggestions.
Laura (quadgirl)
...I'm sure someone can assist you.
