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A New Device for the Reduction of Print-Through

The magnetic tape industry during the past few years has made considerable progress in combatting print-through or layer-to-layer signal transfer. The marketing of low print Master Audiotape in 1957 was a giant step in this direction, though not a complete remedy. For years experimenters have demonstrated that print-through can be effectively reduced by applying a slight erasing field to a recorded tape as it passes over a head just before reproduction. An erase head is used, powered by either the bias or the erase current of the recorder. Surprisingly few recordists have availed themselves of this technique, which led us to ponder the reasons for this resistance. Perhaps the thought of tinkering with the internal circuits of the recorder discouraged some, or there was not enough time for the experiment to determine the proper combination of head and current to do the job, and finally the possibility of tape damage in the event of component failure may have been a deterrent. Whatever the reason, it was felt that a simple device which could be installed without a knowledge of electronics, without lengthy pre-testing, without wires or terminals, could bring this technique to more recordists. The device called an -Echoraser- is quite unique in construction and yet extremely simple in design. In spite of the simplicity, the reduction in print-through achieved by the -Echoraser- follows the same patterns observed by earlier experimenters using more complex equipment.

Author: Radocy, Frank
Affiliation: Audio Devices, Inc., New York, NY
AES Convention:10 (September 1958) Paper Number:36 Import into BibTeX

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