Tape Baking
When magnetic recording tapes are being stored, moisture is slowly absorbed by the binder that holds the components of the tape together. Affected tapes will squeak when played back. The squeaking can be heard directly from the tape passing over the playback head and other fixed parts of the player, but is also transmitted electronically through the playback head. Often the tape will also sound dull and distorted.
If you hear a tape that is squeaking, stop playing the tape immediately. Continuing to play a squeaking tape can cause permanent damage to the tape, and in some cases damage to the player.
This problem can happen to any tape, but is more common in tapes manufactured after the mid 1970s in the USA.
The solution to the problem of squeaking tapes is to bake the tapes at very low temperature in an oven. There are as many different opinions about optimum temperature and duration of baking as there are audio engineers. Certainly, do not attempt to bake your own tapes unless you can be certain that the temperature in your oven will not exceed 60 degrees Celsius.
CD ROM Services Pty Ltd offers a tape baking service, and although we have successfully baked well over a hundred tapes, and haven't damaged one, we will take all care in baking your tapes, but cannot take responsibility for accidental damage. If you give us your tapes to bake, it is on the basis that you agree with this. We will bake your tape only if we are also transferring the content of the tape to another format.
Cost of tape baking | |
One bake, including up to:
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One bake, including up to:
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| Please Contact Us if you have different tapes to the ones listed above. | |
