A retired broadcast engineer made me rethink my tape deck habits

Met this older guy, Frank, at the electronics flea market in Portland last Sunday. He saw me checking out a 1980s Nakamichi and asked if I knew the heads get magnetized over time, even when idle. He said he demags his decks every 30 hours of play, and showed me a cheap demagnetizer that cost $27. Never thought about it before, but now I'm checking my stored decks and wondering, has anyone else dealt with hidden degradation like this in their gear?

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ivanb413d ago

Frank must have a lot of time on his hands if he's counting every 30 hours of tape play like a pilot logging flight time. Last time I checked, my decks are more likely to get dusty than magnetized, but now I'm eyeballing them like they're plotting against me. Guess I'll add demagnetizing to the list of things I'll never actually do, right next to realigning my VCR heads.