Brand new test tape for checking the playback levels of your cassette decks.
Specs: - 315 HZ, 0 dB tone (IEC PRAGUE 1981 Spec) - Simulated to produce results like the Teac and Sony test tapes. - Recorded on Nakamichi cassette deck - Level tolerance: +- 1.2 dB
Notes This test tape is recorded in stereo quarter-track mode, not full track. It is not 100% accurate because of potential head height misalignments. The results when used with 4-track machines will vary a bit due to a different head configuration on those machines. It will not work for 6 and 8-track machines. This is an amateur tape for quick checks, not a pro laboratory-grade tool.
Does the job and gives a good reference at the specified level and frequency.
It's not a multi-frequency, multi-track tape, but you're not buying something massively complex, your'e buying a single tone at a set magnetic flux to calibrate from. This is what you want.
When you've got a reference you know is calibrated independently, this allows you to set your 'zero', and from then, you can build and cross-reference from other external sources.
There's test CD's you can burn, then get a level from that to check against, then test against other machines. CD's are good as they're fixed and self-checking.
Pitch-check against the level from them, then adjust with a speed tape on your tape deck, and also the RMS output at 0dB on the CD player and then your tape machine. Build inwards, and backwards.
You'll need to be dilligent and methodical but you'll get there.
Join a forum like www.tapeheads.net or www.stereo2go.com and contribute and learn from the expertise there too.
Don't forget the tape speed/pitch calibration tape too. I'd recommend the both of them.
Good luck, and I hope my personal view helps you make a choice to your advantage. I'm not paid for this review nor do I receive any inducement of any kind. I'm a journalist by trade.
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Peter Verified Purchase
Works great, helped me calibrate two vintage decks I just acquired….and was way way cheaper than stuff I found on other sites