If you like to listen to music  on cassette you need to clean  

and demagnetize your heads... no not that head!

Before I get started I would like to thank fellow  youtuber James Skippenhopper for his generous  

contribution of this technics m7 cassette  deck this is a two head deck that came out  

in 1979 that features dolby B noise reduction,  microphone inputs, and a setting for ferrochrome  

cassettes also called type 3. these are hard to  find but it's nice to have a deck that supports  

this rare formulation. if you have a piece of  gear you would like featured on thrifty AV let  

me know so we can arrange for that to happen if  you use a tape deck it's a given that the heads  

will get dirty type 1 cassettes will shed oxide  onto the heads but even the best tapes can leave  

residue behind with playback dirty heads will  cause loss of treble frequencies and a muffled  

sound if the head has sticky residue it can  actually cause tapes to jam up in the mechanism  

so it's important to keep those heads clean you  can purchase head cleaning cassettes that use  

either a spool of cleaning tape or replaceable  cleaning pads these will do some good along the  

tape path but are not the most effective way to  clean your heads I use these primarily for decks  

where access to the heads are limited such as in a  car player but for most home players the heads are  

readily accessible so I prefer to use foam tipped  cleaning swab soaked in 91% isopropyl alcohol a  

cotton swab will also work but unlike a foam swab  it can leave fibrous behind with the cleaning many  

home cassette decks have a door that can be popped  off by lifting up on the door when the deck is in  

the eject position for two head decks I clean the  dual-purpose record and playback head along with  

the erase head and the capstan for three head  there are separate record and playback heads  

to clean this Nakamichi also has dual cap stands  and both should be cleaned i avoid cleaning pinch  

rollers with alcohol as it can dry out the rubber  and cause it to crack distilled water can be used  

to clean pinch rollers overtime tape heads  can retain permanent magnetism through tape  

recording and playback this is particularly true  on a deck that is used for recording as use of the  

erase head can cause magnetism a magnetized head  can not only adversely affect the sound but can  

potentially remove magnetic signals from tapes  played through the device a demagnetizer will  

randomize the polarities of the magnetic particles  in the tape head you can purchase a demagnetizer  

that is inserted into a deck like a cassette  if you own one of these follow the directions  

that came with it personally I prefer a wand type  demagnetizer the one I purchased has a protective  

plastic cover on the tip to prevent any scratching  of the heads if it happens to come in contact you  

can also build a wand type demagnetizer  yourself using items you may already own  

there's descriptions on how to do this on youtube  just search for them it's sometimes hard to tell  

if a demagnetizer is doing anything as it makes no  noise and most do not have any type of indicator  

light one way to tell is to hold a magnet near  the unit you will fill both the magnet and the  

wand vibrate with the alternating current when  a demagnetizer is working the magnetic toy that  

I used at the beginning of this video can also  be used you can see the metal shavings line up  

along the magnetic fields and some start jumping  around when the demagnetizer is on to keep your  

gear safe it's a good idea to turn off your deck  when using a demagnetizer place any pre-recorded  

cassettes or other magnetic media a good distance  away from your workspace as a demagnetizer can  

erase them plug in the wand a few feet away from  your unit and slowly bring it close to your unit  

move the demagnetizer wand slowly near the tape  heads and capstan get it as close as possible  

without actually touching the heads avoid jerky  motion as this can cause magnetism in the tape  

head I use the wand demagnetizer for about 5  seconds per tape head and then move it slowly  

away from the deck unplugging when I get a few  feet away finally I'm going to do something that  

I do not recommend you do I'm going to leave a  tape deck on and engage so you can hear what is  

happening when a demagnetizer is used for this  demonstration I will not be using the techniques  

m7 but rather this sharp RT 31 budget deck you can  hear a 60 Hertz hum as my demagnetizer approaches  

the head on the unit as I move the wand closer  to the play head the sound gets louder maxing  

out the vu meter well before the wand gets to  the play head I've read online the demagnetized  

tape head stay cleaner and this makes sense as the  oxides that rub off of a cassette tape will not be  

magnetically attracted to the tape head if you've  enjoyed this video or any other in the Thrifty AV  

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