Murder!!! a type IV tape killed it! They're killers...all of them. Murderrrrrrr!

[Chris Cables]

Jesus H Christ on a bike I thought the petty spiralling arguments about tapes and decks only existed on tapeheads.

Apparently not sadly. It can happen anywhere including DIY audio, one of the easiest-going forums outside this one apparently.
Or is it just me.
I respectfully disagreed with a mod's assertion that type IV tapes 'kill' (his description no mine) deck heads.

I agreed that type IV's are more abrasive than type I/II's but proffered that there are more dynamics at play for head degradation than merely pointing the shitty end of the stick at just the use of type-IV/metal tapes.

Kicks off at post 185 and decends into banality. I let him have the last word as the thought of losing any more precious time pointlessly arguing fills me with regret and remorse in equal measures.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/how-many-cassette-deck-users-here.388312/post-7806107

However, it's possibly a more interesting discussion here amongst seasoned and knowledgeable individuals and enthusiasts so I'd be more interested to hear opinions here than over there.

 

[20tajk7]

The very first type metal tape (Scotch Metafine) was more abrasive, but that doesn't make all other type IV abrasive.
By the way any "type 0" tape will wears out the heads way more than any other tapes.

Those guys just repeats old myths about cassettes such as the tapes that demagnetizes over time or the "cassette deck heads should never be demagnetized" religion...

 

[Rat44]

Always fun to watch such threads.
So much misinformation out there and like you said some people get religious about their 'facts' .
Almost as bad as cable discussions. .
Some gun forums can be popcorn shows too.

 

[J!m]

Um, the issue is surface finish. If the tape is well calendared (rood smooth after coating) then it's not an issue.

If you have high roughness tape and dirty heads, yeah, you can abrade them.

So, 400 grit silicon carbide will do a number on the head, but a piece of silicon carbide with a 1 micron finish isn't going to do diddly.

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

Tapes DO kill the heads. If you don't play tapes, the heads won't wear out. Buy a new deck, turn it on, and never put a tape in it. You'll never have to fuck with those heads for as long as you live. Pretty simple.

 

[mr_rye89]

There's a reason you won't find me on Audiodogma or BobIsTheOilGuy. yoU cAnT SWitch bAck tO ConVenTionaL iF yoU rAn sYntHetiC, Muh amsoil for 25,000 miles, etc.....

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

There's a reason you won't find me on Audiodogma or BobIsTheOilGuy. yoU cAnT SWitch bAck tO ConVenTionaL iF yoU rAn sYntHetiC, Muh amsoil for 25,000 miles, etc.....

HUH?

 

[Chris Cables]

Oh yeah, I forgot about type-0's.
I put those in the ninja-stealth killer category

Tapes DO kill the heads. If you don't play tapes, the heads won't wear out. Buy a new deck, turn it on, and never put a tape in it. You'll never have to fuck with those heads for as long as you live. Pretty simple.

HUH??

 

[Chris Cables]

Always fun to watch such threads.
Almost as bad as cable discussions. .

Yer. Had my fair share of those. I'll never get that time back.

 

[mr_rye89]

HUH?

If you run Amsoil your heads never wear out

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

If you run Amsoil your heads never wear out

well, allrighty then

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

Yer. Had my fair share of those. I'll never get that time back.

You wouldn't remember but we were arguing this topic 50 years ago. Some of us got smart and moved on.

 

[Chris Cables]

You wouldn't remember but we were arguing this topic 50 years ago. Some of us got smart and moved on.

Well I guess that makes you really smart. Really really smart. I mean, really smart. Smarter than smart. So smart that even other smart people smart at realising just how smart you are.

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

Exactly.

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

and just because you like to argue and beat a "Dead Horse" doesn't make you a cowboy.

 

[WOPL Sniffer]

You like this "Easy Going" website? Why, because nobody will argue with you and believe all the "Stuff " you put out?

 

[Chris Cables]

and just because you like to argue and beat a "Dead Horse" doesn't make you a cowboy.

One should always be kind to animals and people who are less-smart than you are and especially cowboys.
keep them spurs jingling and a jangling!

 

[vince666]

urban legends are hard to die.
they also say pure chromium dioxide tapes wear the heads quickly.

but it's all a matter of surface finish and to regularly clean heads and tape path.

anyways, these days we tend to own several decks and surely we don't use them as much as we did in the old days when cassettes were our main way to listen to music then I'd say head wear is less of a concern now than back in the old days.

 

[Elite-ist]

The moderator on that forum: How is he sure the decks being brought in for service and had accelerated head wear were from customers/clients who exclusively used Type IV cassettes? It wouldn't take much time for a number of playbacks with a few select Type II cassettes that had a coarse play-side finish to do damage to the heads.

Nando.

 

[J!m]

And he said pro and radio stations… tons of hours (tapes) on those machines. Like ask Bob how often they changed stylus’ at the radio station? And they of course got the upmost care and handling in that professional environment. (Eye roll)

That head was going to wear out if you put woven silk tape across those heads for that many hours.

Like truck tires wear out fast! Cuz I drive over 100k miles a year. Your car doing 10k a year isn’t going to wear them out as fast.

Bottom line: both opinions are “right” just coming from different sets of conditions.