Demagnetize your cassette/tape recorders for optimal sound 

2021. Shit I'm buying tapes again... since the early 2000s. Okay, I'm watching this at 3:57am now.

Indeed a great information for most of the beginners like me!!

I have that bullet one you showed first. Brand new it was 20 US dollars. You get what you pay for. And as far as using these, one has to be absolutely sure the power is on from afar and close to the heads and back again before removing power. I know you said this but I just wanted to reiterate how important that is. I love your channel and all the great sharing you do.

i magnetized a paperclip with a magnet just to test, and then i demagnetized it with the probe just to make sure it worked. and it did. ( if you put the probe near the heads of a cassette deck you can feel it buzzing in your hand) but yea i do mine every so often just to make sure.

I have made a simple DIY demagnetizer and very easy works well. Just need a AC power adapter, some copper wire, and nail or some sort of metal rod. Just wrapped the few turns of coil over the metal rod connect AC power supply leads to both end there you go you have a powerful demagnetizer and cost nothing when compared to what they sell in the market. You get a 12v A.C adapter and it will do the work for you. Believe me it dose work and very well. Thanks.

One thing I never saw was someone somehow measuring that the head is magnetized and that after some procedure the magnetization was eliminated. This I would like to see someday.

Thank you 🎵

Thank you.

I was told by a very good electronics expert that you can demagnetise tape heads by placing the machine in record / pause mode and pulling the mains plug. Any comments? Also that B&O tape decks automatically demagnetise when switched off ( I don’t know whether that is all or only certain models). Great videos. Even at 73 I’m still learning 👍😊

hi pleased you done this video you are right demag tools cam cost big money

well presented..tks brother for the tutorial..

I may have to do that to my revox 215 I never did it to it n my nakamichi thank you buddy 👍😎

Grazie mile!

7:35 120v here, it's half of europe, easy to remember, i dont know about usa but here in canada we also have 220v but only for big appliances like ovens and clothing washing machines

I do de-magnetize periodically. I usually evaluate the magnetic field with a magnetometer prior to doing so. Just to demagnetize because it has been a certain length of time is not always the best thing to do. I was hoping you were going to deal with the process of cleaning the heads and capstans as well so the tape is ready to be listened to/made. Demagnetization alone does not a good tape make. Thanks for the informative video.

I got a tape head cleaner and demagnifier from Amazon Canada. It's a cassette with cleaning fluid. Some of my cassettes need to have their felt pads replaced. I tried a Frankenstein repair on a couple of them with felt from the Dollarama. It just made my tape heads dirty. i used the cleaner and the deck plays fine (with cassettes that work). The packaging claims it can't damage the deck. I find cleaning and demagnitizing my player once a month to be sufficient.

Ce l'ho anch'io quel tipo di cassettina, solo che la mia avrà si e no 30 anni! :-) Però, cambiata la pila a bottone è ripartita alla grande. Complimenti per il canale, sei bravissimo. Abbi pazienza se scrivo in italiano ma talvolta mi prende un impulso patriottico. Ciao!

Thanks for the video. I also use a han-d-mag; but it has a longer, narrower probe and is much easier for getting into cassette deck doors. Much rarer to find on ebay, but come up often enough to look for if, ones castsette door doesn’t accommodate the standard one. I’m curious if you do the reel to reel behind you there or remove your tapes first? I’m always super paranoid of having any media near my machines when demagnetizing. FWIW I haven’t heard of an official safe distance for media when the demagnetizer is plugged in.

This is the second instruction video on demagnetizing tape players I've seen today, and it really has me curious regarding the wonky operation of a Beltek car-dash player, which I got about a year and a half ago and started acting odd about six months ago, despite the seller's claim that it had been serviced and tested. I have probed around the inside of the unit and cannot find any mechanical problems which would cause the take-up reel to suddenly speed up as though it were stuck between play speed and advance speed, which is what it does with any tape I play. It does NOT chew the tapes up, it just plays at a wonky distorted speed. About a week ago, on another check, I discovered that, when I insert a tape, the take-up reel runs at the proper speed while the plastic strip runs over the head...but as soon as the tape itself touches the head, then it acts the fool. With the design of the tape system that Beltek came up with, there is an electronic part on the underside of the mechanism, with two hair-like extensions probing out and touching against a metal plate on the underside of the take-up reel, which it apparently is designed to do (possibly part of the system's auto-stop, I'm not sure since I don't have a factory service manual for this system). I'm wondering if magnetic distortion on the play head might be causing that warpage of the play speed, maybe somehow intertwined with those probes...? Sorry, I know, long talk. But since I have been hearing about importance of demagnetizing service at regular intervals for a long time now, I think I need to invest in one of those probes and try it out. Can't hurt, might help...and if I do need to just replace the head unit anyway, it might be a good idea to run that probe over the replacement Craig T631 unit I just got, especially since I'm still doing revival surgery to it.

Bias current does not demagnetize because it stops abruptly. Cassette demag use 630 or 650 or 1000 Hz and they are not effective because of high eddy current which won't let alternating magnetic field penetrate deep in the material. Around 420 Hz demag have efficiency about 80-90%. So, use low frequency (50-60Hz) demagnetizers cord powered or not as TDK-11

I have the hand D mag but mine stopped working as it has a safety switch inside that can trip. So it has to be sent back to have it re switched. So I have just order another one

My boombox doesn't seem to have a de-magnetizer built into it so I might just get a cassette demageticzer for that purpose or possibly a probe

I have a couple more modern tape decks from only a few years ago (both are TEAC 850) , I don't think these newer devices require this, HOPEFULLY

Very cool video. Thank you. I've always wondered about this, but never knew what was up with it. I just, yesterday actually, got a Nakamichi CR-A1 (I think that's the model anyway), and am looking forward to playing a cassette on my stereo for the first time in 2 decades or so. And while I would like to keep it in good shape, and get the cleanest sound I can. I didn't even spend $100 on it. So I'm not going to spend $100 on that demag tool you recommend. Besides. I doubt it will fit in the well anyway. So my question is. Do you think getting the small/cheap one, and the cassette one also. And then use both of them fairly often. Will that help at all? I've had many cassette decks when I was young. Some very nice ones too. But I never used the demag at all with any of them. However they were all fairly new. Now I'm using a deck that's decades old. And who knows if anyone has ever done it to it, or not? So I think it could probably use all the help it can get. But I don't want to waste my time, and money either. What do you think? Better then nothing? Or is the big boy the only real way to do it?

Thanks for the nice video. Still not clear how to know whether the cassette deck needs to be demagnetized unles no sound distortions noticed.

I searched for a list of cassette decks with that feature and NOTHING came up? Is there a list?

I Got a hpf head can these head can be demagnetized

with all this talk of magnets, it just dawned on me, if you went to a music store in the 80s, you could probably hide a magnet in your jacket and destroy all the music on the tapes. Hundreds of euros in damage and so easy to do

Hi there, you mentioned TDK and Maxell type cassette demagnetizers. I've seen a few good things about the old Teac cassette demagnetizer where you can see the circuit board and chips through the clear cassette plastic ( just the way they designed it.) Are those of decent quality? And, what's your take on buying used ones on eBay? Is there any compromised quality from using "An old, used demagnetizer"? Thanks! New subscriber here. Edit: if you feel that the cassette device demagnetizers are a little weak due to the small battery, couldn't you just theoretically keep it in there a little bit longer?

There’s a lot of helpful info here but man so many words.

Listen to you like English lesson. So good pronunciation))) and i can easyly understand what you talking about. Thanks from Russia

Silly question but can any static transfer from the tape heads to the cassette while playing? I remember in one case playing a tape and when I had my phone up close to the player to record a video I heard static and beep sounds from my phone playing over the music. Any details welcome thank you for this video🤙🏼

So, seeing this and another video in which the guy built his own there are two things that I've learnt for certain: Use a STRONG A/C electromagnet (he may have built his own, but he said a powerful one works better), DC magnets will only magnetize... Move in and out SLOWLY (to litterally pull magnetization off the components)... And then he left his system on, making some (nice, imho) sci-fi humming noises... Although I'll readily agree that that's a risky thing to do, it does illustrate what such a magnet'll do to your tape heads... Now, I'm an electrical hobbyist and sorely tempted to make my own (overengineered and intimidating-looking) demagnetizer/ bulk tape eraser... How happy will that make my Revox A77 (since I already pissed it off by running flaky tape through it the other day, having to clean the heads, capstan and pushrod)?

hi was talking to a tec about de mag it's the first lot of pace makers that came out a very long time ago i know a bbc ex audio man told me this yes the big be meg you have is ace i have one i don't thick there many old pace about good to bring it up

The modern Neodymium Magnets , some as small as 1 inch , will totally erase a cassette in seconds. The super strong ones found in lapels (replacing pins on shirts) will do the job. No Phantom noise.

Also for VHS hifi recorders ? Thank you for the great content 👍

Unfortunately I don't have any "magnetic tape system" , but I'm looking!

I use a mains powered one that looks like a soldeing iron . Watching 12 voult vids channel for repairs he told me that all we need to do is just press REC once and then its all done with the erasing head . I did not ask many questions as its all keyboard & replies do not get the BELL anymore . You may need to check the position of the heads after using that big thing , it sounds far to POWERFUL for home use ???

My Akai DeMag is the best of the best.😂🎉

Uh oh. I have an ICD implant. So I guess I'm stuck with the cassette format.

When Demagnitizing Reel To Reels should the machine be ON or OFF?

How many times i should i use the tape one like the tdk

ok but how do we do it with the dcc decks en datrecorders

Can I use a magnet from a broken speaker?

great video. Can I use a powerful magnet rapped around something soft and demagnetize my tape, deck reel to reel?

US 110 Volt =)

Why should we demagnetize our cassette ? What are the beneffits?

It shouldn't affect any *peace maker*, only *pace maker*, though (**)

here is maybe a strange question ..are there certain items like computers or iphones or anything else that if left in close proximty to a cassette recorder can diminish its(cassette player) quality? ..for example a computer tower "work station"-could this affect the magnetism in some way? i have an old fostex 4trk and seemingly it needs to be cleaned and de magged but im also wondering if i should keep it at some distance from other machines in my work space? thanks in advance

I have TDK demagetiser. It's a cassette. Just stick it in every 30 hours of playing time and press play for 10 seconds.

Hello, i have the probe and i d9n't have ant issues with it. Peace fam!

AC bias also demagnetizes.

These Tape demagnetizers with the watch battery is just a piece of garbage. A placebo, nothing more. It creates almost no magnetic force. How could it with no power supply? The probe type on the other hand works great. I have one from the early 90s and it makes a huge difference in the sound. I once got a tapedeck from the fleamarket which sounded very muffled. The usual cleaning with IPA etc. did not make a huge difference. After using the probe it sounded clear and bright again. Awesome.

Is a gaussmeter enough to decide when heads/tape path should be demagentized? I ran into a video where a gaussmeter is used and its interesting. If you want a peek: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-d3fQgTrW-aM.html

MY QUESTION : FOR WHAT SHOULD I DO THE DEMAGNETIZE MY CASSETTE ????

@7:40 I am dying laughing HAHAA! make be make be be mery be very careful!!

This tapeheads page got me confused, got anything to say about it? www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=20482

It's pace not peace

Am against those powerful magnets as you can simply ruin someones life with it, am mean if video & cassette tapes, flippy disks and pace makers are vanurble for it,well you better hold your breath if you see your friend waking around with it in your house.

Isn't 2 or 3 weeks too frequently?

Peace maker? Lol

Where is your science and data to support your words? The data exists to disprove your theory, You should read it.

A 12+ minute video with 60 seconds of content. The rest is "blah blah, I'm not an expert, blah blah". Don't bother.

this video is bad, you can actually do more damage then good if you don't know what your doing just stick to cleaning the heads with alcohol every 10 hours.