The importance of erasing before recording.

[zenith2134]

Hey all. Is it crucial to use a bulk eraser or something of the sort before I record my mix to tape? I'm using a two head deck with TDK type II (SA-X90) cassettes. I would greatly appreciate any info you guys have. TIA!

[Scorpion8]

No, it's not crucial to bulk erase first. Your deck has an erase head positioned in the tape path before the record/playback head and it erases the tape when the deck is in record mode before it hits the record head. Opinions vary on the strength and adequacy of the job it does, but rest assured it performs well enough. Unless you need a new toy or gadget, you're fine with simply recording your mix when you want. Purists will tell you different, but I've operated a long time without a bulk eraser and all of my tapes sounded fine. I have one of them now, but I mainly use it on the ever-growing stash of thrift store 2nds I've been accumulating.

[zenith2134]

Thanks, Scorpion! This makes sense now. I forgot that the deck has an erase head. I tried recording silence over some old reggae music on one of my used blanks and I couldn't hear any of the old recording with the volume turned to maximum. *check*

[Scorpion8]

I've got a bank of my "spare" decks and I often work them out by using them to blank over used tapes by recording at full record level with no input. It works fine, and keeps the decks ready so they don't sit too long without use. There was a thread just awhile back about the pros and cons of bulk erasing that you might want to search over.