How to Append a tape that has been used?

Music, Cassettes, Recordings
#1

Hi all,
I am putting together a few compilations and some of the tapes I will be using are pre used, so my question is can I erase/re-format/ re-initialise a cassette so I can use the Append function as if it were a new tape? I would like to use this feature if possible.

Cheers, Richard

#2

I have no other idea than the one by @david.desclos to get a tape eraser.

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#3

Thanks for the reply @Max. I thought that the Erase Marker function may have some use with this but I think it’s worth looking for an eraser.

Cheers.

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#4

I never used the Append function in the 1990s. I just kept in mind that I needed to record a couple of seconds of silence after the last song (I think my recorder had a REC MUTE button that you could push during the recording to record 4 seconds of digital silence and then stop). Then I would rewind the tape a little, play it back to the end of the last track and stop the playback while the muted tape was playing. Then I would put it on Rec Pause.

The recorder will continue the time codes recorded on tape if you start the recording in the middle of an existing recording. If there is an interruption of the absolute time code recording, the tape becomes a User Tape instead of a Super User Tape and you can’t renumber it.

===Jac

#5

With my Philips 730 deck you can make the tape “new” again this way:

  1. Fully rewinding to the leader (hold down reverse for several seconds)
  2. Start a new recording by using Pause/Append

My deck then shows “Lead In”, finds the beginning of the recordable tape, and starts the track number with “1”.

I had a lot of experience with this the other day as I was trying to sync up a recording from a streaming device.

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