I wonder if the newer reading technology offsets the degradation of the magnetic... | Hacker News

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stavros 4 months ago | parent | context | favorite | on: Tales from the Far Side

I wonder if the newer reading technology offsets the degradation of the magnetic tape, or whether it's better to digitize X years ago, using the older digitizing technique, but with a stronger magnetic signal.

hi-v-rocknroll 4 months ago [–]

Every time it's played, there is mechanical wear on the tape surface and mechanical stretching to place it under tension.

Probably always best to digitize it then because there's quite a bit that can happen to tape magnetically and to the plastic tape itself.

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