From: cd@notformail.com   
      
   On Sat, 10 Jan 2026 18:12:35 +0000, liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid   
   (Liz Tuddenham) wrote:   
      
   >Cursitor Doom  wrote:   
   >   
   >> Hi all,   
   >>   
   >>  I've identified an issue with my Uher tape recorder and I'd like your   
   >> opinion. There's a problem with the audio amplifier chain. I've   
   >> eliminated all other possible causes like dirty heads or faulty tape   
   >> etc etc. So when I'm listening to playback, the quality is frequently   
   >> varying from 'pretty good' to 'really quite crappy'   
   >   
   >Does it become good and bad at the same places each time you play the   
   >same tape?  If it does, the problen is in the recording.   
      
   Yes it does. But that recording still had to be processed through the   
   amp chain.   
      
   >> in your considered opinion, is the most likely cause of this problem   
   >> and how would you go about identifying the culprit? Distorted output's   
   >> a lot trickier than a break in the signal path to track down!   
   >   
   >Make a probe to feed the signal into on a high-impedance, high-gain   
   >amplifier and trace the signal through the machine.  Is it diistorted at   
   >the playback head?  At the volume control?  At the line-level output?   
   >At the loudspeaker terminals (you could have a damaged loudspeaker)?   
      
   A scope would function in such a role just the same AFAICS., would it   
   not? I need to make up a test tape with a constant high quality tone.   
   I can do that with my Ferrograph and audio sig gen. Trying to discern   
   which sections are distorting using rock music for the purpose has not   
   worked out too well - even though it wasn't Black Sabbath!   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)