How Does
How Does a Cassette Deck Work?
By Isaiah
eHow Contributing Writer
Cassette Tapes
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Cassette tapes have a long, plastic tape wound between two spools. This tape has a magnetic coating on it, which stores audio signals. The magnetic coating will align facing in different directions to record the values of the audio signal. There are two pairs of tracks on the tape to get four tracks total. One pair of signals is for each side of the tape.
Cassette Reading
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The cassette deck has two winders that automatically turn the tape at a continuous speed. As the tape moves, it runs past the read head. The read head is positioned to read one pair of audio tracks. As the tape rolls by, the magnetic field it produces creates a small electrical current in the read head. This electric current is a copy of the original sound recorded on the tape.
Cassette Playing
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The read head then sends the signal to an amplifier, which makes it louder and more powerful. The amplifier is usually controlled by a volume knob which controls the overall loudness, and an equalizer. The equalizer can change the balance of high, low and medium frequency sounds. If a tape hissed too much, for example, a listener could use the equalizer to make the high frequency tape hiss quieter. After the volume is adjusted, it is sent to the speakers. One audio track is sent to each speaker to create stereo sound.
eHow Article: How Does a Cassette Deck Work?
