Tape Recorders
A similar problem can occur with tape recorders. The changes in frequency are caused by irregular tape motion during recording or playback. For example, a change in the angular velocity of the capstan, or dragging of the tape within an audio cassette shell. The terms "wow and flutter" are often referred to together, flutter being a higher-rate version of wow.
Scrape Flutter - a high frequency flutter of above 1000 Hz - can sometimes occur from the tape vibrating as it passes over a head, as a result of rapidly interacting stretch in the tape and stiction at the head. It adds a roughness to the sound that is not typical of wow & flutter, and damping devices or heavy rollers are sometimes employed on professional tape machines to prevent it. Scrape flutter measurement requires special techniques, often using a 10 kHz tone.
A typical modern cassette recorder may have a wow and flutter specification of 0.08%.
Read more about this topic: Wow (recording)
Famous quotes containing the word tape:
“We shall see but little way if we require to understand what we see. How few things can a man measure with the tape of his understanding! How many greater things might he be seeing in the meanwhile!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)