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Tape Restoration

During the mid eighties, Paul Christensen, Omega's President, began to experience an alarming situation with priceless master tapes in his personal library. These audio tapes, which were assembled over more than two decades, would not play! What He finally learned through years of research and experimentation, allowed the restoration of his personal library. That knowledge later evolved into a restoration service for others in the record and production industry.

Omega's exclusive "Controlled Thermal Convection" system has been used by scores of Record Labels, Recording Artists and Recording Studios to rescue priceless masters, which without the use of Omega's process, would have been lost forever. In fact, the process has been so successful over the past seven years, that Omega's restoration record is 100%. Even tapes, which were shedding high amounts of oxide while exhibiting bonding glue problems, have been completely restored. After restoration, the tapes can be played as though they were new . On multitrack masters, more overdubs can be recorded, as well as performing remixes.

Tapes which are in need of restoration usually exhibit some or all of the following symptoms. When tapes are played, there is an occasional squeaking sound which comes from the head stack. This sound can also be modulated into the audio signal, making the program unusable. This is the stage at which damage can occur, if the tapes are played.

This sound can give way to a slowing down in speed. In more advanced cases, the tape surface will stick to heads and guides. Under no circumstances should the tape be played. It should be restored as soon as possible.

If you experience problems with your analogue audio or video tape masters, we hope you will allow us to examine them, and if needed, bring them back to life.

Causes of Deterioration in Audio and Video Tape

During the 1970's and 1980's tape manufacturers rushed to introduce higher performing recording formulations. Each few years were marked by attempts to release tapes which would support more signal and higher levels, thereby increasing signal to noise figures. This trend continues to this day.

In order to allow the high levels of signal, more oxide was layered into the same thickness of tape. This was accomplished by milling (physically compressing) the surface of the tape in order to increase the density of the oxide composition. This increase in density makes the tape more susceptible to humidity. As humidity is absorbed, the oxide binder (glue) is displaced, comes to the surface, and causes the tape to stick to the heads and other metal parts. Omega's restoration procedure reverses this process in an extremely controlled environment, without damaging the tape composition or high frequency response.

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