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I recently set up my audio setup in a way that my "Hifi" system goes into my mixer, which then sends multitrack into my PC.

I've been trying everything out out to make sure everything works. When testing, my FM/AM receiver, CD player, and record player work as expected. When i try to play Cassettes in stereo/binaural, the left channel is only low mids and below, and the right channel is low mids and everything above, making it unbearable in binaural and really annoying in stereo.

Everything in the chain after cassette deck is known good, so is this just a problem with cassettes that i wasn't aware of, or might this be a problem with the deck?

I've checked my eq settings on my mixer and theyre all perfectly at unity for the cassette deck, so that is not the issue.

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    Have you got a spare cassette tape you can record something new to, then listen back? If it's the same, then idk the cause; if it's any type of 'better' suspect the azimuth is miles out of true, or even the entire head is jogged out of alignment. Is it wrinkling the tapes at all? Check whether it's a 2 or 3-head machine too. Symptoms can be different on a 3-head, but they're rare.
    – Tetsujin
    Nov 20 at 14:51
  • I don't have a seperate cassette to record to, and I'd rather not record to the cassettes i own currently, as they were a limited edition sale of an album i quite love. I don't know anything about the azimuth, i might try researching about that. It doesn't seem to be wrinkling the tapes. I can't find any information about whether it's a 2 or 3-head either. Is there any features the mean its 3 head? It can record onto cassettes, in case that makes a difference.
    – Azteria
    Nov 20 at 14:58
  • I've found out that it's 3 heads; 1 x record/playback, 1 x playback, 1 x erase. (I can't edit my original comment anymore, since it's been too long)
    – Azteria
    Nov 20 at 15:06
  • OK, without being able to run a record/playback test… You can align a machine roughly using just a commercial pre-recorded tape, if you have no reference line-up tape - you just tweak until it's 'brightest' & best-centred - but tbh, & certainly without seeing & hearing it first it's not something I'd recommend to a beginner. I'd be inclined to take it to a pro to have a look at. I would avoid playing any irreplaceable tapes until it's been looked at.
    – Tetsujin
    Nov 20 at 15:18
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    Cassettes 'back in my day' were considered cheap & disposable, like SD cards or USB sticks these days. We had boxes of them to mess about with, so no-one cared if a couple got wrecked trying to figure out a dodgy mechanism, tape path or alignment. You also really need a proper 'tweaker' [either all-plastic, or mainly plastic with a tiny screwdriver blade embedded in the end] to do head alignment - no good sticking a potentially magnetised regular screwdriver in near magnetic tape & heads.
    – Tetsujin
    Nov 20 at 15:20

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