The tape transport system must pull the tape past the heads at a constant speed, pressure and angle, to ensure the accuracy of both recording and playback. Having three motors provides better quality by distributing the work of maintaining proper speed and tape pressure more evenly. Tape monitoring is the ability to monitor the signal levels of a recording as it is being made, allowing fine tuning of the input for optimum recording levels. With a two-head deck, the recording must be completed before it can be played back and checked in this way. Wow and Flutter This cassette deck specification indicates speed fluctuations.
Lower percentages indicate more accurate, more stable speeds.
Dolby Noise Reduction Tape hiss is the noise caused when magnetic particles on recording tape move across the playback head. In audio tapes, tape hiss can be loud enough to be annoying, especially in soft passages of music, or between songs. A sound processor was needed which would automatically vary recording levels so the quiet passages would be brought up above the noise, yet loud passages could be left at their original levels. Since we do not want to hear these signal changes when we play back, the processor needs to operate once again but in reverse, to undo the changes it made before. The mirror image action returns the quiet passages to their original loudness and simultaneously pushes the noise down.