As long as there are only short peaks should be fine.

The highest level you can record on a tape without tape saturation, which results in distortion, depends on several factors.

One is the tape heads themselves; their precision and air gap etc.

Another is the formulation of the recording tape itself; some types of tape are capable of accepting more signal (flux) than others.

Another is the design of the record amplifier in the tape deck.

The bottom line is that you pretty much have to experiment with the maximum level that can be used with a given brand and type of recording tape.

I used to use TDK SUPER AVILYN Tape many moons ago, because it seemed to give very good performance in that respect, as well as good S/N ratio. These TYPE II high-bias tapes are far better than TYPE I tapes. The very best is TYPE III METAL tape, but I don't know if it is available.

I have no idea what is available now; I have not recorded anything for years.

BTW...I think I have a couple of new sealed 10-packs of those SA 90-minute cassettes from years ago if someone wants them. I won't be using them.

hcsunshine wrote:

i'm transfering vinyl onto cassette using my nak CR1A. letting the levels go up to +3 and even +5 as someone suggested in a previous post. i'm wondering if i let the levels go too high if there was anyway i would know. what i'm asking is will i actually hear the sound breaking up on my tape? thanks, john