Head

(Redirected From Headstack)

A head is a piece of equipment that plays, records, or erases information on magnetic film or audiotape.

A headstack is a group of heads arranged on a single physical component. Magnetic film and tape machines can utilize a particular kind of headstack known as an E.R.P. This system includes erase (E), record (R), and play (P) heads all in line with each other on the headstack. Magnetic film or tape running across these heads can be erased of prior recorded material, recorded with new material, and played back through a monitoring system – all in a single pass of the film or tape. This is called confidence recording, as you are literally listening to what has been recorded onto the tape, rather than listening to the incoming audio signal.

A six-track magnetic film E(rase) R(ecord) P(lay) headstack.