A method according to one embodiment includes reading and/or writing data to a magnetic medium using a head having an array of transducers. An axis of the array is defined between opposite ends thereof, and is tilted at an angle greater than 0° from a line oriented perpendicular to an intended direction of tape travel thereacross during the reading and/or writing. The method further includes at least one of: introducing, by a controller, a timing offset to at least one servo channel to compensate for offset in servo readback signals introduced by the tilt of the head, introducing, by the controller, a timing offset to at least some read channels to compensate for offset in readback signals introduced by a tilt of the head, and introducing, by the controller, a timing offset to at least some write channels to enable writing of transitions that are readable by a non-tilted head.