You send us your Reel To Reel tapes and we do the rest.
If you have reel to reel tapes that are an important part of your family history, home recordings, professional studio master tapes, weddings, religious sermons or live tapings we can transfer them for you!
Audio Conservation can transfer, digitize and convert your 1/4 inch reel to reel tapes to new modern digital formats and preserve them for future generations.
We transfer most sizes of 1/4 inch tape in the following speeds:
15/16 ips
1 7/8 ips
3 3/4 ips
7 1/2 ips
15 ips
30 ips
You are able to order your tape transfers online by adding the amount of reels you want digitized to your cart, choosing what you’d like them transferred to and completing the checkout process.
It is important to note that poorly made home recordings will still sound like poorly made home recordings when transferred. We attempt to capture all recorded sound on every reel, tapes can be recorded with many different head configurations, in different directions and at different speeds. Often tapes are partially erased, recorded over or the original machine used to create the recording may not have been aligned or calibrated correctly. These flaws will be apparent in the transfer.
We digitize all tapes to uncompressed WAV (16/44.1K) audio files, however we can transfer to nearly any professional audio format upon request at no additional charge.
$44.99
Our price includes one 1/4 Reel To Reel Tape transfer (reel to reel to digital conversion) of any length of time, speed and size to a new lossless digital file and a scanned picture of your original media.
It is important to note that with most reel to reel tapes “baking” will be required in order to transfer your tape as most magnetic tapes suffer from “sticky shed syndrome“. The baking process takes over 8 hours to complete at a low and controlled temperature then the transfer must be performed as soon as possible to prevent the return of shedding and further damage to the tape. We regret that some Reel To Reel Tapes may be damaged beyond repair and may not be able to be transferred. All tapes received will be assessed for damage prior to transfer work.
You can purchase our cloud storage option and we will supply a download link to your newly digitized 1/4 Reel To Reel Tape or you can purchase a CD-R or USB Thumb Drive from us above and we will include it in your package when we return your material.
Upon receipt and inspection of your material we typically complete reel to reel transfers in 5-7 business days at which time we will return your media via USPS and supply a tracking number.
Reel To Reel tapes may benefit from audio restoration work, however it is nearly impossible to remove background and ambient noises that are part of the original recording. Generally what is recorded on the tape is “recorded on the tape” and cannot be taken out. We can fix abnormal tape hiss, electrical hum and volume levels as well as edit the new digital tape transfer to remove unwanted portions or sounds such as the start and stop “clicks” of the record button, etc.
If you require audio restoration to improve the sound quality of your reel to reel tape to digital conversion please specify at checkout and we will give you a quote upon completion of the transfer. Unfortunately there is no universal solution when it comes to fixing and restoring recorded sound. Audio restoration can be simple and take 15-20 minutes or take multiple hours depending on the issues present and techniques required to perform the work.
Please be aware that websites offering a fixed price for restoration work are generally using a “one size fits all” approach and potentially doing more harm than good to the finished audio. Each time unwanted noise is removed it affects the audio, restoration should be tailored towards the individual recording and changes within the recording. A simple recording with 10 songs has 10 different songs, so the restoration work applied to one song doesn’t always apply to the other songs.
We monitor your media the entire time it’s being converted and perform real time adjustments if necessary to ensure the best quality digital transfers. We are not a “big box” digitizing service and do not outsource any of our work. All of your reel to reel tapes are converted digitally in house right here in the USA. Our digitizing services are archival quality with specific attention given to the individual needs of the customer on a per project basis.
Our new and vintage transfer equipment is regularly maintained, cleaned and calibrated to provide the best sound quality for your audio transfers.
SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS
