Audio Transfer

Transfer Reel-to-Reel Audio to CD

Reel to Reel audio was one of the first forms of magnetic tape recording in which the recording tape is wound on an open reel, rather than housed within a shell or cassette. To function properly, the full reel, or supply reel, is loaded onto one side of the machine. You would then securely place the empty reel, or takeup reel, on the other side of the machine. You would feed the tape from the supply reel through the tape run, which can differ depending on what machine you are using, and then attach to the takeup reel so the takeup reel would then be the supply reel once the first side has finished recording.

Typically, consumer audio reel to reel tapes were recorded at one of three speeds. The slowest of the speeds was 1 7/8 IPS (inches per second), and was generally used to record longer sessions such as court hearings, city council meetings, or conferences and lectures. The next speed that was typical of consumer reel to reel tapes was 3 3/4 IPS. This is the most common speed used by consumers to record standard home audio such as birthday events, or family gatherings. 7 1/2 IPS was usually the fastest recording speed possible with consumer quality reel to reel recorders. This speed was usually reserved for instances where audio quality was priority over tape length, such as for music, or short spoken pieces.

Reel to Reel to CD Transfer Process

Prior to the reel to reel to CD transfer, your media will be inspected by our reel to reel transfer technician to check for any inconsistancies or damage to the tape or reel to reel. If we notice something that would prevent the transfer of your reel to reel to CD, we will give you a call to let you know the source of the problem, and if it’s repairable. Once the reel to reel to CD order is completed, we store your files to our in-house computers, the audio is run through audio editing software which allows the audio transfer technician to determine the sound quality of the reel to reel to CD transfer. If needed, we offer basic audio cleanup services to remove recording errors or other problems which are common in older analog recordings. Once the recording is determined to be of optimum quality, it will then be burned to a 100-year archival audio CD and then labeled to your specifications.

Keep in mind that audio CDs can hold up to 74 minutes of recording time. For reel to reels over 74 minutes, we will have to break up the tape onto two CDs in order to process the order. Typically in this event, after the reel to reel audio transfer, we would split the recording evenly in order to fit everything onto the other disc. We can combine or mix your audio in any fashion you choose.

Track-Splitting

When you bring reel to reel in for transferring, you have the option to set up what’s called “track splits”. Track splitting will enable you to skip from one track to another while playing the CD in your CD Player. This is especially useful for reel to reels with recorded music, as you can switch songs easier than ever before.

Basic Reel to Reel Audio Editing

With our basic audio editing services, we can help fix up the minor problems that may be present in your reel to reel recordings. Our audio transfer technicians are trained on a wide variety of methods to remedy audio issues.

• Speed up or slow down your audio. Older reel to reel tapes were often capable of being recorded at different speeds. If you have an reel to reel tape that plays either too fast, or too slow, we can fix this by digitally adjusting the playback speed to the perfect level.
• Remove unwanted sound from recordings – If you had ever wanted to clean up your reel to reel tape by removing randomly placed blips of static or noise, we can remove any unwanted noises or whole chunks of audio, if desired.
• Custom-placed track splitting – We can strategically place track splits anywhere in your recording!
• Remove static hums and hiss from your audio – We can greatly diminish the presence of a static humming or hiss sound that persists throughout your recording. Depending on the quality of the original cassette, we can produce some amazing results.
• Pop/Click removal – Older audio generally exhibits some form of degradation such as clicking and popping. This is mostly caused by dust and dirt that has clung onto your audio over the years.

Reel to Reel Audio Restoration

Do your recordings have some audio issues? Our audio restoration service can help to revitalize your old recordings. Our audio restoration technicians are heavily experienced with handling a wide array of older audio recordings with a variety of symptoms. Although often a complicated process, we can usually greatly diminish many common problems associated with older analog media. Please speak to your local audio technician if you have any questions.

Transferring Reel to Reel to MP3

While CDs are the most convenient format for most customers, we can transfer your reel to reel audio into just about any file format you can think of. You can specify bit rate, number of channels as well as hertz for your custom MP3 or WAV file. The default MP3 settings are 320 kilobits per second at 44,100 hertz. If you are bringing in your own flash/hard drive with data on it to store these files, there is a $15 setup fee. There is no fee if your drive does not have data on it or if we’ve provided the drive for you.

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