Preparing your records or tapes for transfer
In order to ensure a successful transfer of your archive material some preparation is necessary. Old tapes and records are vulnerable to damage from damp, dirt, and extreme temperatures. If your records or tapes are stored in a garage, outbuilding, or loft, they should ideally be brought into a room where the temperature is fairly stable, ideally between 20C and 24C (68F – 75F), and the humidity is low. Remove any dirt from the record sleeves or tape boxes with a dry duster but do not attempt to clean records at this stage. They should then be allowed to aclimatise in this environment for a couple of weeks, but not be near direct heat sources such as central heating radiators.
Old vinyl records can be prone to attack from mould if they have been in a damp environment, but this can be removed with specialist cleaning agents.
Old reel to reel tapes will also deteriorate if left in an environment where the temperature varies widely and/or is very humid. Also, some brands of tape do not age well, and are prone to the magnetic coating being stripped away from the polyester backing when played. Fortunately there is a recognised process to heat treat and repair tapes where this occurs that will allow the recording to be recovered.
With old reel to reel tapes, it is not necessarily obvious what format was used when the recordings were made. They can be either two or four track recordings, and the tape length can be either single, double, or triple play, giving various lengths of recording. If you are not sure of the format or length of the tape, just send it to us for a no obligation quotation.
Taking delivery of your digital content.
We recommend the following output formats:
MP3 for speech or smaller file sizes are preferred
WAV for premium sound quality and recommended for network music player devices. This will normally be 16bit/44.1kHz sampling, but do let us know if you require a different sampling rate.
AAC for use with Apple iTunes and iPhone.
FLAC also provides premium sound quality, but stores the material in a more compact format.
Other formats, sampling rates, and bit depths can be supplied, just ask!
When your archive material has been processed, you have the option to receive it in a number of different formats. The simplest and cheapest is to have a direct download. You will receive a link via email. This will normally be available for thirty days. We can also retain a safety copy if that is a service you require.
Your transferred files can also be supplied on USB stick or DVD, which will be sent to you in the post.