Reel to digital — Conversion services

[Sundown]

Hey all,

 

My oldest brother is getting married late in life and when he was a young buck, he and his high school band did a great 2-track live demo. They played live so often that recording it was pretty straightforward and the results were better than what you might expect. 

 

As as gift, I want to take that original 2-track reel and get it converted cleanly to a high-res digital format (stereo 32-bit float or 24-bit WAV). I’ll then take that starting point and work my magic with processing and plugins to create a great sounding master.

 

Any thoughts or recommendations on conversion services? I can look for someone local, but I want flat EQ, straight conversion through a set of great A/D converters from a well-maintained tape machine.

 

It’s only six or seven tracks at 3 minutes each (probably a single reel), and my budget for conversion is <$500.

 

Any recommendations?

 

Todd

 

 

 

 

[KuruPrionz]

If you have a good quality interface and a DAW, try doing it yourself. You should get excellent results. If possible, record as separate tracks rather than a single stereo track. Use quality cables, they aren't cheap but they aren't $500 either. Definitely go 24 bit 96khz or higher. 

 

Whether separate tracks or a stereo track, I would go lightly on any added effects. If there is no ambience, a small bit of good reverb might be all you need. 

I'd recommend make a copy of whatever you record and adding effects to that and blending it with the original track on mix down.

 

It's a different situation if you have individual tracks and can add different effects to various tracks. I would keep the effects to a minimum. 

[Anderton]

49 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

If you have a good quality interface and a DAW, try doing it yourself.

 

I think the issue is that it's on a tape reel (presumably 1/4"?), so he needs someone with a tape machine who can digitize the tape.

[KuruPrionz]

9 hours ago, Anderton said:

 

I think the issue is that it's on a tape reel (presumably 1/4"?), so he needs someone with a tape machine who can digitize the tape.

You are probably correct, I hadn't thought about the hardware. I've owned a few reel to reels and used to hang out at a local recording studio with an 8 track Tascam recorder and yes, a reel to reel in good condition would be few and far between now. 

[Sundown]

Hi Guys - You’re indeed correct … I don’t have a reel-to-reel deck so I need a studio that does to do the conversion to WAV. Then I’ll do the rest. Now I have four tasks ahead of me for initial success:

 

1) Find the tapes (this is the most critical step, and regrettably they might be lost due to a death in the band years ago)

 

2) Find a studio with a decent reel-to-reel

 

3) Find a studio with bad-ass A/D converters (or at least equal-to/better than mine which shouldn’t be too hard)

 

4) Find a studio with both who is willing to do the work

 

Then I’ll use my tools and knowledge to make something special. I could hire a mastering engineer (and they could surely eclipse my work), but part of the enjoyment and gift if the work I will put into it.

 

They did a transfer decades ago but it was crap … It was clearly done with early 90’s consumer equipment, and/or someone who didn’t understand gain staging. I was still able to make a better product from it, but I salivate at what I could do with a clean, flat, fresh transfer. I can’t remix it per se (it’s two track live), but I remember using a de-esser to tame some hats and cymbals, a gate to hide some noise, and of course EQ and saturation (and limiting) to really make it pop. But the initial transfer or starting point left a lot to be desired level-wise and clarity-wise.

 

Todd

 

 

[elif]

The Mix Labs can do 2" tape conversion. I don't know about 1/4".

 

[Philbo King]

I still have a working Teac 3340S (1/4", 7 or 15 ips only) which might be able to do the job.  If it was recorded at a slower speed I wouldn't be the guy you want.  Else, message me & we can work something out.

[Jeff Leites]

I'm just wondering if you are trying to get more out than you'd be putting in.  I don't know very much but do you need 24-bits to make a copy of a 1/4" tape at 3 3/4 ips or 7 1/2 ips?

I digitized my home recordings by borrowing a friends Teac open reel deck (my Sony isn't in good shape), recorded them on my PC as WAV, and burned them to CDs.  Good enough for government work 😁

[Anderton]

1 hour ago, Jeff Leites said:

I don't know very much but do you need 24-bits to make a copy of a 1/4" tape at 3 3/4 ips or 7 1/2 ips tape?

 

Probably not, unless the tape was recorded with Dolby S. Remember that 16 bits gives a theoretical dynamic range of 98 dB. Take away 5 bits/30 dB of resolution to account for noise floor and quantization noise, and you still have almost 70 dB of "clean" response. I believe that exceeds the typical tape S/N ratios of that era.

[Sundown]

Hi Guys - I’m still struggling to find the person who has the reels. Once I can locate them (the odds are diminishing), then I’ll be in a position to do something.

 

Todd