Play It Again Sam

Mp3 or WAV files

Our standard transfer is onto USB as highest quality mp3 files, but you can have WAV files instead if you prefer, and at no extra cost. WAV is slightly higher in quality than our mp3s, as it is a “lossless” format. That means no quality is lost, unlike mp3 which, even though we choose the highest quality settings, is still a “lossy” format. But WAV files tend to only play on a computer, whereas mp3 files will play on car players, TVs, etc. We make our mp3 files at the highest possible quality, so you're not likely to notice the difference unless you have the combination of a pristine recording, high-end playback gear & an experienced ear.

We have two different levels of service for audio cassettes:


1) Clean + Convert Transfer to USB

We give the cassette tape surface a physical clean, then we record the cassette using high-end pro decks & NAD hifi digitising interfaces. If the tape indicates it was recorded with Dolby noise reduction we select that on the playback deck, as well as the correct tape type (Normal or High Bias - Chrome, Metal tape etc). Once digitised we top & tail the material (removing blank/silent sections), and normalise the material (which brings up the peak volumes to correct levels). There will be up to 2 files made, one for each side of the tape that holds a recording. These files are delivered either on USB or CD, or both as required.


2) Ultra Transfer to USB

As for the Clean + Convert transfer above, plus we do a digital cleanup. This includes:

• remove/reduce tape hiss or hum
• manually adjust any extra loud volume peaks (such as record button clicks) that might affect the accuracy of the normalising process
• apply equalisation &/or compression where beneficial.

There will be up to two files made, one for each side of the tape that holds a recording. These files are delivered either on USB or CD.


Add track splitting

With this add-on option there will be a track made for each song on the cassette.

USB or CD

We transfer most of our jobs to USB these days, because CDs & DVDs are dying out. Or you can have audio CDs if you prefer, bearing in mind that for multiple tapes/records you'd need multiple CDs, and tapes will require more than one CD if they're longer than 80 mins in duration. So USB is usually better value, especially if you have more than one tape, or a full C90 tape.

Our "Clean + Convert" service rates range from as low at $38 per tape (bulk). Rates for your project will depend on your quantities, job urgency, and in some cases the physical condition of the media.

Unless advised otherwise, we supply all digitised files on a single USB flash-drive of required size. The cost for supply & load of a USB depends on the size of your project, starting from $20. To make your backup responsibilities hassle-free, you can order extra USBs at any time during your 6 month warranty period.

• Or you can have it on CD for $22 per master CD. (80 min limit). Duplicate CD copies are $16.50 ea.

• Upgrade to Ultra service - Add $66 per tape.

• Track Splitting - We offer this on a $3.30 per-track basis where there are clearly defined track breaks between songs & where we are supplying the entire side as tracks, For orchestral or live convert recordings, or for picking out only some tracks, hourly rates apply.



Please contact us for a custom quote for your quantities, your urgency & your tape condition.


Turnaround Timeframes:

Depending on your quantities, we’re quoting from approx 2 weeks at the moment for a small audio cassette conversion project, not including shipping time. Most jobs will be in the 2-4 weeks region, but some big jobs can take longer than that, because all digitising occurs in real time, and there are always jobs in the queue. If you’re in a hurry and need it sooner than these timeframes please let us know, and we may be able to accommodate you. A rush fee may apply.

On the other hand, if you're in no particular hurry, we also offer low priority discounts in some circumstances.



Terms:

• We ask for a part payment (deposit) at commencement, of 50% of the estimate for your project.

• To keep things fair, for regular timeframe projects your job will go into a queue of work and will be attended in turn. Please note that predicting timeframes is not an exact science. It's simply not possible to precisely allow for unforeseen issues that may occur with obsolete media, either in your job, or in the jobs ahead of yours in the queue. So we aim at estimated timeframe targets. If you have a looming deadline or event, please let us know, and we can discuss options with you.

• Original media is available for collection upon full payment. Unless prior arrangements have been made, we ask for payment to be made within 7 days of invoicing. Storage fees may be levied on jobs not paid for &/or collected within 30 days of invoicing.

• We like to be as flexible as possible. We’re happy to work with you before commencement of the job to come to a mutually acceptable arrangement. But we do ask that if we have not made alternate arrangements with you before commencement, that you will honour our terms.

We physically pre-clean all open reel tapes, removing loose/shedding oxide particles, as well as dust/finger oils, etc.

Then all our conversions are performed on our authentic 1970s AKAI 630D tape decks, refurbished to exacting standards & chosen for their amazing wear-resistant glass play heads.

We have Dolby capable decks (Akai 630DB) and so If the tape indicates it was recorded with Dolby noise reduction we can select that on the deck. We then digitise through quality NAD hifi pre-amps.

Once digitised we top & tail the material (removing blank/silent sections), then normalise the material (which brings up the peak volumes to correct levels).

For mono/stereo recordings there will be up to two files made, one for each side of the tape that holds a recording. For four track recordings up to four files will be made.

These files are then delivered either on USB or CD, or both.

Pricing for reel-to-reel depends on three variables…

(a) reel diameter - usually 3 inch, 5 inch, 7 inch or larger. Depending on the original chosen recording speed, tapes can range up to 8 hours or longer per side, depending also on the length of tape.

(b) whether or not we're converting one side of the tape only, or both sides.

(c) whether the material is mono or stereo (same price) or if it is a 4 track stereo recording (two individual tracks on each stereo channel). The 4-track stereo format will have to be played through twice on each side of the tape.

(Please note: We cannot help with professional/prosumer multi-track recordings [4 or more synchronised recorded tracks recorded in one direction on only one side of tape]. This format was recorded on specialist equipment, in many various configurations, formats & tape widths over the years.)

Rates range from $44 per tape (single sided/3 inch). Projects of 10 tapes or less will attract a once-off setup fee of $35. Mouldy tapes will need extra heavy duty cleaning before they can be attempted, at a cost of $44 per tape.

To cover our tape cleaning labour, a minimum charge of $16.50 per reel will apply if we are unable to proceed for any reason.

We convert the audio at the playback speed that our tech determines to be correct at the start of each side. Please note that with this conversion service we will not be actively checking for speed changes throughout the program content.

Unless advised otherwise, we supply all digitised files on a single USB flash-drive of required size. The cost for supply & load of a USB depends on the size of your project, starting from $22. To make your backup responsibilities hassle-free, you can order extra USBs at any time during your 6 month warranty period.

• Or you can have it on CD for $22 per master CD. (80 min limit). Duplicate CD copies are $16.50 ea..

• Upgrade to Ultra service - Add $66 per tape.

• Track Splitting - We offer this on a $3.30 per-track basis where there are clearly defined track breaks between songs & where we are supplying the entire side as tracks, For orchestral or live convert recordings, or for picking out only some tracks, hourly rates apply.


Please contact us for a custom quote for your quantities, your format, your urgency & your tapes' condition.

See here for extra info about what is & isn't included as standard in a reel-to-reel audio conversion.



Turnaround Timeframes:

Depending on your quantities, we’re quoting from approx 3 weeks at the moment for a small reel-to-reel conversion project, not including shipping time. Most jobs will be in the 3-5 weeks region, but some big jobs can take longer than that, because all digitising occurs in real time, and there are always jobs in the queue. If you’re in a hurry and need it sooner than these timeframes please let us know, and we may be able to accommodate you. A rush fee may apply.

On the other hand, if you're in no particular hurry, we also offer low priority discounts in some circumstances.




Terms:

• We ask for a part payment (deposit) at commencement, of 50% of the estimate for your project.

• To keep things fair, for regular timeframe projects your job will go into a queue of work and will be attended in turn. Please note that predicting timeframes is not an exact science. It's simply not possible to precisely allow for unforeseen issues that may occur with obsolete media, either in your job, or in the jobs ahead of yours in the queue. So we aim at estimated turnaround targets. If you have a looming deadline or event, please let us know, and we can discuss options with you.

• Original media is available for collection upon full payment. Unless prior arrangements have been made, we ask for payment to be made within 7 days of invoicing. Storage fees may be levied on jobs not paid for &/or collected within 30 days of invoicing.

• We like to be as flexible as possible. We’re happy to work with you before commencement of the job to come to a mutually acceptable arrangement. But we do ask that if we have not made alternate arrangements with you before commencement, that you will honour our terms.

We consider this service to be viable where you cannot buy the recording on CD or as a digital download, or maybe if you’re a vinyl purist who really prefers the sound off vinyl.

People have different things in mind when they ask about digitising vinyl. So we’ll go through the two levels of service we offer, as well as optional add ons.

Both our Clean + Convert & our Ultra service conversions are performed on the same equipment, so any difference is not a matter of equipment quality. And in both cases the records are transferred in their entirely as one digital audio track for each side, A & B. This can be further broken up into individual tracks after digitising. If you want individually selectable songs maybe you can do this for yourself, with audio software such as the free Audacity program, or we can do it for you if the track breaks are clear to see. We need to see a clearly defined break in the audio waveform, so songs that run together (segues) we usually won’t split. So that’s usually live records and classical records we don’t split.

NB: We don’t use auto track splitting software for this, as it’s too unreliable for a paid service. It’s ok to try this yourself, but we need to be able to guarantee accuracy, so we do the splitting manually.

Both levels of service include wet washing of the vinyl surface, and all our conversion services come with a 6 month warranty backed by our double redundancy data backup system.

So, in summary, the Clean + Convert service includes:

• a wet wash of the playing surface before conversion

• expert digitising on professional turntables through NAD hifi pre-amp converters

• simple digital click removal as well as removal/reduction by hand of loud volume peaks caused by needle drop & lift

• Normalising of playback volume

• a single digital audio track produced each for side A & side B

The difference between our Ultra service & our regular Clean + Convert service is that with the basic service we include a simple semi-automated click reduction process, whereas with the Ultra Transfer we do a hands-on, manual digital audio cleanup up, removing or reducing clicks, pops, snaps etc.

For a single LP vinyl disc, Clean + Convert digitising with no track splitting is $49 converted to mp3 files. Rates for your project will depend on your quantities, job urgency, and in some cases the physical condition of the media. Rates start from as low as $28 (for bulk).

Unless advised otherwise, we supply all digitised files on a single USB flash-drive of required size. The cost for supply & load of a USB depends on the size of your project, starting from $20. To make your backup responsibilities hassle-free, you can order extra USBs at any time during your 6 month warranty period.

• Or you can have it on CD for $22 per master CD. (80 min limit). Duplicate CD copies are $16.50 ea.

For a custom quote for your quantities, your timeframe, your tape condition, as well as further info about discounts contact us here.

Track splitting is an additional $3.30 per track. (Track splitting is generally not offered for live albums & orchestral music. We must be able to clearly see the track breaks.)

Upgrade to Ultra - additional $66 per disc.

A discount of 10% applies for 12 inch singles, 7 inch records (singles or EPs), recording a single side or a single track.

Commercially produced 78s & once-off acetate recordings: These will almost always need the Ultra treatment to reduce background noise. We charge $165 per disc including digital audio cleanup, but for commercial 78s we will do a direct conversion for $78 with no enhancement/digital cleanup. Please note that we will not physically wet wash records where flaking/chipping is evident, and that with these very old recordings there are limits to what can be achieved with the digital cleanup. It may be that only slight improvements can be achieved, or lessening of problems rather than elimination.

If you know your records are in pristine condition, you can choose to waive the wet wash & save $10 per record, but we won’t waive washing for commercially produced 78’s - they need all the help they can get.

On the other hand, vinyl peels are available for very special records. (A painted-on product that dries to a film, which is peeled off, taking the gunk with it). Cost is $66 per LP.


Turnaround Timeframes:

Depending on your quantities, we’re quoting from approx 2 weeks at the moment for a small vinyl conversion project, not including shipping time. Most jobs will be in the 2-4 weeks region, but some big jobs can take longer than that, because all digitising occurs in real time, and there are always jobs in the queue. If you’re in a hurry and need it sooner than these timeframes please let us know, and we may be able to accommodate you. A rush fee may apply.

On the other hand, if you're in no particular hurry, we also offer low priority discounts in some circumstances.



Terms:

• We ask for a part payment (deposit) at commencement, of 1/3rd of the estimate for your project. 

• To keep things fair, for regular timeframe projects your job will go into a queue of work and will be attended in turn. Please note that predicting timeframes is not an exact science. It's simply not possible to precisely allow for unforeseen issues that may occur with obsolete media, either in your job, or in the jobs ahead of yours in the queue. So we aim at estimated timeframe targets. If you have a looming deadline or event, please let us know, and we can discuss options with you.

• Original media is available for collection upon full payment. Unless prior arrangements have been made, we ask for payment to be made within 7 days of invoicing. Storage fees may be levied on jobs not paid for &/or collected within 30 days of invoicing.

• We like to be as flexible as possible. We’re happy to work with you before commencement of the job to come to a mutually acceptable arrangement. But we do ask that if we have not made alternate arrangements with you before commencement, that you will honour our terms.