As time marches on old audio collections begin to deteriorate and become obsolete. Many people and institutions have music and speech recordings on analog formats such as 8-track tapes, reels, microcassettes, standard cassettes, and also on digital tape formats like DCC (digital compact cassette) and DAT (digital audio tape).
Tape Damage
There are a number of problems that might occur with tape recordings. Tapes that experienced heavy usage, were stored improperly, or mishandled over the years are more likely to breakdown. After time, some types of magnetic tape experience what is known as sticky shed syndrome. Other kinds of tape can develop a type of degradation called vinegar syndrome. Regardless of the specific problems, tapes will not improve with age – nor will their condition remain unchanged.
Obsolete Tape Formats
Even if tapes are still in good condition – many people dont have the proper equipment to play them. New mini, micro and standard cassette players are becoming harder to come by. Eventually only used ones will be available and as they age, they too will break down. Otari, Inc. is the only manufacturer left still producing analog reel to reel tape decks. Elcaset, DCC, and 8-track tape machines are no longer manufactured. To repair these tape decks, one has to borrow parts from other machines and as time goes on it will become more and more difficult to find the needed parts.
Music and Speech Recordings
There are literally millions of music and speech tape recordings in the hands of individuals, families, and institutions such as libraries, museums, and universities. Much of the music can still be purchased today; however, there are many music recordings that have never been released as a digital file format. There were also local bands that were never signed to a label but have recorded their music to tape. If people would like to listen to those recordings again, they will need to be digitized. In addition, there is also an abundance of speech recordings made by historians, family members, professors, students, reporters, politicians, priests, businesses, and so-on. These recordings include oral histories, audio letters, audio diaries, lectures, seminars, interviews, speeches, sermons, and meetings.
Professional Audio Transfer & Restoration Services
If a recording is important for any reason, it should be digitized as soon as possible before the tape is no longer playable because of degradation or a lack of equipment. If it is an elcaset, 8-track tape, or some other uncommon format that needs to be transferred, a little research into the different audio transfer companies will need to be done. Some audio transfer services only work with a few common formats while others have the needed equipment to handle a variety of obsolete formats.
There are a couple of advantages to converting recordings oneself, but for a better quality transfer, one should look for a professional audio transfer service. They will have professional grade equipment and computers that are built for audio work. The computers most people have come with cheap sound cards and will add a certain amount of noise to the recording during the transfer process. Professionals will use external audio interfaces and other hardware to avoid this problem.
If the tape is dirty or suffering from sticky shed syndrome or some other physical problem it is even more important to have a professional audio engineer handle the tape and transfer it. Also, once it is digitized, if there are any issues with sound quality, an audio engineer can use restoration software to get the recording sounding like it did originally. Audio transfer companies are also likely to have audio experts who can fix damaged tapes – whether the cassette shell is broken or the tape itself is cut or stuck.
Digital Tapes Too
Its not only analog recordings that need to be transferred to a file format. There are many digital formats such as minidisc, DAT, and DCC which are already obsolete or will be. Minidisc players wont be around forever and DCC players are quite rare – they havent been manufactured since October 1996. Even DAT will fade away. So before it becomes too difficult to find audio transfer companies that can handle these formats, digital tapes and minidiscs should be transferred also.
About the Author:
Audible Forensics provides audio transfer services in addition to audio enhancement and restoration services. We can also repair broken cassette tapes and are capable of transferring many audio formats including cassettes, 8-tracks, and reel to reel to CD or a digital file format.
