Transfer U-matics to CD - where in UK?

[Piccoloworm]

Hi

Does anyone know where I can get U-matic tapes transferred to CD? I
have a bulk load with all sorts of material on left by my father who
worked in the audio industry and kept all these when he retired.

What kind of prices would be reasonable to pay for a CD? I have heard
there are widely differing rates available, at least for LP to CD
transfers. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated so my eyes can
remain free of wool!

Thanks

[Scott Dorsey]

Piccoloworm <info@ukcomputersolutions.co.uk> wrote:
>Does anyone know where I can get U-matic tapes transferred to CD? I
>have a bulk load with all sorts of material on left by my father who
>worked in the audio industry and kept all these when he retired.

What is on them?

The U-Matic is a video format. Because it was a reliable and fairly
inexpensive video format, it was used for storage by a number of audio
recording systems, from the Sony PCM-1610 to the Colossus.

Do you have any idea what they were recorded with? Are they video
tapes, or audio tapes, and if they are audio, which audio format are
they in?

>What kind of prices would be reasonable to pay for a CD? I have heard
>there are widely differing rates available, at least for LP to CD
>transfers. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated so my eyes can
>remain free of wool!

There are a couple mastering houses here and there that have PCM-1630
machines, so tapes in that format or the two Sony formats predating it
(but not the original Sony PCM-1600 format or the consumer Sony F-1
format) can usually be done by them. Expect normal house rates at the
mastering places for a simple dub.

If it's a 3M format, Colossus, or Soundstream, it's going to be a lot
harder to find someone who can deal with it.

If it's video, most video post places still have an old U-Matic machine
that they can dub from.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[David Satz]

Piccoloworm wrote:

> Does anyone know where I can get U-matic tapes transferred to CD? I
> have a bulk load with all sorts of material on left by my father who
> worked in the audio industry and kept all these when he retired.

The tapes may not be usable any more. U-matic tape masters for CDs
were
a standard format (recorded through the Sony PCM-1600 processor) as
early
as 1982, but their storage lifetime was only a few years--maybe
5--under
the best of conditions. After that and sometimes well before then,
they
tend to develop severe dropouts which interrupt the audio at irregular
intervals. The finished CDs themselves are actually the only
"archival"
source now for most discs issued in the 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s.

You may want to test a select handful of reels to give yourself an
idea
of their condition.

[Mainlander]

In article <bigcbf$abu$1@panix2.panix.com>, kludge@panix.com says...
> Piccoloworm <info@ukcomputersolutions.co.uk> wrote:
> >Does anyone know where I can get U-matic tapes transferred to CD? I
> >have a bulk load with all sorts of material on left by my father who
> >worked in the audio industry and kept all these when he retired.
>
> What is on them?
>
> The U-Matic is a video format. Because it was a reliable and fairly
> inexpensive video format, it was used for storage by a number of audio
> recording systems, from the Sony PCM-1610 to the Colossus.
>
> Do you have any idea what they were recorded with? Are they video
> tapes, or audio tapes, and if they are audio, which audio format are
> they in?
>
> >What kind of prices would be reasonable to pay for a CD? I have heard
> >there are widely differing rates available, at least for LP to CD
> >transfers. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated so my eyes can
> >remain free of wool!
>
> There are a couple mastering houses here and there that have PCM-1630
> machines, so tapes in that format or the two Sony formats predating it
> (but not the original Sony PCM-1600 format or the consumer Sony F-1
> format) can usually be done by them. Expect normal house rates at the
> mastering places for a simple dub.
>
> If it's a 3M format, Colossus, or Soundstream, it's going to be a lot
> harder to find someone who can deal with it.
>
> If it's video, most video post places still have an old U-Matic machine
> that they can dub from.

I doubt a CD would be able to record more than a few minutes of video
data at a reasonable quality.