Encoding 100s of cassettes to MP3..please help!

[mow sengh]

Hello

I have around 700-1000 standard audio cassettes that need converting into MP3....this is obviously a massive job and couldnt be done on my own so would anyone be able to recommend a company or business in UK which does bulk encoding of tapes? I have quite a large budget for it.

I apologise in advance that this may not be posted in the right area or even right forum but I am assuming there are audiophiles here who may have contacts or an idea who could do it. I have Google'd for companies but none seem to do in large quantities.

Thanks in advance

[Inventive Software]

I'd see if any local music shops would be able to help you out. I personally don't know any companies that would be able to help you out with 1000 tapes.

On the other hand, if you're up to the task, little by little, Audacity's audio scheduler, a cassette deck hooked up to the PC, and you're away. But recording 1000 cassettes is a time-consuming task whether done professionally or at home.

[numaios]

By the way, what parameters are suitable in LAME to encode mp3 from type-II tapes? Should we limit sampling rate when capturing from tapes? I mean something like: "More than xx kHz and xxx kbps is pointless".

[olyteddy]

I use VBR 64K to 224K encoding with LAME. That let's the program figure out what rate it needs.

[jmac698]

There are standalone tape to mp3 converters, if you could buy enough of them and hire someone at lowest wage to change tapes it could be done. With 8 decks, a person, 8track sound card if necessary, it could be done for <$3000USD in 3 weeks. (My currency is much less than yours).
I'd be willing to do it and give you a quote. When does it need to be done, and how important is the best sound quality.

[dexy]

By the way I do not recommended to you to convert it into mp3. Convert it to Audio CDs. Mp3 cannot handle good the audio which has noise (even a little). If you still want to compress it use mp4 or ogg. Also, when you give tapes to some company (and if you are audiophile, or you want perfect quality) they will do that much worster than some who will do only few tapes (not 100). Sepparate the tapes which are more and less important to you, and do better those which are important.

[jmac698]

I agree; a large company will at best do an average and consistent job, if you are lucky enough to find an individual with skills and passion in this area, in a small business, they are likely to take pride in their work.
Technical debates will confuse a non-technical person; a simple approach is just ask for a small sample of the work before committing the entire project, to make sure it's the way *you* are happy with. Communication and cooperation are key.
If you get a proposal, ask here for independent advice if it is reasonable for your needs. Picking a compression format could have consequences, for example do you want it directly playable in todays media devices? Do you want to save money by picking a format that will not be obsolete in 2 years? Do you have the expertise to properly reconvert later? How do you want the product delivered? Is the work guaranteed? Are they using professional tape machines? (Do not use consumer tape machines! Out of 1000, chances are some tapes will get stuck in the transport and get crumpled and ruined! The decks must be cleaned on each use in this quantity! And have proper tape tensioning adjustment, and rewinding, handling and storage..) These are high level business decisions.
Remember these tapes could be interviews or lectures, not master music tapes. Noise reduction, compression, equalization are optional and could help as well but increase cost.
I guess they are likely to be :)