Anyone know a reputable reel to reel audio tape transfer service...

 
Anyone know a reputable reel to reel audio tape transfer service with prices that won't rip a hole in my wallet?
I have a 1" Ampeg studio mastering audio tape recording, (16 track 30 ips), and a 2" Ampeg studio mastering audio tape, (24 track 30 ips), from the late 80's early 90's. They've been stored since 1992.
 
I would like to salvage and restore these recordings and have all the tracks burned onto a DVD @ 24 bits for the current industry standard of digital mix-downs, (they were never finished but with Sonar I think I finally can).

You're absolutely right. The ones I've researched "bake" the Apex 456 before transferring. There are a few folks out there and I was wondering if anyone knows of a reputable one. I'm thinking of going with these folks: http://www.precision-ar.com/index.htm#pro%20audio
 
But I want to always check my options. Thanks for your informative help.

Steve Puntolillo is the man you want to talk to. His business - Sonicraft A2DX - is chock full of machines for just about every tape format you can imagine. He does meticulous work, I would trust him with my transfers if my tape decks ever fail.
 
His web site is http://www.sonicraft.com/. The company is located in Northern New Jersey (Freehold to be specific.)
 
And I know it sounds hokey, but feel free to tell him I sent you, pretty sure he no longer adds a surcharge for that<G>!

I've heard of Steve actually. We were going to use him to transfer a pile of DATs from the early 90s. Ultimately my other source matched his prices so we stayed local.
 
DATS are a tricky transfer these days, it's pretty much a dead format and we've had the terrible luck of one of them getting "eaten" on our old machines a few years back.
 

Wow! Ask and you shall find....yous guys are gods. And I thought I would have to kiss my old masters goodbye. Thanks!

Hello Larry,
 
Not in L.A. but in California. Maybe I can help, (I started the thread and got mine done). David Ollard:david@thinbrownline.com he's at Anaheim Hills, Ca. Very trustworthy, did an outstanding job. I was very happy with his work. He saved all my 80's tracks and did the digital transfers after baking the tape. The shipping and all that was very reasonable and you either provide him with a 32GB or larger flash drive or cover his cost if he includes one.
 
Here's what he wrote me before we started:
 
....All 16 or 24 tracks are transferred simultaneously, so the tracks are in natural sync with each other.  You will receive one folder for each song, with each folder containing 16 or 24 separate broadcast wave files. I use the excellent Lynx Aurora converters.  I recommend converting at 96kHz, but I can do all the usual sample rates if you want something different. I can accept checks or Paypal.  If you are using Paypal we'll sort it out afterwards.  Turnaround time is typically 2 weeks from getting the tapes.

LOL....lets just keep it at MR. Big for now. Anyway yes I was very happy with the result. It was kind of spooky listening to stuff I did 31 years ago with friends that are no longer around. It's a time capsule. It was never finished and was missing some minor details. Work was halted in 1987. My opinion of my material is biased in that the stuff I did no one did back then, or even today. But the style is clearly dated and pop oriented. But it's still a lot of fun and very challenging to mix in Sonar. Keyboards were of course DX7's, Rhodes and all those other wonderful instruments with depth and warmth. Drum parts bled through mikes all over the drum room. Technology was just as amazing back then as it is now just that it took a lot more creativity by all involved, (which includes the engineer). IMO there is just no way that that can be duplicated in today's digitized world because unusual things happened spontaneously. And I guess there was that social contact with each of the members that mattered in the outcome so much. I think my stuff was much better than I expected it to be. I just lost faith in it and it was wrong of me to of thought that I was not capable of being in the major league. With no sponsors, no major backers, (or labels interested), and no fans I put together something that in retrospect came out beyond my wildest dreams for that era. I am still working on it as a memory for those cats that participated in the effort and are still around...Good luck with your material brother. You might just feel the same way.