WELCOME, Transfer Vinyl to CD,
78 rpm Records to CD Cassettes to CD, Reel to Reel Tape to CD.. 

Established in 2003.

Gary Ankin
38 Shenley Road
Bletchley
Milton Keynes
Bucks
MK3 6HF

Telephone:  01908 367984
Email:  gary@mkvinyl2cd.co.uk
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Payment by: Cheque, Postal Order Payable to Gary Ankin, Bank Transfer (by arrangement) or you can... 
Pay Via Paypal

       
                   Farewell 'Charlie' 7 Sept 2012       Pay Using PayPal                           Gary & Zag 2012                                    
We will take your analogue media and transfer it to digital format where it will be easier to enjoy and play and adapt to 21st century  technology, you can put the CD into your pc and transfer it to iTunes to play on your iPod in the usual way.

VINYL LP RECORDS - SINGLES & EPs
78 rpm RECORDS - CASSETTES
OPEN REEL TAPE
MINI DISK - MINI & MICRO CASSETTES
 

Introduction & The Service...(Testimonials from Customers)

Hi I'm Gary Ankin and I started this business in 2003, following on from  gaining knowledge at a specialist college for the blind that access software was available out there to enable me to continue my skills of audio technology by transferring my own LP records to CD which then followed by doing audio transfer for family and friends as a hobby.  I am visually impaired and enjoy everything audio - no surprise when my eyes don't work but my ears do!  I now quite simply offer this audio transfer service to you so, remember if and when you choose to transfer any LP records, Cassettes or Reel to Reel Tapes by us, you'll only need do it once - you then have your music or audio for many years to come, we don't charge £35 an hour studio time, but we do charge a fair price for a good job done, and which saves you hours of time and frustration trying to use unfamiliar software and equipment to do your own..  

We don't use those plug in usb turntables or usb cassette decks that are flooding the market but use high end equipment to get the best results we can from your media.  We use Rega Planar turntables, Revox Reel to Reel recorders, TEAC & Revox Cassette Decks.  and with Cedar Audio hardware to enhance the results of the recordings by reducing unwanted pops & clicks on vinyl, and along with equipment from Sony, Akai, Sanyo and periphals from goldring, Ortofon and Creative Labs, Denon & JVC, over £20,000 of equipment in total which shows we are passionate about what we do!

                                          

The Material

There are no shortcuts everything analogue being transferred to digital has to be first recorded in real-time, edited in most cases to ensure the sound file is of a good standard,  Generally you will get approx 80 minutes of audio onto a CD, more if you have the CD in an MP3 format, you will need a CD player that will manage your MP3 disc, a PC or DVD player will usually do this but not always your Hi Fi CD player.

Record Cleaning

Why we clean a record?  Even brand new vinyl records benefit from a deep clean before use.  The main reason being that release agents are used when pressing vinyl records in production to allow the vinyl to literally 'unstick' from the metal press stamps, often a residue of a wax like substance is found in the grooves of the new record, deep cleaning will remove this.

Records that have been played build up dust and debris from the air held by static over the surface, incorrect storage and handling also contribute to a build up of dirt deep in the grooves of a disc so deep cleaning will most certainly assist in producing a better recording from your records and will further extend the life of your stylus.

Transfer Vinyl Records & 78 rpm Records

These are first professionally cleaned on the Moth RCM Pro Record Cleaning Machine using best quality organic cleaning fluids from the USA, to give us the best possible recording we can of your records, this will not help rectify scratches, surface grazes or abrasions or damaged discs.  With records that have multiple tracks you can either have a Basic Conversion which records the disc as simply Side One and Side Two, just two files or tracks you will not be able to skip from one piece of music to another.  A Full Conversion will mean you will be able to skip from one piece of music to another just like a commercially purchased CD.

We run the record via the CEDAR AUDIO DDC ( http://www.cedaraudio.com ) to restore 'best possible' clarity of voice and instruments thus reducing the effect of pop and crackle and reducing unwanted background noise to a best possible level.  Once we have captured the recording to a digital .wav format we can then edit and compile as necessary to complete the audio transfer prior to burning to a CDr.

The CDr is surface printed with artist name & album title if applicable.  Usually this is supplied in a library case.  Sorry but we do not undertake any artwork due to veing almost blind it would be a disaster!

The CDr should play on 99% of CD players and it is extremely unlikely that yours will not play them, if you are in doubt we can send you out a sample disk for you to try first if you prefer.

Transfer Cassette Tapes

We do a standard de-hiss of all cassettes and do an audio clean up of the sound file but we do not claim to be actual audio restoration specialists, as this is a very specific area of audio engineering.  Depending on the cassettes running time these are charged accordingly. If we are converting your own compilations keep in mind the length of your cassettes as only 80 minutes will fit onto a CD in CDA format, if a tape is longer than 80 minutes then we would put Side A of the tape on one CD and Side B on a second CD.  Ideally there should be at least a 3 or 4 second gap between tracks to enable us to separate tracks easily.

Transfer Reel to Reel Tapes

These are charged at an hourly rate because of the more time needed in converting them, often they need re-spooling and winding, even untangling and the duration of a tapes contents is not exact in some cases so requires closer monitoring through recording.  Reel to Reel tapes had several speeds that could have been used in recording and also taking into consideration the track configuration of mono or stereo all often lead to unknown tape running times.

Note: Recording Tape

Recording Tape used on cassettes, open reel and cartridge can become bery brittle with age, usage, storage; it is worth fast forwarding and rewinding your cassettes prior to sending to re tension and check playability (it is also worth making a copy if possible) as we cannot be held responsible for tape breakage during transfer due to the fact that the previous conditions of the materials were not under our control. We do not do any tape repairs.

If in doubt give us a shout...!!

Price Guide

As a Guide for converting the following media we charge (not including P&P):  
(Every record is cleaned prior to transfer)

All the above prices do not include return post and packing, contact us for quotation.

Return Postage is charged according to the postal provider, we return material either by First Class Recorded or First Class Standerd Parcel Rate  If your material is especially valuable to you then Special Delivery is advised.  We also use Parcelforce 48 hour delivery for a guaranteed 48 hour signed for service, genarally when sending over 10 LPs.

We cannot accept any responsibility for any items that arrive damaged or are lost in transit due to poor labeling.  We will contact you immediately to let you know if goods arrive damaged.  We cannot be held responsible for items that are subsequently lost in the post by the carrier, if this does occur we can only seek basic compensation from the carrier, be mindful that a second hand value for an LP is very minimal e.g. £3.00 and true collectable or sentimental value cannot really have a price put on it for insurance terms, special delivery is probably the best way to send and return if you want to be sure of safe guaranteed delivery.

Packaging Tips

To save on postage it is not worth using less packaging, vinyl LPs, Singles are quite robust providing they are not bent, 78s are a little brittle (not the metal based ones though), so it is best to cut squares of thick cardboard slightly larger than the LP sleeve and sandwich the LPs etc between the layers of card.  Adhesive tape this bundle together and then put bubble wrap or (you could use a few layers of newspaper) around this and then put into a final thick paper outer layer.

If using a box to pack materials in then you can use screwed up newspaper or foam chips to pad the box out, all in all the records are more likely to get damaged if they get bent or buckled hence the need to keep them rigid.

Before sealing and posting your materials check you have enclosed your name, address, telephone number, email address in case we need to contact you, also put your address on the back of the package just in case the postal carrier have to return your package due to non-delivery.

What we can do under copyright law is:

Where you have existing recorded material (your original), and where there is no identical re-released recording in a CD format we can digitally convert this recording to a CD format for you as the holder of this material (your original).

We can supply one CD format conversion of this material (your original); we can subsequently provide further copies of the CD format for you.

It is on the understanding that this CD is for your own private listening pleasure and will not be sold, leased or hired or possibly used in any public broadcast.  You should retain the source (your original) of the CD you receive as proof of ownership.  If your original is destroyed or lost then accordingly the CD format should be destroyed.

If you have produced your own material and are therefore the owner of the copyright then we can reproduce multiple copies from that source with your permission.

Mkvinyl2cd hold no copyright over your material sent to us and cannot be responsible for any infringements of this law governing the material you provide to us.

By using this site and services of MKVinyl2cd the user assumes all responsibility for copyright, issues of copyright law and ‘fair use’.

Video & Cine Transfer(Who can help?) ;

We do not undertake video transfer but my brother Jeff is also based in Milton Keynes, take a look at his website http://www.pennylanevideo.co.uk  or by phone call  Jeff  for all video, cine conversion also filming, digital photography and editing work on 01908 263634.

Copyright © 22 May 2013 Gary Ankin Any questions or queries regarding this website please contact gary@mkvinyl2cd.co.uk