professional Reel-to-Reel to digital conversion
100,000+
130+
locations
90,000+
converted per year
115+
employees
5 million
scanned per year
If you’re looking to convert a reel-to-reel tape to digital, you’re in the right place! EverPresent specializes in rescuing the sound from 1/4 inch reel-to-reel audio tapes. Not only can we transfer large and small reels, but we have the expertise to handle sticky or damaged tape, tricky time stretching, and recording speed issues. Our team of over 80 technicians can keep the project simple and give you a single .mp3 file for each reel. Or, we can get into sound editing or track splitting and labeling, and various advanced options like 24 bit .wav files. Either way, there are no cheap players involved when we digitize reel-to-reel tapes – we only use the finest decks from companies like TEAC – and you’ll be thrilled to have your historical recordings safely preserved on new technology.
Our Mission
“By making the hard work of digitizing and sharing easy for our clients, we will preserve our world’s history before old formats fade and family stories are lost to time. Our ultimate goal is to make your best memories EverPresent in your life.”
– Eric, Jennifer & Winston
3 easy ways to Work with us
HOME PICKUPS
Too many boxes to move on your own? Complimentary home and office pickups are offered along the East Coast from Maine to Florida.
LOCAL STORES
130+ locations available for convenient drop-off. See which store is closest to you. Our drivers personally transport projects to our local lab for digitizing.
FREE SHIPPING
We accept mail-in orders from across the U.S. We’ll email a pre-paid UPS label or apply a shipping credit if you ship on your own.
Why choose us for reel-to-reel transfer
TRUST
Over 100 million memories preserved, 30+ years experience, 115+ expert technicians. Alarmed, camera-monitored, US-based, high-tech labs. Human quality control process. Advanced barcode tracking to keep you updated by email and text.
VALUE
The size of our company allows us to provide more for less. We’ve invested in the best audio technology so you can benefit from 24-bit .wav archival files, a hybrid of AI enhancements and human quality checks and advanced sound editing.
SECURE
You should NOT have to risk your family memories getting lost or damaged in the mail. We run a private logistics network between our clients homes, our 130+ local stores and our high tech labs nationwide. Your audio items will be binned and barcoded, and we’ll provide you with updates throughout.
RESPECT
No upfront payments and no rushed decisions. We never ask you to do work to make our job easier. Feel free to send your collections in their original envelopes, albums or boxes. We’ll count them for you, provide a no-obligation estimate, and keep everything in order.
Recovering Aging Audio with Optional AI Upgrades
Audio recordings degrade over time, often becoming uneven, noisy, or difficult to listen to. Outside of highly specialized audio restoration studios, EverPresent is the only consumer digitizing service to offer true audio engineering, cleanup, or enhancement options. Most digitizing companies simply convert and export the files exactly as-is.
At EverPresent, every audio project includes professional capture and baseline sound optimization and we also offer advanced restoration services typically unavailable from traditional digitizing companies.
Our AI-assisted process restores balance and clarity while preserving the original recording. Our AI enhancement tools can:
Audio Conversion Pricing
All bulk discounts are applied automatically!
Cassettes & Vinyl
First 10 items: $26.99 each
$16.99 for 11+ transfersReel-to-Reel Audio
Starting at $45.99 for 3″ reels
Save 10% on 10+ reelsINCLUDED:
A $50 service fee applies to all orders. This service fee provides for safe handling procedures including: intake, item coding, physical & digital storage, quality checks by senior technicians and packaging.
Our App
Stop Searching. Start Sharing.
Still have more questions about reel-to-reel conversion?
866-363-3351
Call us or click Inquire below to get a free estimate.
Click “Arrange Service” to select the most convenient option to get us your audio reels.
Comparing The Five Largest Digitizing Services
An honest comparison to help you choose the best company for your project.
Digitizing Audio
Our team believes audio transfer is the most challenging format due to the rapid aging of the source media and inconsistent original microphone quality. Even our standard level of service involves both human and AI-enabled optimizations to ensure a high-integrity listening experience.
|
EverPresent |
LegacyBox |
iMemories |
ScanCafe |
CVS, Walmart |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Formats Handled |
✅ |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
|
Basic Enhancements |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
|
Restorative Enhancements |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
|
Tracks & Labels |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
|
Output Options |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
Shipping & Drop-off Experience
All transport between our stores, your homes and our high-tech labs is handled by our private in-house logistics network that’s 100% devoted to safely transporting your precious photos and videos.
|
EverPresent |
LegacyBox |
iMemories |
ScanCafe |
CVS, Walmart |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Home Pickup |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
|
Local Stores |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
✅ |
|
Inbound Shipping Included |
✅ |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
✅ |
|
Flexible Shipping Approach |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
✅ |
✅ |
Shopping & Service Experience
We are the only major national company that makes it 100% free to get us your project, counts everything for you, build an inventory, and provides a free estimate and personal consultation before you pay a dime.
|
EverPresent |
LegacyBox |
iMemories |
ScanCafe |
CVS, Walmart |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Inventory & Quotes |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
❌ |
|
Order Approval |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
|
Personalized Ordering Experience |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
|
Digital Delivery Options |
✅ |
❌ |
✅ |
❌ |
❌ |
*Information regarding competitors is based on public research and market knowledge available at the time of publication. Product features, and service offerings are subject to change. EverPresent does not guarantee the absolute accuracy of competitor data. Please verify all information directly with the respective service provider.
Frequently Asked questions about digitizing reel-to-reel tapes
Absolutely! Whether you need to digitize ¼ inch, ½ inch, 1 inch, or 2 inch open reels, a professional reel-to-reel digital conversion service can help. The process involves transferring the analog audio content stored on the tapes into digital format. This typically requires specialized (read: expensive) equipment such as a reel-to-reel tape player, analog-to-digital converter, and audio editing software. To avoid damaging your reel-to-reel tapes, we recommend finding a specialist service near you.
To convert reel-to-reel tapes to digital, we primarily use fully restored players from TEAC, Tascam, Sony or Otari. Our specialty is ¼ inch full and half-track open reels. This size of audio reel represents over 90% of what’s out there, and over 99% of what families and organizations have in their archives. Larger ½ inch, 1 inch and 2 inch open reels were almost exclusively used in studio production environments. The best equipment for areel-to-reel digital conversion is old equipment that must be constantly maintained and restored. We spend $1,000 to $3,000 initially on each machine and almost that much annually restoring each one.
Initially, the audio reel is examined, cleaned and set at appropriate tension for capture. Then, the reel is fed through the machine to an empty reel that captures the footage as it plays through the machine. The reel itself is played on the vintage equipment, but then connected via high-density audio cables to a pre-amp, and then into a very powerful computer. Depending on the nature of the reels, we are capturing in stereo or mono depending on the original recording style. Once the footage is on the computer, we check it for quality and produce final .mp3 files or CDs. If clients would like individual music tracks split and labeled based on the original reel-to-reel recordings, we can do that.
The improvements come after the transfer. Reel-to-reel footage suffers from inconsistent noise levels, crackles and other issues. The files are initially created as an uncompressed .wav file, at which point we apply software to reduce hiss, equalize volume levels and remove crackle. It’s not a full audio restoration, but it helps a lot. At that point, our audiophile clients sometimes ask for the exports to be full .wav files, which are large and good for sound editing. But most of our clients prefer .mp3 files that work on their smartphones, or CDs to play on their home stereos.
If you’re digitizing your reel-to-reel tapes, you don’t need to worry about cleaning them beforehand. Your chosen service provider should do this for you!
If you’d like to clean them to preserve them, we advise great care and caution (or even getting a professional service to do this). Start by inspecting them for debris, damage, and mold, so you know what you’re dealing with. Then, prepare a cleaning solution by mixing isopropyl alcohol with distilled water. Using a damp lint-free cloth, very gently wipe the tape surface with the solution. Leave it to air dry then repeat if needed. Remember, reel-to-reel tapes should always be stored in a cool, dry, and dust-free environment to prevent contamination and damage.
Unfortunately, yes, reel-to-reel tapes are particularly susceptible to degradation and damage. The magnetic tape can become brittle, develop cracks, or suffer from physical damage, while the magnetic oxide coating may degrade, leading to loss of audio fidelity. Some tapes are also prone to sticky shed syndrome, causing the tape to become sticky and difficult to play. Mold and fungus growth can also damage tapes stored in damp environments. If you’re concerned that your reel-to-reel tapes may be degrading, you should digitize them before the damage becomes significant, as this will preserve the audio content in a stable digital format.
In the grand scheme of digitizing businesses, reel-to-reel tapes are one of the rarest formats. Honestly, reel-to-reel tapes are a situation where if the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Reels run slowly through the machines, are very finicky, use expensive equipment, and require some post-transfer work in most cases. If you see something really cheap, it means it’s a set it and forget it situation with the digitizing service. That can be OK for some formats, but not for audio reels. The other piece of this is knowing your own reels, which can be asking a lot. Many companies will just transfer at one speed and one track and that’s it. But audio reels can have four discrete tracks at different recording speeds. If you’re not careful, the digital rendering of the reel can be too slow, too fast, or just miss tracks altogether. So as you think about a service, if you know your reels have some complexity, you should confirm the digitizing process at the service can accommodate.
These links will take you to short videos about our other services. You’re in good hands! Our team has decades of experience turning millions of photos and videos into beautiful digital memories that you can share with others.
Digitize Photos
Video Transfer Services
Slides to Digital
Album & Scrapbook Scanning
Film to Digital
Audio Conversion
In use since the early 1940’s, reel-to-reel audio tapes were the preferred recording method of professional artists through the 1980’s, even after cassettes became popular consumer products. Reel-to-reel recording is still used today as an alternative approach for recording artists. Like shooting film for photographers today, recording on reel-to-reel tape has revived a cult following. It’s said to have a more natural and warm sound that is hard to replicate in digital recordings. Reel-to-reel tape measures 1/4″ wide, or about twice as wide as the cassette tape, and varies in length. Because of the greater width of reel-to-reel tape, it is thought to be much higher in quality than any other recording format of its time. These tapes often sound beautiful but they have been known to deteriorate over time. We recommend that you digitize reel-to-reels as soon as possible to preserve their beautiful sound quality.
