No Black Box
From first email to returned originals, the work stays traceable.
Irreplaceable originals make people nervous. The process is deliberately ordinary: list the items, book a handover, let us inspect them dry, transfer in real time, then receive files and originals back together.
Stage 01
Email A Simple List
Send format, quantity, condition and deadline to hello@256kbps.com. “Eight cassettes, two have loose labels, needed for a birthday in three weeks” is enough. If you know speeds, dates, names or side orders, include them. If you do not, leave the guessing to us.
Stage 02
Book Drop-off Or Post
Drop-off is by appointment at the Sheffield workshop near Abbeydale Road, S7. Postal work is accepted from anywhere in the UK, with return by Royal Mail Tracked 48 charged at cost. Local collection and return is £12 within 6 miles of S7, or £20 within 12 miles, including Dronfield, the Rotherham edge and north Chesterfield.
Stage 03
Log And Inspect
Elin logs each item on arrival. Boxes, sleeves and loose notes are kept with the right carrier. Martin checks shells, hubs, leaders, obvious shedding, broken pressure pads and signs of damp. Records are dry inspected before cleaning. Tapes with active mould, vinegar syndrome or wet contamination are not played in-house.
Care Notes
What Happens Before Playback
Care begins with restraint. Tape paths are cleaned, cassette shells are checked, reels are handled by the hub and records get an anti-static brush after wet cleaning. We do not do destructive baking in-house, and we do not keep trying a carrier that is clearly getting worse.
- Dry inspection before any machine sees the item.
- Shell checks for jammed cassettes and cracked cases.
- Tape path cleaning between transfers where needed.
- Anti-static brush and sensible stylus choice for records.
- Referral for specialist conservation when the risk is too high.
Stage 04
Transfer In Real Time
Transfers happen at the speed of the original carrier. A 90-minute cassette takes at least 90 minutes to capture, before listening checks and naming. Levels are set with headroom. We avoid heavy-handed noise reduction and do not flatten every pause, breath or room tone into the same lifeless surface.
Naming Examples
Files Named For People, Not Software
Family archive boxes often arrive with handwriting, half dates and local names that matter. If you provide preferred spellings, they go into the filenames rather than being guessed later.
Hale_1984_Christmas_Cassette_A.wav
CutleryInterview_Reel02_SideB.wav
AbbeydaleBand_1996_Rehearsal_DAT01.wav
Stage 05
Deliver Files And Originals
Files are supplied by download link kept live for 30 days. USB sticks are available at £8 for 32GB, or you may supply your own. Originals are returned at collection or sent back by tracked post. Payment is 50% on booking for orders over £120, with the balance before release of files.
Timing And Privacy
Quiet Handling After Transfer
Standard lead time is 7 working days for up to 12 items. Larger family boxes usually take 10 to 15 working days because the logging matters as much as the audio. Nothing is published, sampled for marketing or played to visitors.
Download links are used only for delivery and kept live for 30 days, with no cloud storage beyond that 30-day download link. We do not keep a public archive of customer recordings or use samples in marketing. If a tape contains private family speech, rehearsal mistakes or estate material, it stays private.
Ready To Book