I highly recommend you reach out to Art Shifrin (www.shifrin.net). He was the ultimate playback system for wires. If you have a number of wires, it may be worthwhile to contract with Art and outsource the transfer work. From the day wire recorders are notoriously bad mechanical devices, much better to apply modern technology to get better speed and pitch consistency and a number of other advantages. -- Tom Fine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Prentice, Will" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 11:11 AM Subject: [ARSCLIST] Wire players We're trying to decide whether to rebuild an old wire player (or two) or start from scratch. Our maintenance engineer asks: "We have a small number of wire recordings in our collections, in a variety of formats. We'd be interested to know what solutions other archives have found for playing back wires. I know that there are old machines still available, and some commercial operators using them to make transfers, but have any of you built or commissioned new machines, and how have you found the process? How do you handle different formats - is it a good idea to have a separate machine for each format, or is one 'universal' machine possible? Are there outfits or operators around selling new machines and what would be the likely costs?" All informed thoughts welcomed. Regards Will .............................................. Will Prentice Technical Services British Library Sound Archive Tel: +44 (0)20-7412-7443 96 Euston Road Fax: +44 (0)20-7412-7416 London NW1 2DB http://www.bl.uk UK http://cadensa.bl.uk (online catalogue) ************************************************************************** Experience the British Library online at www.bl.uk The British Library's new interactive Annual Report and Accounts 2006/07 : www.bl.uk/mylibrary Help the British Library conserve the world's knowledge. Adopt a Book. www.bl.uk/adoptabook The Library's St Pancras site is WiFi - enabled ************************************************************************* The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this e-mail and notify the [log in to unmask] : The contents of this e-mail must not be disclosed or copied without the sender's consent. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British Library. The British Library does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. *************************************************************************