Transferring casette tapes etc.

[optv13sp]

What's the best thing to transfer cassette tapes, dvds, 8mm movies, etc to for current use? Who/what company locally would you recommend to do that?

[villagetinker]

I would not bother with cassette tapes, unless these are unique or one of a kind recordings. Audio transfers (records, cassette tapes, open reel tapes, etc., tends to be a time consuming task. Start, stop, and file naming generally need to be completed for each song on each tape. There are 1 or 2 firms in the area that advertise in the Daily Sun and do this type of work. As I have not used them, I have no idea of the quality or cost of these services. You might take a look into the digital music sites to see if the cost of purchasing the songs you like would be less than the cost of transferring much lower quality tapes, just my humble opinion.
If you are a DIY type, there are analog to USB converters that will allow you to plug in a cassette player to your computer, digitize the analog and save the file on the computer. later you can determine how you want to transfer the files to separate storage media. 8mm films are much trickier, and while I have seen some DIY solutions, I have not tried any of these. Most of the ones I have seen involve the projection of the film onto a suitable screen, and a digital camera (with or without sound) to produce a digital video recording.
In any case, I hope you can find a cost effective solution.
By the way I am getting rid of lots of cassettes and a dual cassette player (I think it still works), let me know if you are interested.

[Topspinmo]

My wife had few old 8mm films from 50s and 60s, paid company transfer them to dvd. they come out great and had several copies made for family member. Back in early 2000s cost was less than hundred bucks. It was worth it to use. I sure the cot has gone up since then?

[rustyp]

I used Video Vault Productions in Belleview last year for 8mm to USB. One day turnaround and reasonable price.

[optv13sp]

I would not bother with cassette tapes, unless these are unique or one of a kind recordings. Audio transfers (records, cassette tapes, open reel tapes, etc., tends to be a time consuming task. Start, stop, and file naming generally need to be completed for each song on each tape. There are 1 or 2 firms in the area that advertise in the Daily Sun and do this type of work. As I have not used them, I have no idea of the quality or cost of these services. You might take a look into the digital music sites to see if the cost of purchasing the songs you like would be less than the cost of transferring much lower quality tapes, just my humble opinion.
If you are a DIY type, there are analog to USB converters that will allow you to plug in a cassette player to your computer, digitize the analog and save the file on the computer. later you can determine how you want to transfer the files to separate storage media. 8mm films are much trickier, and while I have seen some DIY solutions, I have not tried any of these. Most of the ones I have seen involve the projection of the film onto a suitable screen, and a digital camera (with or without sound) to produce a digital video recording.
In any case, I hope you can find a cost effective solution.
By the way I am getting rid of lots of cassettes and a dual cassette player (I think it still works), let me know if you are interested.

Thank you everyone for the information. Villagetinker, you're right, the casette tapes are unique. My husband interviewed his parents, aunts, and uncles, who are all now long deceased, regarding their history, lives growing up, etc. He now has the time to pursue Ancestry and family history and wants to retrieve the information on the tapes as well as have them in a usable format.

[villagetinker]

Thank you everyone for the information. Villagetinker, you're right, the casette tapes are unique. My husband interviewed his parents, aunts, and uncles, who are all now long deceased, regarding their history, lives growing up, etc. He now has the time to pursue Ancestry and family history and wants to retrieve the information on the tapes as well as have them in a usable format.

AHH, then you may want the do it yourself route. If you have a computer, as I suggested a USB audio to digital adapter would be a good idea. These typically come with software for saving and editing the files. This would allow you to make any changes as required, as well as naming the files in a manner that will let you find these later.
The digital files can be saved to your hard drive, USB, CD or DVD as necessary.
Send me a PM if you would like to discuss further.

[villagetinker]

I took a quick look on amazon, you could try:
https://www.amazon.com/DIGITNOW-Capture-Grabber-Cassette-Converter/dp/B079CBGDST/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1544650678&sr=8-3&keywords=audio+to+digital+converter+usb

cost is under $20, also Best Buy might have something similar.

Hope this helps.