Transferring an old 2" 16 track to a 2" 24 track-Issues?

[buzzsmith]

A client of mine has an old (1972!---think they might be baking a bit?) 2" 16 track that he is going to transfer to ProTools at another studio that probably doesn't have the 16 track head and will be transferred via the 24 track head. Then exported as BWAV for me to load into DP to "modernize" the project with additional players, VIs, etc.

So, I'll probably get 24 tracks from the original 16.

My understanding is that tracks 1 and 2 from the 16 will transfer as 1, 2 and 3 coming from the 24 track.

16 track:

• Track 1 would be track 1 returning from the 24 track
  Track 2 would be track 3 returning from the 24 track and
  Track 2 (from the 24) would be a little of 1 and a little of 2 from the 16

Correct?

Any big issues to be aware of?

Thanks...

Buzzy

[mikehalloran]

Yea - insist on having all 24 tracks available. Soloing will reveal excess noise and level problems on some of the tracks while a few may not be useable due to bleed through and cross-talk from adjacent tracks.

This doesn't mean a good mix isn't possible - some of these problems such as cross-talk will disappear in a mix. You will be limited by the mess you will have to work with but good results are possible. Do not let the transfer engineer decide which tracks are useable, though; let that be your decision. Some of the worst tracks may sound good panned to the right spot and may contain info otherwise unavailable.

There are studios that still maintain 2" 16 track. That would be the ideal place for the transfer. But you already know that

[buzzsmith]

Yea - insist on having all 24 tracks available. Soloing will reveal excess noise and level problems on some of the tracks while a few may not be useable due to bleed through and cross-talk from adjacent tracks.

This doesn't mean a good mix isn't possible - some of these problems such as cross-talk will disappear in a mix. You will be limited by the mess you will have to work with but good results are possible. Do not let the transfer engineer decide which tracks are useable, though; let that be your decision. Some of the worst tracks may sound good panned to the right spot and may contain info otherwise unavailable.

There are studios that still maintain 2" 16 track. That would be the ideal place for the transfer. But you already know that

Yes, all 24 will be delivered and, yes, I oughta make a few phone calls to other studios for this guy to see if one has an active 2" 16 track.

Thanks!

Buzzy