Tempest Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I've finally gotten my hands on a Exidy Sorcerer computer, and now I want to make some game tapes for it. It appears that many of the games have been dumped and are available online, but they're .wav or .mp4 files. What's the easiest way to turn these into real tapes? I assume I just have to hook a cassette deck up to the output of my PC and hit record. Are modern NOS cassette tapes ok or do I have to find some vintage ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amiman99 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Get yourself the tape adapter like these: https://www.google.com/search?q=tape+adapter&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 Plug it in the tape player and other end to speaker out or headphone out on PC and use your PC to play the wave files. I'm not familiar with Exidy Sorcerer computers, but this method works fine on ZX81 and Atari 800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 My PSP plays back .WAV files just fine. I transfer them to a Sony cassette player for use on my Starpath Supercharger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Get yourself the tape adapter like these: https://www.google.com/search?q=tape+adapter&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 Plug it in the tape player and other end to speaker out or headphone out on PC and use your PC to play the wave files. I'm not familiar with Exidy Sorcerer computers, but this method works fine on ZX81 and Atari 800. I'm looking for something that doesn't need to be plugged into a computer all the time. I guess I'm mostly concerned about the tape itself. Have they changed the composition of the tape over the years or is it still good to go with these old systems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amiman99 Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) Like @theloon wrote, you can use any audio player to playback the WAV files, PSP, Phone, MP3 player etc. If you really want to go old school, then you need some kind of tape recorder to transfer them over. You would need to play with the audio level to get it right. I did not use tapes for long time so I'm not sure, but I thing there are only 3 types of tapes: Regular, Metal and Chrome. I think Metal and Chrome gives you better fidelity. This is what I did: Edited September 10, 2015 by amiman99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 I have a spare TI-99 cassette player that I plan to use. I think it's just a regular tape player with a TI badge on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I seem to recall that metal and chrome are great for music, but not so much for data. I may be wrong though and it is just that you're throwing pearls for the swines to use the higher quality tapes. Regular ferrochrome tapes should work perfectly well. You may have to fiddle a bit with volume settings, both on the PC sound card when you record the WAV to tape, and on the tape recorder when you play it back. Computers often want it loud, although not extremely loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 It seems like some computers run "ripped" tapes better than others. With my MC-10 and Timex 1000, I've just recorded .wav files straight onto tape and the computer reads the tapes perfectly. With the TRS-80 and TRS-80 Color, it tends not to work as well for some reason. I don't know if it's the kind of cassettes I used or the volume settings or what, but your mileage may vary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 I'll have to play around with it and see I guess. This guy seems to have been able have been able to do it: http://www.classic-computers.org.nz/blog/2011-06-18-sorcerer-software-stockup.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 The MP3 player option is worth considering, so is a portable CD player if you've got one from the earlier days. Real tapes of course are more authentic, but the other options appear easier to get up and running, in particular if you've got a small MP3 player with USB. I've got a few of those, which makes it very easy to load it with WAVs and replace as desired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ventrra Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 It seems like some computers run "ripped" tapes better than others. With my MC-10 and Timex 1000, I've just recorded .wav files straight onto tape and the computer reads the tapes perfectly. With the TRS-80 and TRS-80 Color, it tends not to work as well for some reason. I don't know if it's the kind of cassettes I used or the volume settings or what, but your mileage may vary. I've had the same sort of experience. My C64 works fine with whatever tapes I throw at it, my TI-99/As (all 3 of them) however... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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