Hello! Thanks again for the host of the forum providing this, a place for hobbist to share ideas and ask for help.
I have got an apple data cassette from a family friend who has passed away a few years ago. I think it is nothing important but just a memorial for my family member.
I just wonder if it is possible to retrieve the data to a pc readable format like dsk format that converting from apple diskette?
I am planning to buy a casstte player with internal recording function to mp3 but I think it is not approriate for the data restoration since mp3 is a lossy format depends on the bit rate and the data will get distored or destroyed so it seems not an option.
If nowadays is possible, I would be eager to know, thanks in advance.
You want to record them as a WAV file. As long as the cassette player can output via a 3.5mm cable, you should be able to hook it up to a computer and create a WAV file.
You don't need a cassette player that records directly to MP3s. All you need is a good ol' cassette player (or a Walkman) with a headphones jack and a laptop/PC with an Audio In jack. You connect the two and record the cassette as a WAV file. Then use CiderPress to convert it to .DSK image.
I'm in the process of doing this very thing. Like others in this post have said, you just need a decent cassette player that is monoral or stereo, it doesn't matter, with an headphone or line output jack, a audio cable that connects from the cassette player to your computer, and audio software on the PC that can read in the cassette output signal and then save it as a .WAV file. Once you have the WAV file, CiderPress can open it and convert it to a .DSK image format.
An MP3 file compresses the audio too much and as a result too much of the higher frequencies in the encoded digital information is lost.
Oh, that's really a good new for me. I have just bought a new cassette player which have a headphoe jack and I have also bought a usb external audio input that can work with modern mac since nowadays mac does not come with any sound input devices. So I can forsee that it is doable. I will try.
Thanks again for letting me about the CiderPress!