Share your results

[Remzi]

How did you get on with this adapter?

Did it do what it says on the tin?

Please post your results here so we can all see if the adapter is doing what it supposed to.

[whodan]

I tested the 1530USB adapter and I could record a .tap from a tape and record a .tap on a cassette in the datasette.
I tried it with Input64 cassettes, which are not so simple like game cassettes, because there are many files in one system.

[Remzi]

Thank you for the feedback whodan.

There are a few Italian C64 community members using the 1530USB.They preserve multigame cassettes similar to Input64.

Check out this one.

But it seems Input64 is not just games,it has magazine,apps and games so more complicated.

Did you try to extract games from the tap file using the tapclean?

I found these tap files but I couldn't split them.

[whodan]

Hello,
I didn't use tapclean to split it to the several programs, because I have all Tapes on disk (.d64), from where
I can get the individual program.

best regards

Wolfgang Hodan

[c64midrezzie]

This guide is brilliant - was having trouble with setup as I had followed the guide but it turned out that my laptop was at fault.   I changed from my old laptop to my trusty PC and it worked like a charm.  Interestingly I only need to go as far as volume 2 for reading tapes.  (Volume 79 works like a charm for writing by they way) 

I loaded a tape that wouldn't load for the last couple of years - I cleaned it up in FinalTap and recorded it back to a new cassette - it works perfectly - thank you so much for creating the 1530USB.

[Remzi]

That's great news.I'm glad to hear that it worked well for you.

Interestingly I only need to go as far as volume 2 for reading tapes.

That is one of the minor issues that I need to look in to.Datasette is too loud,needs attenuation.

recorded it back to a new cassette

Check out this video 

[c64midrezzie]

That looks class - what glue did you use ?

Quick question for you - what program do I use to create taps from multi load games like Midnight resistance or Terminator 2?  Thanks - had a brilliant trip down memory lane on a rare day off thanks to that cable I restored loads of tapes from my collection.

[Remzi]

That is what I used.Just an ordinary superglue.I just checked the cassette in the video.It seems it is still holding fine.Glue didn't eat through the magnetic tape.

Best way to backup your tapes is capturing the audio with the Audacity.Save it as wav file and convert it to TAP using audiotap.You don't need to change any settings at all.

Test the TAP with FinalTap or Tapclean.Tapclean is more upto date and recognizes more loaders.

[c64ever]

The 1530usb did not disappoint me but:
After several attempts, I obtained 80% of good results. Sometimes though, even with the recorder calibrated well and the tapes recorded only once, inexplicably they can not (using the parallel null modem cable in pure DOS environment, the dumps succeed well at 90% of the time, both in hard disk and in the tapes).

However, to get good results I put the volume at maximum ("100%") with both the usb pnp driver for playback (from hd to datasette), and the usb pnp driver for recorder (from datasette to usb).

I would like to know if there is a method to be able to work on the computer at the same time as the dump. If, while I do the dump on tape, I watch videos on youtube or listen to mp3 or if windows applications play sounds, these are recorded on the cassettes together with the sound of TAP files !!!

[Remzi]

If you want to use your computer for watching videos etc. while recording software to cassette tapes there is a trick.

Convert the TAP file to WAV file and play it with VLC media player.Go to audio options and audio device,choose the RECORD.

[H3llR4iser]

I got the 1530USB a few months ago - took me a while to find a good setup and to get the time to do it, but I'm having quite a good rate of success converting and preserving my childhood C64 tapes, which have been sitting in a garage for 20ish years. In fairness most of them are the same Italian newsagent ones mentioned at reply #2, but somehow I prefer doing the work myself, the fact the .tap files come from my own tapes having somewhat of a nice feeling.

As I said, I had to fumble with the settings a lot - as a matter of fact I have set the recording level to 0, which however is still almost in the "red zone" on Audacity.  The .wav files are then converted using Audiotap - Inverted wave form, advanced values top to bottom being 0,12,44100,20. The second value in particular seems to be extremely important - 12 seemingly a sweet spot. With these settings most tapes work, with the odd game not loading in Vice (but often, the same game doesn't load on my real C64 with the same 1530).

Other than making .tap files, I'm also extracting .prg files to use on the real C64 with an SD2IEC - a process that is surprisingly effective!

[Remzi]

Thank you for taking your time,joining this forum and sharing your experience.I really appreciate it.

[H3llR4iser]

Thanks to you for creating this great kit - I had tried every other .wav file based methods previously but nothing worked: the waveform was too loud, too faint, too filtered...I don't know how many different sound cards, cables and cassette tape decks I switched to no avail, most online guides make the sound recording based ripping process seem simple, but it is extremely finicky.

The 1530USB has made it very straightforward once you get the settings right - makes sense that the original 1530 deck is the best option to play these tapes. I'm actually amazed one of mine worked straight away, only a head clean and resumed service as if the last 25-ish years never existed!

[incen]

Hi,

Got my adapter today, big thanks for the quick delivery!

I did a test to read a tape with the adapter on my Linux Mint laptop. Using Audacity to record the wav file and then using a console app i found called ubercasette to convert it to .tap. Very simple to get it up and running, and a perfect result on the first try!

Will try to write a tap to a tape in the weekend hopefully.
 

[angelcaio]

Hi. The 1530USB adapter works very well.
I used FCopyTape to Disk Backup V3.0 in WinVice to copy Multiplan from .d64 to .tap, I recorded it on a real C16 tape with AudioTap and then in C64 also with FCopyTape to Disk Backup V3.0 I recorded it on a real disk without problems: the datassette has paused correctly while the 1541 was recording the disc.
I tried with some more games but it didn't work, I guess for the protection. I will try with other copy programs.