How to make new or restore Commodore 64 Tapes - Step by Step Guide

In this guide, I will take you through how I am able to make new or restore old C64 tapes from .tap files and how you can even back up C64 tapes to digital files for backup purposes.
This is a simple process so let me know your thoughts below.
Links
Commodore 1530USB Datasette - PC Adaptor C2N Tape Recorder Tapuino C64 VIC20 PET
www.ebay.co.uk...
AudioTap
wav-prg.source...
#commodore
#restoration
#guide

[@RetroSK3L3]

Awesome video and tutorial. What a great device for £13, definitely worth while and will be getting one.

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Yeah nice bit of kit to have in your kitbag really as you will come across tapes that are now faulty or as we know there is no psyhical homebrew that has issues and this has been a way for me to repair them. thank you.

[@Tetlee]

Hey you could become the official bitmap repair centre😁

[@TheHobbyLodge]

haha yes but I am not sure I can handle the amount of requests!

[@charlesfatt]

Thanks for the video, very helpful.

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Glad it was of some use!

[@sanderambroos5210]

I've been looking for this for a while now! Great video, gonna give it a try!

[@TheHobbyLodge]

that is awesome I am glad it was helpful, thanks for watching!

[@ArttuTheCat]

Now, this is absolutely a brilliant Commodore 64 tape loading tutorial video 😺👍🕹️.

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Thanks, hopefully helpful to someone out there with tape issues, I am cetainly happy I can now save some of those old casettes from the bin. Thanks for watching!

[@ArttuTheCat]

@@TheHobbyLodge Luckily, i also have the Commodore 64 games on the disks - with Commodore 1571-II 😸👍🕹️.

[@TheHobbyLodge]

@@ArttuTheCat Yes the disk system is excellent, I enjoy making new disks for that as well.

[@TheHobbyLodge]

@@ArttuTheCat Yes the disk system is excellent, I enjoy making new disks for that as well.

[@HalfBlindGamer]

Oh cool, did not know such a USB cable existed, that's awesome! Did try to get a few tapes record to see if they would work on emulator, which most do, but recording a TAP to the cassette using any other tapedeck isn't ideal. One tip is to disable other audio sources in your audio settings. Just leave it to Microsoft to mess up a recording by yapping about updates or something silly like that. Thanks for this video man! Would be cool to fix up the tapes that don't work here!

[@TheHobbyLodge]

That is a great tip either mute/disable or put the notifications on dnd during the recording. But yes I have tried some other ways using Tap to Wav file then through something like Audacity record it back to a casette tape player but I found it quite unreliabe. With this method I have had a very high sucess rate for both recovering old tapes and writing new ones. But yes also being able to take those tapes you own and covert them back to tap file is super useful if you are downsizing the physical collection. Glad you found it of some use and thanks for watching!

[@StatMatsVidz]

Nice video, thanks for sharing. Great to see a continued love for tapes! :D

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Thank you, something a little different but was fun to do and learn how to restore tapes. I can also do the 5 1/4 inch disks but it is great to keep the tapes alive!

[@StatMatsVidz]

@@TheHobbyLodge Absolutely! Tapes were an important part of the experience in some regions. It's for that very reason I wanted to capture the essence of the tape loading experience in my tape to cartridge conversions in the OneLoad64 Games Collection, by having simulated raster bars with the loading screens and music where games had them. Kind of a best of both worlds approach. ;)

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Oh that is cool, yeah I am a sucker for original hardware and experience that gives. Cheers!

[@ewstargamer]

Very cool mate but over my head but cool that it can be done

[@TheHobbyLodge]

haha you could easy do this, cheers for watching!

[@wardogdauwdd3020]

I love to find out how to make a game for the comadore using cassette

[@Derner777]

Thanks for the video. Could you please recommend some another source where to get this 1530 cable as it was sold out on the Ebay.

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Sorry I don't have a great answer for this, it would seem the person that built them no longer does and I can't find another seller... Damn that is a real shame, perhaps try joining some of the c64 communities out there and they might have some sources. This is a real shame as it is a handy thing to have.

[@ironinquisitor3656]

I'm going to do something similar but with the Atari 800 XL. I want to make tapes from WAV files for games.

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Ah that is awesome and yes no reason why this process wouldn't make tapes for any system as long as you have the correct wav files. Goodluck! and thanks for watching.

[@RetroEdUK]

Looks like a great piece of kit. Wonder is there’s something available for the (superior 😉) speccy 🧐. Hope you’re well buddy. 👍🕹️😊

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Well I dont know about this superior malarky but yes using the same process but just using an 3.5mm phono cable between the PC and a tape deck should allow you to record the output. Cheers for watching bud and yes very well thank you.

[@MrNoobed]

Datasette is probably so good at this because its a mono track but everything else you record with is gonna be stereo. And all the old games faded niw because they mastered them with low volume to make it harder to copy.

[@8BitRetroReFix]

Nice video :) very informative . Thanks for sharing ... Maybe you could do one for Disks too ? ..

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Yeah I can do that! I have a secret obsession that I actually love making compilation disks at the moment... maybe I can release TheHobbyLodge collection disk :D

[@madcommodore]

Be sure to disable all Windows audio alerts too whilst recording :)

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Yes this is a really good tip! mute notifications, and disable/mute other sounds souces. Thanks!

[@madcommodore]

@@TheHobbyLodge I guess this is the modern replacement for those dual datasette adaptors people used back in the 80s :)

[@RetroJay1974]

I have a few options to restore tapes including the usb device you have! I cannot be 100% sure but I think the device is nothing more than a usb soundcard/circuit? I need to spend more time with it. I want to restore zx spectrum tapes aswell. One other thing, what is the desktop screen thing you have running? looks pretty neat :)

[@TheHobbyLodge]

100% if you opened it up I imagine a simple sound chip that outputs to the right pins to match up with the dataset input and not much else but saying that I would not have the skill to make one so for £13 it is well worth it. I have tried a few other methods but I must say reliability of this does seem to be the highest in my experience. Ah yes the desktop it is called Wallpaper Engine on Steam it allows you to run this animated desktop images and they are very cool so worth checking out. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!

[@nerdygeezer78]

Yeah get those Bitmap Soft games repaired my friend

[@TheHobbyLodge]

Yeah it will be nice to do what should have been done and tested in the first place.

[@condel0]

Hi, that adaptor can be good to load tapes with the retrogames c64 maxi/mini? Thanks

[@TheHobbyLodge]

I personally have not tried it but I dont see why not, interesting I will have to give it a try.

[@condel0]

Let me know if it works pls, will be an amazing news and why not, a new youtube content :) @@TheHobbyLodge

[@stephengiacobozzi7785]

commodore 64 tapes work on C64 Maxi

[@TheHobbyLodge]

I have actually never tried but interesting, must admit I am a bit of a stickler for the original hardware.

[@gingerhippygaming7962]

Just buy spectrum games they never fail lol

[@TheHobbyLodge]

How very dare you! :D