Date   : Thu, 28 Jul 2005 13:32:28 +0100
From   : Richard Gellman <splodge@...>
Subject: Re: MP3 BBC tapes

Joe N wrote:

> What would be the advantage of having them in MP3 format? It sounds 
> like an interesting idea but wouldn't it be better to write a sound 
> modulator for UEF files? Or perhaps such a thing already exists. I 
> imagine that storing just the sound of the tape would be of 
> questionable merit.
>
Thomas Harte wrote such a program for converting UEF files (given that 
he invented UEF) into WAVs. A quick google will no doubt turn up his 
site, utilities + all.

> In any case, by the very nature of MP3, many "redundant" frequencies 
> have been removed. This redundancy is defined in terms of human 
> perception but not in terms of data transfer. The MP3 encoder may 
> unwittingly remove important frequencies which, although it may sound 
> the same to you and I, would render the sound useless to the computer.

Concurred. The FM system used by cassette data recording relies on 
frequencies being present on the incoming signal, and the tolerance of 
the receiving decoder is not high. The MP3 encoder may analyse the wave 
and pick two entirely different frequencies that sound the same when 
played together, but when the receiver looks at the signal, it will 
contain no releveant frequencies.

-- Richard

>
> Tom Drage wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I've noticed many classic programs are available for BBC emulators, does
>> anyone have actual BBC tapes in MP3 format, or could there be a
>> possibility of creating such a library?
>>
>> Tom
>