Date   : Mon, 27 Apr 2020 13:15:33 +0100
From   : rs423@... (Mick)
Subject: Rescuing cassette tapes

A reel to reel is not the right tool for this task. Even if you did 
manage to get the tape to flow without snapping it through the wider 
tape guides, just about every spec is different. Not just speed or 
magnetism level but width of the recorded track too. A cheap cassette 
player is your best idea. You may even be able to open it up and reveal 
the mechanism to keep an eye on the tape. Well unless modern tape 
players don't have screws?

If you do get to the point where you are ready to record the sound of 
your data to a PC, I have been told that you should use an uncompressed 
format such as WAV. Apparently compressed formats like MP3 remove some 
of the sound parts we humans can't hear, but the BBC requires these? 
Perhaps someone with first hand experience of this can state if this is 
true or not and what bit rate it best.

Mick.