Exactly as I predicted, the museum themselves were flogging a huge cardboard box full of loose microcomputer tapes. I rummaged around in this box for five minutes and extracted 45 Acorn tapes.
I bought the lot for twenty quid. All of the audio is now on my google drive as lossless FLAC files (EDIT: a few files that were encoded using 32-bit floating point format remain for now as WAV files). I have also thrown in the other cassettes that I have previously digitised up to this point.
The intent behind this upload is to assist anyone else who is trying to develop software for transcribing recordings of Acorn cassettes. If you are trying to build such a tool, what you really need is sample audio. You need as much sample audio as you can possibly get, because when you make a change to your algorithm, you need to know how that change affects the widest possible range of inputs. This upload should provide a useful complement to the existing vanekp repository.
I have split the collection into two folders (EDIT: three folders): _easyFLAC, and _hardFLAC (EDIT: and _floatWAV). _easyFLAC contains about 100 files, which is everything that I was able to transcribe easily using Quadbike. _hardFLAC, meanwhile, contains a handful of files which proved much more stubborn. (EDIT: _floatWAV contains some WAV files in 32-bit floating point format, since these cannot be transcoded to FLAC without converting them to an integer format.)
There are probably a few interesting things here even if you're not trying to write transcription software. Manic Miner is of course uncracked, and so requires the colour coded chart in order to play (which I also have). Ultron (that's the Viper Software one, not the Audiogenic one), has an interesting copy protection system that keeps flipping between 300 and 1200 baud.
One other thing I found interesting was the existence of two different versions of Level 9's Snowball for MOSes 0.1 and 1.2.
Some tapes are sampled at 44100 Hz, others at 48000 Hz. They are all Beeb tapes unless explicitly marked as Electron. Most are stereo.
_easyFLAC:
- 10_Computer_Hits_2_[TapeA]_[Frenzy,_Smash_N_Grab,_Jet_Power_Jack,_Circus,_Videos_Revenge]_(Beau_Jolly)_SideLabel_[48K].flac
- 10_Computer_Hits_2_[TapeA]_[Frenzy,_Smash_N_Grab,_Jet_Power_Jack,_Circus,_Videos_Revenge]_(Beau_Jolly)_SideNoLabel_[48K].flac
- 747_[Colour_Inlay]_(Doctor_Soft)_Side1Keyboard_[48K].flac
- 747_[Colour_Inlay]_(Doctor_Soft)_Side2Joystick_[48K].flac
- 747_Flight_Simulator+Briefing_Programme_[Photocopied_Inlay]_(Doctor_Soft)_SideLabel_[48K].flac
- Airline_(Cases_Computer_Simulations)_SideModelA_[48K].flac
- Airline_(Cases_Computer_Simulations)_SideModelB_[48K].flac
- Animal_Vegetable_Mineral_(Bourne_Educational_Software)_SideLabel.flac
- Arcadians_(Acornsoft)_SideLabel.flac
- Aviator_(Acornsoft)_SideCornerRivets_[48K].flac
- Aviator_(Acornsoft)_SideNoCornerRivets_[48K].flac
- Bandits_At_3_O_Clock_(Program_Power)_SideLabel.flac
- BBC_Micro_User_1-3_SideLabel.flac
- Beeb-Art_(Quicksilva)_Side1Program.flac
- Beeb-Art_(Quicksilva)_Side2Examples.flac
- Beebug_4-9_March1986_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_4-9_March1986_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_6-2_June1987_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_6-2_June1987_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-1_May1988_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-4_AugSept1988_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-4_AugSept1988_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-5_Oct1988_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-5_Oct1988_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-7_Dec1988_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-7_Dec1988_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-8_JanFeb1989_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-9_March1989_Side1.flac
- Beebug_8-2_June1989_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_8-2_June1989_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_8-4_AugSept1989_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_8-4_AugSept1989_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_8-5_Oct1989_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_8-6_Nov1989_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_9-2_June90_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_9-2_June90_Side2_[48K].flac
- Boxer_[Electron]_(Acornsoft)_SideA.flac
- Carousel_(Acornsoft)_SideLabel.flac
- Centipede_(Superior_Software)_SideCornerRivets.flac
- Centipede_(Superior_Software)_SideNoCornerRivets.flac
- Chuckie_Egg_(A+F)_SideLabel.flac
- Computer_Scrabble_(Leisure_Genius)_SideCutout.flac
- Computer_Scrabble_(Leisure_Genius)_SideNoCutout.flac
- Darts_(Blue_Ribbon)_SideBBC.flac
- Darts_(Blue_Ribbon)_SideElectron.flac
- Draughts_and_Reversi_(Acornsoft)_SideLabel.flac
- Drogna_(Acornsoft)_SideCornerRivets.flac
- Drogna_(Acornsoft)_SideNoCornerRivets.flac
- Duck_(Firebird)_SideCornerRivets.flac
- Duck_(Firebird)_SideNoCornerRivets.flac
- Escape_From_Moonbase_Alpha_(Program_Power)_SideLabel.flac
- Felix_in_the_Factory_(Program_Power)_SideLabel_[48K].flac
- Five_Star_Games_Tape_1_[BBC]_[Geoff_Capes,_Death_Star]_(Beau_Jolly)_SideLabel.flac
- Five_Star_Games_Tape_1_[BBC]_[Geoff_Capes,_Death_Star]_(Beau_Jolly)_SideNoLabel.flac
- Five_Star_Games_Tape_1_[Electron]_[Geoff_Capes,_Death_Star]_(Beau_Jolly)_SideLabel.flac
- Five_Star_Games_Tape_1_[Electron]_[Geoff_Capes,_Death_Star]_(Beau_Jolly)_SideNoLabel.flac
- Five_Star_Games_Tape_2_[BBC]_[Twin_Kingdom_Valley,_Repton,_Combat_Lynx]_(Beau_Jolly)_SideLabel.flac
- Five_Star_Games_Tape_2_[BBC]_[Twin_Kingdom_Valley,_Repton,_Combat_Lynx]_(Beau_Jolly)_SideNoLabel.flac
- Gisburnes_Castle_(Martech)_SideBBC.flac
- Gisburnes_Castle_(Martech)_SideElectron.flac
- Graphics_(Acorn_User)_SideBBC.flac
- Graphics_(Acorn_User)_SideElectron.flac
- Great_Britain_Limited_(Simon_W_Hessel_Software)_SideLabel_[48K].flac
- Happy_Numbers_(Bourne_Educational_Software)_SideLabel_[48K].flac
- Hopper_(Acornsoft)_SideCutout.flac
- Hopper_(Acornsoft)_SideNoCutout.flac
- Hunchback_(Superior_Software)_SideCornerRivets.flac
- Hunchback_(Superior_Software)_SideNoCornerRivets.flac
- JCB_Digger_(Acornsoft)_SideLabel.flac
- JCB_Digger_(Acornsoft)_SideNoLabel.flac
- Manic_Miner_(Software_Projects)_SideCutout.flac
- Manic_Miner_(Software_Projects)_SideNoCutout.flac
- Missile_Base_(Acornsoft)_SideLabel.flac
- Moonraider_(Program_Power)_SideLabel_[48K].flac
- Mr._Wiz_(Superior_Software)_SideLabel.flac
- Mr._Wiz_(Superior_Software)_SideNoLabel.flac
- Munchyman_(Program_Power)_SideScrews.flac
- MusicProcessor_(Quicksilva)_SideExamples_[48K].flac
- MusicProcessor_(Quicksilva)_SideProgram.flac
- Neanderthal_Man_(Alligata)_SideLabel.flac
- Nightmare_Maze_(Blue_Ribbon)_SideCutout.flac
- Nightmare_Maze_(Blue_Ribbon)_SideNoCutout.flac
- Night_Strike_[Electron]_(Alternative_Software)_SideLabel.flac
- Play_It_Again_Sam_(Superior_Software)_[Ravenskull,_Strykers_Run].flac
- Pro_Golf_(Atlantis)_SideLabel.flac
- Pro_Golf_(Atlantis)_SideNoLabel.flac
- Snowball_(Level_9)_SideMOS0-1.flac
- Snowball_(Level_9)_SideMOS1-2.flac
- Spacemaze_(Program_Power)_SideScrews.flac
- Starmaze_2_(Mastertronic)_SideCutout.flac
- Starmaze_2_(Mastertronic)_SideNoCutout.flac
- Starship_Command_(Acornsoft)_SideLabel_[48K].flac
- The_Hacker_(Firebird)_SideCornerRivets.flac
- The_Hacker_(Firebird)_SideNoCornerRivets.flac
- Ultron_(Viper)_SidePrinted_[48K].flac
- Unlabelled_[Repton_3]_SideB.flac
- Unlabelled_[Savage_Pond,_Citadel,_Exile]_SideA.flac
- Beebug_7-1_May1988_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-8_JanFeb1989_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-9_March1989_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_7-9_March1989_Side2_[48K].flac
- Beebug_8-5_Oct1989_Side1_[48K].flac
- Beebug_8-6_Nov1989_Side2_[48K].flac
- Spacemaze_(Program_Power)_SideNoScrews_[48K].flac
- Beebug_5-5_Oct1986_Side1_[float].wav
- Beebug_5-5_Oct1986_Side2_[float].wav
- Boxer_[Electron]_(Acornsoft)_SideB_[float].wav
- Desk_Diary_[Electron]_(Acornsoft)_SideA_[float].wav
- Desk_Diary_[Electron]_(Acornsoft)_SideB_[float].wav
- Introductory_Cassette_[Electron]_(Acornsoft)_SideA_[float].wav
- Introductory_Cassette_[Electron]_(Acornsoft)_SideB_[float].wav
- mystery_tape_[Agfa_LNX_60]_SideA_[48K_float].wav
- mystery_tape_[Agfa_LNX_60]_SideB_[48K_float].wav
- Snapper_[Electron]_(Acornsoft)_SideA_[float].wav
- Snapper_[Electron]_(Acornsoft)_SideB_[float].wav
- Sphinx_Adventure_[Electron]_(Acornsoft)_SideA_[float].wav
- Sphinx_Adventure_[Electron]_(Acornsoft)_SideB_[float].wav