How to archive sharp MZ700 tapes

My first Sharp MZ700 came with only two cassettes: the basic interpreter and 10 games spread out over side A and B. These games made me realize that the graphics on a Sharp MZ700 are pretty neat! I got my second Sharp MZ700 mostly because it was sold with a suitcase of cassette tapes. A suitcase that I managed to archive most of the tapes from. In this article, I’ll share the process I used to archive my Sharp MZ700 cassettes.

Equipment Required:

• USB audio interface
• Cassette deck
• Cassette adapter (3.5mm)
• Sharp MZ700

Software Used:

• Audacity

Setup:
If I'm honest, the setup I use may be a bit over-exaggerated. You can also use cheap USB walkman-style cassette players for this. I use a USB audio interface that allows me to connect a cassette deck to my computer using the right and left RCA jacks. The Behringer interface I use is excellent and suitable for digitizing music cassettes as well. Using the USB interface, I connected my Technics RS 6, a great small form factor cassette deck.
Connect the USB device to your computer. Then, connect the RCA jacks to the right and left out on your cassette deck and the RCA in on the USB device. Open Audacity (other audio software can be used). Select the USB device as the recording device. Insert the cassette you want to archive into your cassette deck. Start the recording in Audacity, then press play on the cassette deck. After a few seconds, the first audio should appear on your display. Computer audio should look symmetrical. Wait until the cassette tape is finished playing, then stop the recording in Audacity.

Testing the Software:
I intentionally included the Sharp MZ700 in the list of required equipment because testing the audio files requires an actual computer. Insert the cassette adapter into the internal cassette deck of the Sharp MZ700 and connect the 3.5mm jack to the headphone port of your computer. In Audacity, select it as your output source. You could also use other media players, but be sure to select the cassette adapter as the output. (Note: these adapters are mostly recognized by computers as headphones.) Turn on your Sharp, type in: CLOAD, followed by the enter button on the Sharp marked as CR (carriage return). The computer will display PLAY. Press the play button, followed by starting the audio file in Audacity. If things went well, the computer will report back after a few seconds about the program it is trying to load, and you have successfully archived a Sharp MZ700 cassette.

Tip:

• If you are archiving mixtapes, separate the files in different audio files. This will make loading your favorite program's much easier.

Troubleshooting:

• Sometimes, a load error appears or nothing happens on the computer. Some programs require loading the Basic interpreter to load themselves. If you encounter a load error, try the program in a version of Basic (Basic is available on the Archive page).
• It is always a good idea to clean the tape heads!
• Is your Sharp working correctly? Try loading one of the programs on the archive page to see if the computer will function with my files.
• Tweak the volume; sometimes, the volume can be too loud or too soft for the computer.

Need Help?
Don’t have a Sharp MZ700 but own a Sharp Cassette (and a cassette deck and audio device) and want to know what’s on it? Contact me via Archive support, and I’ll be happy to try an audio file for you on my Sharp MZ700.
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Good luck archiving!
RetroMels