TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

[Ast A. Moore]

Well, it does seem a bit weird to do the phase inversion, but it was just something that I read about here: https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.co ... ette-world

Ah, well, in that case, yes, it makes sense. But only if you wire it like that.

[hikoki]

You may want to try EAR VIA BLUETOOTH like this http://www.zxuno.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=327

[PeterJ]

I have tried these Android apps, but never had much luck. The only reliable way I have found is by using Tape2Wav from the Fuse Utilities, then playing the resulting file through VLC at around 65% Volume. I use a 3.5mm stereo plug to two 3.5mm mono plug cable that I got off eBay for a couple of quid.

I saw the post earlier about these Android volume increasing apps, but never found it made any difference.

[namco]

Thanks for the advice. Will check it out this weekend as I have more testing with some incoming microswitch joysticks!

[namco]

As an update to this, I've managed to get my game onto tape via mp3.

Here's how I did it:
http://www.stupendous-stuff.com/blog/18 ... to-an-mp3/

[namco]

Just a further post for apologies of forgetting this post, initially, which I then linked to and then read PeterJ's post about Tape2Wav - something else I'd forgotten about!

So for anyone else reading this post from the blog page and wondering why the two don't add up. Forgetfulness and a warm summer didn't help!

[zx64]

I have a similar problem as well. Trying to load anything from my mobile (PlayZX) but I think my phone output is too low. My 30yo tapes can still load

I wonder why no one invented improvement for the tape interface itself. Or maybe someone did? I searched for few hours and didn't find anything.

I don't have much experience in analogue electronics, but it doesn't seem hard to implement. You just feed audio signal to comparator, which produces a clean 0-5V square wave, which you give to ULA.

[PeterJ]

[mention]zx64[/mention],

You may have already spotted it but PlayZX has a volume control setting which by default is set to 80% from memory. Try upping that if you have not already done so.

Peter

[zx64]

Yeah I tried

[PeterJ]

Yeah I tried

I had the same issue with my phone (Motorola G6), but I got a cheap Amazon tablet and the output from that seems high enough.

[akeley]

My current phone (Galaxy S4) also struggles, using TeeZiX. But I seem to recall that the previous one (S3) was ok.

So now I use my laptop for that - there is a plug in for Winamp which allows for playing .tap files via EAR. Works every time without fault.

[PootisSpencer]

Can you tell me what that plug in is please? Would like to try myself.

[akeley]

http://czspectrum.speccy.org/tap-player.exe

You will also need Winamp installed of course.

[PootisSpencer]

Which version of winamp because trying to install that it says it can't find in_tap.dll

[akeley]

Yes, it's not working...odd.
I've actually downloaded mine as a bundle with Winamp from an obscure site. And I can't find a link for it now!

I will upload mine somewhere later. It's actually just that .dll that "tap-player" is asking for.

[Alessandro]

No need for Winamp or the suchlike, you can "play" tapes with emulators such as Spectaculator, SpecEmu, or programs like Tapir. In this video I demonstrate how to do it with Spectaculator, a laptop and an old PC desktop speaker used as an amplifier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJMZDgGTlL4

[PootisSpencer]

Yes, it's not working...odd.
I've actually downloaded mine as a bundle with Winamp from an obscure site. And I can't find a link for it now!

I will upload mine somewhere later. It's actually just that .dll that "tap-player" is asking for.

That would be great if you could. Yea as far as I know it's just asking for that file. There may be more it needs but that's as far as it gets when trying to install it.

[PootisSpencer]

No need for Winamp or the suchlike, you can "play" tapes with emulators such as Spectaculator, SpecEmu, or programs like Tapir. In this video I demonstrate how to do it with Spectaculator, a laptop and an old PC desktop speaker used as an amplifier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJMZDgGTlL4

Tapir really messed with Windows 10. It ran hundreds of instances. I couldn't close them all in taskmanager. Had to reboot.

[Alessandro]

I never had any problems whatsoever with Tapir under Windows 10, or any other Windows for that matter. Which version are you using? Latest is 1.20. Download it from here http://www.alessandrogrussu.it/tapir/index.html

You can still use any emulator which "plays" TAP/TZX files, e.g. Spectaculator (as in the video) or SpecEmu.

[akeley]

I like the Winamp solution because it's the simplest: you just drag & drop a tap file and it's off. Doesn't need any amplifying either, at least on my laptop.

Here's that Winamp plug-in, [mention]PootisSpencer[/mention] https://mega.nz/#!ox9lnRCC!tnH4nRdRxxSt ... LVOhOdv7P8

I might try the Spectaculator for .tzx's though.

[PootisSpencer]

[mention]akeley[/mention] Thanks for that will have a go at getting that to work. I have had some success today though with my phone although I am still tweaking as Im getting the R Tape Loading error on a few games. Im using an volume booster app and PlayZx so hopefully with a bit of tweaking I can get it to work.

[PootisSpencer]

So another update...
Yesterday I managed to loaded quite a few games without any app to boost the volume. No idea why it suddenly worked but it did.
Today I have tried again just to see if was just luck and low and behold it doesn't work again.
Some games I am getting to the loading screen with the picture but most then fail with the r tape loading error. These are the same games I tried yesterday that loaded right up.
Is it possible that the Spectrum has to warm up a bit before it works because for the life of me I can't work out what's causing it? I know it sounds silly but it seems to work better when it's warmed up a bit. I have used the same cable from my phone to the Spectrum and the volume hasn't been touched. Going to buy another audio cable today if I can find one locally because I can't think what else it could be. Do they still sell mono audio cables?
Updates to follow...

[PootisSpencer]

Final update...
Got it all working with the volume booster app set at 60% and full volume on my phone. Every game runs perfect. Guess it took time and a little perseverance to find the sweet spot.

[zx64]

I bread-boarded a simple sound amplifier circuit and so far so good. It works very well, can load anything, no need to do sound editing etc. Will order a PCB and mount it next to the ear input (where RF modulator was before I desoldered it).
Will post a picture when it's done

[akeley]

I've tried a volume boosting app yesterday and it did not help at all. Not sure what the issue is...maybe something with that particular phone? Would have to try it on some other ones, since it seems to be the most convenient method.