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Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 10:49 am
by Ast A. Moore
djnzx48 wrote: Tue May 29, 2018 10:44 am 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 12:24 pm
by hikoki
You may want to try EAR VIA BLUETOOTH like this http://www.zxuno.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=327

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 1:09 pm
by 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Thu May 31, 2018 9:20 pm
by namco
Thanks for the advice. Will check it out this weekend as I have more testing with some incoming microswitch joysticks! :)

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 11:35 pm
by 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/

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:10 am
by 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!

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:19 am
by 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. :evil: 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:22 am
by 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

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:41 am
by zx64
Yeah I tried

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 8:03 am
by PeterJ
zx64 wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:41 amYeah 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 11:29 am
by 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 8:10 pm
by PootisSpencer
Can you tell me what that plug in is please? Would like to try myself.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 8:50 pm
by akeley
http://czspectrum.speccy.org/tap-player.exe

You will also need Winamp installed of course.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 9:05 pm
by PootisSpencer
Which version of winamp because trying to install that it says it can't find in_tap.dll

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:49 am
by 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:56 am
by 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

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 1:11 pm
by PootisSpencer
akeley wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:49 am 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 1:12 pm
by PootisSpencer
Alessandro wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:56 am 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 1:16 pm
by 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 6:00 pm
by 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 9:06 pm
by 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. :D

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:38 am
by 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...

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:54 pm
by 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.

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 5:55 am
by 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

Re: TZX/TAP to Cassette/Spectrum

Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 8:58 am
by 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.