Easy way to put games on real tapes

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Mozartkügel
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Easy way to put games on real tapes

Post by Mozartkügel »

Hi guys! I really love to play games from real C-cassettes whenever I get the chance, so are there some easy ways to record .tap/.tzx files to tape?

If you have a working cassette recorder, would it be so easy as to for example use tapDancer or your computer like in [mention]Alessandro[/mention]'s video and just record the audio on to tape? (not on a +2 obviously without the tape-in jack hack).

https://youtu.be/pJMZDgGTlL4

Does anyone know if divMMC future or similar interfaces support recording to tape from file?
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Ast A. Moore
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Re: Easy way to put games on real tapes

Post by Ast A. Moore »

Use Tapir or any similar utility to create a WAV file, play it back on the computer, and record its output onto a tape. (Tapir creates a pretty authentic waveform, unlike many other programs, which simply output a square wave.)

I don’t own a divMMC; for development and testing I hook up my computer directly to my Spectrums and feed them the audio from Tapir. I wrote my own 3x turbo loader, so the loading doesn’t take a whole lot of time.

There’s a more convoluted, albeit utterly authentic, way of transferring games to tape—use the so-called master tape files. There are quite a few floating around on the Internet. You simply run them on your Spectrum and record their output directly.

Note, however, that certain turbo loaders will require a pretty decent-quality recording gear, and the built-in tape deck of the +2 or +2A might not cut it.
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Alessandro
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Re: Easy way to put games on real tapes

Post by Alessandro »

Hi!

Yes, it can be done; when I presented the Spectrumpedia at the first edition of Apulia Retrocomputing in Bari in 2013, tapes of the first edition of Al's Double Bill were distributed on a prize draw among the participants. They were recorded with a professional tape recorder directly from PC output.

Direct tape recording from memory card-based interfaces is not supported, and I am not exactly sure why you would want that :?
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Mozartkügel
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Re: Easy way to put games on real tapes

Post by Mozartkügel »

Thanks once more for all the tips guys, these are really helpful!
Alessandro wrote: Tue Jun 25, 2019 9:30 am Direct tape recording from memory card-based interfaces is not supported, and I am not exactly sure why you would want that :?
Ah, sorry I didn't really mention it in the top post, but I was also kind of pondering about putting my own games on real tape later on, or "reliable tape duplication". I don't own a high quality tape recorder at the moment and record doesn't work on my old stereo. On the c64 with the 1541 Ultimate 2+ I can record to cassette from tape files, so I was just wondering if there would be a similar option on some of the speccy SD solutions. But it seems the easiest solution would be to get some good cassette recorder at some point. Or perhaps it would be possible to do via a cassette duplication service like this: https://www.bandcds.co.uk/cassettes/cas ... plication/ They say they have "high quality Tascam cassette decks".

I'm trying to get some sort of big picture of every step developing a Spectrum game from beginning to end before even starting out, otherwise I'll worry too much about not being able to finish the game as a complete "product". Having a clue about most of the steps makes it easier to focus at a part / the present task at hand when I begin. :)
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Re: Easy way to put games on real tapes

Post by namco »

If it's from PC to ZX Spectrum then have a look at my how to:

http://www.stupendous-stuff.com/blog/18 ... to-an-mp3/
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Joefish
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Re: Easy way to put games on real tapes

Post by Joefish »

I just get stuff onto the Spectrum with a Flash / SD interface and SAVE to tape from that.
May not be up to 'mastering' quality though...
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Seven.FFF
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Re: Easy way to put games on real tapes

Post by Seven.FFF »

The Zeus dev emulator has controls to emulate variable speed error, wow and flutter, and some other tools to assist with writing custom loaders or turbo loaders.

They can be useful to determine the tolerance of any custom code or mastering you might do.
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Re: Easy way to put games on real tapes

Post by Morkin »

To get Catacombs of Balachor onto a cassette tape, I essentially did what Alessandro did, but using a tape in the tape deck. i.e.

- plugged the tape recorder into my computer speakers
- put a blank tape in the tape recorder
- pressed record & play on the tape
- set the game loading in the emulator (I used ZX Spin) with LOAD ""

Worked a treat... 8-)
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Mozartkügel
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Re: Easy way to put games on real tapes

Post by Mozartkügel »

Thanks everyone for helping out! \o/ It seems it might be pretty straight forward after all!
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