Sign in / up

back to article ZX Spectrum cassette player lost? There's an app for that

Those with a working ZX Spectrum in their cupboards but lacking a working cassette deck with which to load programs need fret no more: there's an app for that. The app in question, Speccy Tape for iOS, allows users to access the World of Spectrum database of abandonware. Once loaded into an iOS device, it then plays back the …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.

Page:

  1. Rob Crawford

    Funny enough

    Last year I ended up writing a tape loader for the Design Design anniversary releases which are included with the iOS version of Spectaculator (about the best spectrum emulator)

    I suppose I should finish off my spectrum mastering system which requires no spectrum emulators whatsoever (but playing with GoLang has lost its appeal)

    0 0
  2. Anonymous Coward 15

    Do MP3 and other lossy audio formats work for storing computer tapes?

    0 0
    1. garden-snail
      Reply Icon
      Meh

      Re: MP3

      Yes and no. I've had mixed results using MP3 to store Spectrum data. Reliability definitely suffers, especially with the turbo loaders, but for standard loading it can work.

      I've switched to FLAC now, which produces much better results.

      0 0
    2. Rob Crawford
      Reply Icon

      MP3 etc are not a great and the format of last resort is .wav

      In the case of the spectrum there is .tzx which covers the vast majority of loaders (and if done properly makes for a tiny file) but it can also contain sampled audio blocks if required (such as the bleeps between speedlock sections)

      CSW (compressed square wave) also exists for some of the more extreme loaders (mostly for hacked games originating from Eastern Europe)

      0 0
  3. Anonymous Coward 15

    Is there an Android version?

    2 0
  4. a_milan

    If only

    ... the iPhone had a tiny hole for a screwdriver to "tune" the tape head....

    3 0
  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I used PlayTZX on OSX, but it was a PPC app and OSX doesn't run those any more.

    I tried to use an MP3 from my phone but it wasn't loud enough.

    0 0
  6. David Given
    Thumb Up

    Just yesterday...

    ...I found a ZX81 emulator for my Android smartphone, loaded up a snapshot of 1K Chess (all 672 bytes of it), and was thoroughly beaten.

    Sigh. Do you long for the days when we used to be nostalgic?

    0 0
    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Re: Just yesterday...

      Sigh. Do you long for the days when we used to be nostalgic?

      Yeah. Nostalgia nowadays is rubbish. It's not like the nostalgia we got in the good old days...

      I just ran the app. I have no Speccy, never owned one. Vic 20 then Amstrad CPC464 for me - both belonging to my brothers. But it was nice to hear the old sounds again. Happy memories.

      The last time a pooter I was operating made that noise was years ago, when my Dad's PC got a trojan dialler. I was rather surprised! Realised what was going on and pulled the modem cable out the back (it was still being used as a fax). I suppose this must have been about ten years ago, so people were still using dial-up.

      0 0
  7. Wize
    Coat

    No spectrum to test it?

    How about loading a Spectrum emulator on your Android and loading the tape on to it?

    1 0
  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Speccy?

    I used to have Speccy, but then I took an two-coloured sprite to the knee.

    0 0
  9. chris 50
    Angel

    Speccy?

    Now all I need is an app that will pretend to be the floppy for my +3...

    Scrrr-eech! Scrrrrrr-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeech! Oh wait, mean bzz, bzzz, zzzb, bzzzz. You know, I could load RoboCop in just 1 minute and 12 seconds on that baby, none of this waiting 40 minutes rubbish for me!

    0 0
  10. Cyne

    Thanks Matthew Smith

    The number 6031769 has been stuck in my head for 30 years. I've come to the sad conclusion that I'll remember that number for the rest of my days.

    1 0
    1. JaimieV
      Reply Icon

      Re: Thanks Matthew Smith

      Me too. Seen this? The lad's back in the game:

      http://matthewsmith.elite-systems.co.uk/

      0 0
  11. techmind

    Well it should work

    I've successfully loaded BBC computer programs off a (non-Apple) MP3 player

    0 0
  12. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    I notice another site was credited with this discovery,

    but has anyone in the chain actually made the thing work? Most people who've tried pumping out a WAV file version of a Speccy tape from an MP3 player fail to get sufficient volume (peak voltage) in the output signal to load reliably and give up. I gather some have had success by inverting the signal for one stereo channel and building a mono cable that goes between the left and right channels, instead of just one and ground, but other than that an in-line amplifier is usually required. Such as, I don't know, an old tape deck with MIC and EAR sockets. So, has an iThing proved any more successful?

    0 0
  13. Spoonsinger

    But where's the skill?

    i.e. the totally pointless ability to listen to the sound of the loading software and determine whether or not it's going to load or not by the change in the screech as the tape stretches over time.

    0 0

Page:

This topic is closed for new posts.