Cassette Recorder

edited February 2007 in Hardware
I want to load some old stuff onto my PC Spectrum emulator; can anyone recommend a good tape deck for the task?
Post edited by Bad Horsey on

Comments

  • edited February 2007
    I've successfully loaded using the PC mic port and a 25 year old mono cassette recorder (One of those branded computer compatible machines with the computer mode switch which didn't do anything).
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
  • edited February 2007
    Really? and there's me thinking the mic socket on a PC was input only. Doh, silly silly me :lol: :p (middle finger smiley) :D

    Seriously, Mr K is right, a 25 year old mono job is all you need - Argos sell a Sony tape recorder for 25 quid, but the same can be got off Ebay for as little as a tenner.
    Oh bugger!<br>
  • edited February 2007
    Or you can run a lead from the headphones socket on your hifi - but I wouldn't go adjusting your tape heads... or walkman or it may be in the archive here already so you could just download it.
  • edited February 2007
    DEATH wrote: »
    Really? and there's me thinking the mic socket on a PC was input only. Doh, silly silly me :lol: :p (middle finger smiley) :D

    Seriously, Mr K is right, a 25 year old mono job is all you need - Argos sell a Sony tape recorder for 25 quid, but the same can be got off Ebay for as little as a tenner.
    See, you're the 2nd person to mention this Argos tape recorder. But the one I can find in the catalogue doesn't have the sockets. What gives? :(
  • edited February 2007
    dekh wrote: »
    Or you can run a lead from the headphones socket on your hifi - but I wouldn't go adjusting your tape heads... or walkman or it may be in the archive here already so you could just download it.

    Yep, convert the TZX file to a wav (using tzx2wav) and burning to a CD. Then you could use a portable CD player to load your games on - good thinking!!

    pisstakemodeon:// So, the HEADPHONE socket you say - do you think Mr K may have ment the headphone jack on his PC rather than the mic? :D //pisstakemodeoff
    Oh bugger!<br>
  • edited February 2007
    redballoon wrote: »
    See, you're the 2nd person to mention this Argos tape recorder. But the one I can find in the catalogue doesn't have the sockets. What gives? :(

    Mine does have the sockets - it's a TCM 939 and I got it from Argos maybe three years ago. They do still sell it AFAIK.

    It's not always loud enough to load games to be honest, I sometimes have to feed the earphone output into an amplifier, same goes for my PC onboard audio - green plug to amp, amp output to Spectrum. Total power going to Spectrum would be around 750mW or 3/4 of a Watt peak.

    See here:
    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-TCM-939-Cassette-Recorder_W0QQitemZ330081533882QQihZ014QQcategoryZ15053QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-Cassette-Recorder-TCM-939_W0QQitemZ230083526388QQihZ013QQcategoryZ15053QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
    Oh bugger!<br>
  • edited February 2007
    There was an article in the latest ZXShed which described converting the tzx's back to wav's. Of course if you are loading unique info off your tapes this is all nonsense.
  • edited February 2007
    Do you mean unique data as in your own stuff, like textfiles you've written etc?

    You mean, you DON'T back up your text files :o OMG!!
    Oh bugger!<br>
  • edited February 2007
    It's a few things that I wrote and used to sell myself years ago, a couple of Light Synthesisers a la Pyschedelia - although one used actual audio input.

    I'll check the Argos jobbie out; I'm ashamed to say I don't currently own a tape deck of any description.
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