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+2 sound socket

paulcan2paulcan2
edited December 2008 in Hardware
Hi guys, I have converted some of my old spectrum games to TAP files and I was playing around with loading them off my girlfriends laptop.
Couldn't get anything to load on my grey +2, I have heard that they have a very low listen volume, is that so?

My +3 loves it and hears the TAP file straight away, and loads pefectly no matter what prog or setting i use.
However I thought my +2b (black case) would be the same, I bought one for this reason but like the +2 grey it cannot hear the file like I cannot get enough volume out of the laptop.
I then tried loading it from a desktop pc, still the same.

I would use my +3 but the sound is sh*t and i need somebody to perform the mod on my model (I did try 68 ohm over r72, and it's worse now!)
What can I do?

Is there a way to boost the laptop volume so my +2b can hear it, any ideas, anyone else had this problem and sorted it??
Or maybe one of you kind people would fix my +3 for a charge of course??

My mission is then to get them to load faster, i've seen videos of this on you tube, looks cool, I know I could play on a emulator (I own a copy of spectaculator) but I love the original hardware and I can't use my trusty old zip stick joystick.

Please help!!??
:-?
Post edited by paulcan2 on

Comments

  • zxbrunozxbruno
    edited December 2008
    How are you connecting the laptop to the +2 and +2B? These models don't have any audio input socket, only output (unless you added your own or you're using one of those fake cassettes with line-in).
  • paulcan2paulcan2
    edited December 2008
    I'm just putting it in the jack on the back, (same socket as a +3) I can hear the sound from the laptop on the screen, but i guess from what your saying is that it's a output only and although the spectrum makes the sound audiable on the screen the actual spectrum can't hear it??
    Thanks
  • paulcan2paulcan2
    edited December 2008
    Now you say it, do those fake cassetes with a line in work ok? If so i'll get one of those!??
    Any thoughts, anyone used one for this purpose?
    Ta!
  • zxbrunozxbruno
    edited December 2008
    It works. See pictures here:

    http://velesoft.speccy.cz/zx/audio_cassette.htm

    But you could always add something like this to your +2, if you know how:

    Line-in-for-Plus2.jpg

    edit: I might be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that if you feed audio through an audio output, you could be damaging something inside the computer.
  • paulcan2paulcan2
    edited December 2008
    zxbruno wrote: »
    It works. See pictures here:

    http://velesoft.speccy.cz/zx/audio_cassette.htm

    But you could always add something like this to your +2, if you know how:

    Line-in-for-Plus2.jpg

    edit: I might be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that if you feed audio through an audio output, you could be damaging something inside the computer.

    I would love to do that mod! have you and info or a website about where the audio in jack will be spliced onto?
    Also just bought one of those fake cassettes from fleabay! That will keep me going until i learn how to add the jack.
    Thanks for your help man!:-)
  • zxbrunozxbruno
    edited December 2008
    No problem. Take a look at this page:

    http://www.speccy.org/magazinezx/index.php?revista=7&seccion=5

    It's in Spanish, but the pictures speak for themselves. The example shows sockets on the side, but you can place them wherever you want.
  • paulcan2paulcan2
    edited December 2008
    zxbruno wrote: »
    No problem. Take a look at this page:

    http://www.speccy.org/magazinezx/index.php?revista=7&seccion=5

    It's in Spanish, but the pictures speak for themselves. The example shows sockets on the side, but you can place them wherever you want.



    Sweet thank you, that exactualy looks easier than i thought
    Ta!

    :smile:
  • DEATHDEATH
    edited December 2008
    just make sure that you put the wires in the right place else you'll fry the ULA chip. It's well documented, I kid you not :)
    Oh bugger!<br>
  • Tom-CatTom-Cat
    edited December 2008
    No need to butcher your +2 with an additional socket... just use one of those Casette->CD convertor thingys and load it that way ...

    http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=27793&doy=22m12&C=SO&U=strat15

    They come in various makes and are really cheap :)
  • Dr BEEPDr BEEP
    edited December 2008
    Since loading/saving is nothing more than reading/writing port 254,
    why not built a simple IO interface to connect at the connector that
    reads/writes port 254.

    You don't need to alter the +2 with the faulty recorder.

    Anyone ever tried this???
  • gtsamourgtsamour
    edited December 2008
    zxbruno wrote: »
    No problem. Take a look at this page:

    http://www.speccy.org/magazinezx/index.php?revista=7&seccion=5

    It's in Spanish, but the pictures speak for themselves. The example shows sockets on the side, but you can place them wherever you want.

    This modification refers to the +2Α. Will it work on the +2 grey as well?
    I know it naturally should but someone (in a post somewhere) said that he tried this mod on both of his +2s (+2A and +2 grey) and it only worked on the +2A.
    He also said that in order to work on his +2 grey too, he had to entirely disconnect the internal tape recorder.

    Does that make any sense? Aren't the tape recorders on these two models identical?
  • thingleythingley
    edited December 2008
    The tape connections on various models of the +2grey are not identical! (So I probably wouldn't gamble my ULA on them being the same between different machines!)

    I have 2 +2greys: (The following info is from memory alone so may be dodgy!)

    - One of them has 5 wires going to the tape deck - The motherboard is not marked as to which wire does what.

    - The other one has 4 wires going to the tape deck - (Although there are still 5 pins on the motherboard) On this +2grey the pins are clearly marked at the motherboard end (GND, PLAY etc.)


    I think all the +2A/B's that I have seen have just 4 wires to the tape deck as well - So I'm guessing Amstrad revised the board to save them the cost of a 5p wire somewhere in the middle of the grey's lifespan and continued this with the +3 variants.
  • gtsamourgtsamour
    edited December 2008
    But even if the indications of what wire does what are not on the board, the tape recorder board is the same on all models isn't it? So you will be able to actually know the purpose of each wire.
    I have three greys and all od them (issue 2) have 4 wires.
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