MAXduino is an all-in-one digital tape SD solution for ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, ZX80/ZX81, Acorn Atom, Electron), Dragon 32/64, and more
MAXduino is an all-in-one digital tape SD solution for ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, ZX80/ZX81, Acorn Atom, Electron), Dragon 32/64, and more.. It offers emulation for tape loading using TAP, TZX, WAV files, and others.
I bought it from ultimatemister.com for €24,90 (excl. VAT and shipping) but they can be found on eBay and many online stores, either assembled or in kit form. It’s probable I could have used Arduino parts I already had on hand too, but as you will see I already have a whole bunch of soldering piling up!
These gadgets have been around years in various shapes and forms, but they all do the same thing, which is load and interpret digital files and transmit the audio in just the right way that the old computers we love can read the data as if it was coming perfectly out of a cassette deck.
Supported Systems:
There are a few different firmwares for these devices, apparently you can use it with …
- TK82-C, TK83, TK85, TK90X, TK95
- ZX Spectrum 16k, 48k and 128k
- Amstrad CPC
- Tandy CoCo Color Computer
- ZX80/ZX81
- Oric-1 / Oric Atmos
- Dragon 32 / 64
- MSX
- Acorn Electron
- BBC Micro
- Jupiter Ace
- …
Seeing as it has WAV file support I imagine it would support many more indirectly.
Why Emulate Tapes?
You might be wondering with the vast array of virtual disk drive options and multi-cart solutions why I would buy a tape emulator, especially this year?
Well for a start, I have a lot of retro machines, and while the disk and cart solutions are amazing, they are not cheap and I have spent a lot of money on them already. This one gadget can serve a whole bunch of machines, saving cost of specific solutions. In fact, I have waaaay too many for my physical C64s when with my Ultimate C64 I do not need any!
Secondly, there are a few machines in my collection where tape loading is just more naturally appropriate, such as the ZX81 with wobbly RAM pack.
Last is very much a me problem, my Amstrad CPC464 M4 board (wifi and mass storage cart) has failed on me, but seeing as the machine itself seems to be dying perhaps it is not the expansions fault.
What is it like in practice?
It’s really easy to use the device. Just drop your files onto an SD card then pop it in the MAXDuino. You navigate using the buttons below the screen.
I don’t have many tape files to test on it because until now I have mainly used disk files, but I am sure there are loads on Archive.org and other places once I start looking.
My testing came to an abrupt end due to both my ZX81 and my Amstrad CPC deciding to go on strike!
From what I understand, however, the main problem other people have is not tape file compatibility but things like volume control and/or ensuring mono audio out. If I encounter any issues I will edit the article and report back.
Of course, my main goal with this piece of kit is for me to transfer my own code and run it on original hardware, so I will be testing that too.