Maxduino Review: Tape Cassette Emulator for Multiple Retro Computers

Summary

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 moreMAXduino 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 128kAmstrad CPCTandy CoCo Color ComputerZX80/ZX81Oric-1 / Oric AtmosDragon 32 / 64MSXAcorn ElectronBBC MicroJupiter 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 ...