Those that have been to ZX Planet before will know that we once offered a wide range of MP3 recordings for you to copy back to real cassettes and play on the real thing. Things have changed now that the TAP player is available for WinAMP, all you need to do is download the plug-in for WinAMP from our tools section below then download the game you wish to record onto a cassette and play it through WinAMP.

If you don't understand a word of the above then read the simple instructions below.

Download the TAP plug-in for WinAMP from our utilities section, if you haven't already downloaded WinAMP yet then I suggest you pay a visit to the official site.

Now install the plug-in you just downloaded into the WinAMP directory, once installation has finished you are ready for playing .TAP files through WinAMP.

In order to record a TAP file back to cassette you obviously need to hook your PC up to your stereo (or one you borrowed from someone). For this you will need to purchase an audio cable with a standard headphone jack at one end (this plugs in to your line-out socket) and two Phono jacks for left and right audio signals (these plug into your auxilary ports on the stereo).

Now switch your stereo to Auxilary (usually labeled aux, video or phono). Insert a blank cassette or one that has not been used that often and press Play & Rec (some models) or just REC on new stereo equipment. Wait for the brown of the tape to appear then press PLAY on WinAMP, wait for the TAP file to finish playing then rewind your tape and play it on the real Spectrum.

If you need to get hold of the cabling almost every stereo/electrical equipment store stocks this type of cable.

Alternatively you can make your own cable by purchasing around 2 metres of speaker cable, 2 Phono jacks and 1 Standard Headphone jack. Of course you will need knowledge on how to assemble the components but almost anyone can work it out. Just be careful with the Soldering Iron, they can really cause you pain.