Zxpand+ a review
Posted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 6:47 pm
Zxpand+ My quick review.
For the record this prototype has been running 24hrs non stop for the last 10 days on my test rig zeddy running a variety of tests of my own creation such as 24hr read/write to the SD card every 2 seconds combined with WAV's playing through the AY unit, some GIVE-THE-RAM-A-GOOD-KICKING tests (yes it will store all the digits of factorial 5000
) plus a few more to test timings between the various bits and bobs on the board alongside some tests Charlie requested,because I'm retired I have ample time to monitor it through the day and so would catch any faults early on and in 10 days constant running there have been 0 glitches/crashes.
I prefer not to go into too much detail re my testing methods as past experience has taught me that it usually leads to questions such as, "Why not do this? or "Why didn't you do that?
So I kindly ask that you take it on trust that this is one well hammered "Spand"
The inbuilt AY is just as noise free as the previous AY unit(from a S/N point of view) and MY personal observation of it is that the stereo landscape is from the "George Martin Beatles LP" school of stereo, IE 2 channels panned hard left/right with not enough of each others signal in the opposite channel as good stereo should be.
If you don't think that matters then feel free to compose something using the ZX tracker; with the centre and left channels playing a nice melody and the bass through the right channel, now crank your Akai up near full and let me know how much of your right Wharfedale laser survived after 5 minutes of basso continuo,balance being the thing.
I'm an old school composer who uses 2 AY units in my studio set-up alongside real instruments so possibly am more attuned to the stereo balance on the spand, it is certainly not a criticism of Charlies work or call for it to be altered and the lads from the world of chip tune composition seem to like working that way with AY and to none musicians who just want AY as a player it should be no problem,just an observation nothing more so C'est la vie.
At this time of writing it's currently engrossed in a chess game at correspondence level so I envisage several more days continuous running hopefully with no problems.
None of the chips run hot,the edge connector seems a nicer tighter more solid fit than the previous spand but that may be just this prototype I hope that's not the case as this connector makes it more stable from a white-out point of view.
The physical look is in my opinion superb with its purple livery though I understand only the prototypes will be this colour.
The LED's are wonderfully bright on this board and I include a picture taken in the dark during first switch on.
I think the Zxpand+ is a worthy development and heartily recommend it to my fellow zedders and feel proud to have been allowed the chance of beta testing this wee beastie.
How it will perform on your 81's I cannot speculate as that is down to your particular set-ups power supplies other factors etc but the above is an honest review of how it performed/is performing for ME.
One final note: I notice a lack of jumper pins so as to facilitate ZX80 use so maybe Charlie could clear that one up for us at some point.
For the record this prototype has been running 24hrs non stop for the last 10 days on my test rig zeddy running a variety of tests of my own creation such as 24hr read/write to the SD card every 2 seconds combined with WAV's playing through the AY unit, some GIVE-THE-RAM-A-GOOD-KICKING tests (yes it will store all the digits of factorial 5000
) plus a few more to test timings between the various bits and bobs on the board alongside some tests Charlie requested,because I'm retired I have ample time to monitor it through the day and so would catch any faults early on and in 10 days constant running there have been 0 glitches/crashes.I prefer not to go into too much detail re my testing methods as past experience has taught me that it usually leads to questions such as, "Why not do this? or "Why didn't you do that?
So I kindly ask that you take it on trust that this is one well hammered "Spand"
The inbuilt AY is just as noise free as the previous AY unit(from a S/N point of view) and MY personal observation of it is that the stereo landscape is from the "George Martin Beatles LP" school of stereo, IE 2 channels panned hard left/right with not enough of each others signal in the opposite channel as good stereo should be.
If you don't think that matters then feel free to compose something using the ZX tracker; with the centre and left channels playing a nice melody and the bass through the right channel, now crank your Akai up near full and let me know how much of your right Wharfedale laser survived after 5 minutes of basso continuo,balance being the thing.
I'm an old school composer who uses 2 AY units in my studio set-up alongside real instruments so possibly am more attuned to the stereo balance on the spand, it is certainly not a criticism of Charlies work or call for it to be altered and the lads from the world of chip tune composition seem to like working that way with AY and to none musicians who just want AY as a player it should be no problem,just an observation nothing more so C'est la vie.
At this time of writing it's currently engrossed in a chess game at correspondence level so I envisage several more days continuous running hopefully with no problems.
None of the chips run hot,the edge connector seems a nicer tighter more solid fit than the previous spand but that may be just this prototype I hope that's not the case as this connector makes it more stable from a white-out point of view.
The physical look is in my opinion superb with its purple livery though I understand only the prototypes will be this colour.
The LED's are wonderfully bright on this board and I include a picture taken in the dark during first switch on.
I think the Zxpand+ is a worthy development and heartily recommend it to my fellow zedders and feel proud to have been allowed the chance of beta testing this wee beastie.
How it will perform on your 81's I cannot speculate as that is down to your particular set-ups power supplies other factors etc but the above is an honest review of how it performed/is performing for ME.
One final note: I notice a lack of jumper pins so as to facilitate ZX80 use so maybe Charlie could clear that one up for us at some point.
