Cheetah Mega-Sound

Sinclair User

SOUND AND TELEVISION Cheetah Marketing has solved the problem for those of you who have trouble hearing the Spectrum BEEP. Its latest product, Mega-Sound, simply amplifies it through the TV. All you have to do is plug the unit into the back of the Spectrum - or Plus - and a lead into the MIC socket. Turn up the volume on the TV and you can deafen the neighbours. There is a small potentiometer inside which you can adjust - they even provide a screwdriver - to tune the unit to the TV and a through port on the back for other add-ons. Unfortunately, Mega-Sound will only work if you have an issue 3, or later Spectrum as it uses lines which on the earlier models were not taken to the edge connector. Also it can cause a slight degradation of the display, but the Spectrum display tends to be so bad that this is barely noticable. It is obtainable in retail shops, priced £10.95. Cheetah Marketing Ltd, [redacted].

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

EXTRA BITS! BOOST YOUR BEEP WITH CHEETAH Cheetah Marketing, the company behind the Rat remote control joystick for the Spectrum, has come up with another add-on good. Megasound converts your Spectrum so that sound effects come from the TV speaker and not from the computer itself. So you can control the volume of the sound with the knob on the television. This is the way that the Commodore 64 works, and gives much clearer sound. Unlike earlier versions by other companies, you don't need to take your Spectrum apart. Just plug into the user port and connect to the TV. More details on this £10.95 device on [redacted].

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

EXTRA BITS! Preparation for the Christmas rush has been responsible for another mass of add-ons for all the popular micros. There's news this time of modems, disc drives, keyboards and other goodies to make your micro better than it was before. Last month saw the demise of Fuller Microsystems, the main rival to DK Tronics, known for their Sinclair peripherals. This means that anyone with Fuller equipment is going to have problems getting it repaired under guarantee. If you have a faulty peripheral, don't send it back to Fuller's without checking first whether or not they can take it. TV SOUND And talking of sound, Cheetah is working on a little black box which converts your Spectrum so that the beeps come out of the TV and not the computer itself. This means that the television's amplifier can be used to control the sound. The black box will plug into a Spectrum and you won't need to take the computer apart. The unit will cost £9.95.