There is no problem with cassette loading on the EP, it has two loading/saving speeds and the volume can be easily adjusted depending on what you see on the right upper corner, one green and other red rectangles, that will flash alternately on the optimum gain at the leading tone.
I used Tape input a lot on classic days, mainly for the lack of a floppy controller... Once I got the EXDOS controller I rarely have thought about Tape...
But the designers made a great work, every file has a header, like on other computers, and the main file data is divided on 4KB chunks, each one with its own checksum. When an error is found the loading is immediately stopped. To manage the loading and stop pauses between chunks, both the Tape IN and Tape OUT lines have remote jacks with mini relays. This was very useful for me in the past.
I still have not tried a Maxduino, but maybe the chunk feature on the EP is what will not work.
