[FAQ]
[Frequently Asked Questions] [Resources] [Emulators] [Where Is...?] [File Formats] [Technical Information] [Pinouts] [Acknowledgements]

SPECCY EMULATORS FOR DOS/WINDOWS

This page last updated on 21 March 1998

[DOS/Windows] [UNIX/Linux] [OS/2] [Mac] [Archie] [Amiga] [Psion] [ST/TT] [NeXT] [Java] [QL] [C64] [MSX]

25 emulators listed:

[E++] [Elwro] [JPP] [MultiMachine] [Nuclear ZX] [Roman ZX] [SimCoupe] [Sinbas] [Sinclair] [SP] [SPEC] [SPECTRUM] [Spectrum Emulator] [SP_UKV] [Suzanne's Spectrum Emulator] [Warajevo] [WinXZX] [WSpecEm] [x128] [Z80] [Z80 TR-DOS] [ZX] [ZX32] [ZX-Jam] [ZX Spectrum Emulator 128K] [ZX-Spectrum Emulator]

E++ v1.03 (James Sutherland)

  1. Emulates Spectrum 48K with Kempston joystick.
  2. Loads SNA snapshots (from the command line only).
  3. No snapshot saving.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires VESA 2 compatible video card or drivers (though if you bypass the menu by giving it a snapshot filename on the command line you can run it without such drivers).
  6. Speed acceptable on a P100.
  7. Freeware, though see the included license.
  8. Also emulates a number of arcade machines, e.g. Centipede Phoenix, Invaders, and does them very well.
  9. Very basic compared to other Speccy emulators. Z80 emulation not entirely correct; e.g. Commando and Ghosts 'n Goblins do not run correctly.
  10. Source released and author welcomes improvements/ports from others.
  11. Available from E++ homepage.

Back to top

Elwro 800-3 Jr v1.0 (Piotr Schmidt & Piotr Wolter)

  1. Emulates an Elwro - not 100% compatible with ZX Spectrum (the real Elwro had problems with JetPac while other games were ok) - with two disk drives accessed via * commands (e.g. SAVE * "file") with capacity of about 700kB. These are physically files.
  2. Loads files from disk. Snapshots/tape files?
  3. Saves files to disk. Snapshots/tape files?
  4. Real tape support?
  5. Requires Hercules, CGA or EGA.
  6. Speed?
  7. Commercial only.
  8. Capable of running CP/M. Changeable interrupt frequency (45, 50, 65, 70 Hz). Comes with utility to read the real Elwro Junior disks on PC.
  9. Bad points?
  10. All system messages are in Polish.
  11. Available from?

Back to top

JPP (Arnt Gulbrandsen)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum, Kempston joystick (using PC joystick).
  2. Loads .SNA snapshots and from sampled tapes (.VOC).
  3. Saves .SNA snapshots.
  4. Tape support (read-only) via sampled sound files (.VOC).
  5. Requires VGA. Real-speed version requires 386 or above.
  6. 386/25MHz or faster is needed for the best perfomance. 486/25MHz or 386/44MHz is needed for good sound emulation.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Includes program for reading and converting snapshots from MGT disks. Also includes a very old version of SPConv. Two versions; JPP and PJPP, the latter being an exact-speed version.
  9. Screws up system screen mode on quit. Restore with MODE CO80 command. Z80 emulation - R register imperfectly emulated.
  10. Two versions supplied; one for slower machines, and one (PJPP) for faster machines; PJPP has better emulation and emulates the FLASH attribute and the border. No longer being updated.
  11. Available from NVG.

Back to top

MultiMachine v1.27a (Paul A. Hodgson)

  1. Emulates 16/48/128K Spectrum, +2/3/2A.
  2. Loads SNA, SP, SLT (not LLT), ZX and Z80 snapshots and from TZX tapes and DSK disks.
  3. No saving yet.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires Win95/NT.
  6. Looks to be about normal Speccy speed, perhaps faster, on a P100.
  7. Currently in alpha test.
  8. Emulates every major Speccy model!
  9. It would be unfair to list bad points as it isn't yet released and they could be gone in the release version; happily, however, there aren't any to report anyway. Just bugs :-)
  10. MultiMachine is so called because not only does it emulate all the main Speccy models, it also emulates the Amstrad CPC 464/664/6128/464+/6128+ with plans for emulating the ZX80/81, MSX, NES and Sega Master!!
  11. Not yet available; in alpha test currently. This looks to be a goody when it is finally released!

Back to top

Nuclear ZX v3.69 (Radovan Garabik, Lubomir Salanci)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum with ZX printer.
  2. Loads .SNA and its own .SNP snapshot format and from .TAP and its own .LTP tape files.
  3. Saves its own .SNP snapshot format and to .TAP and its own .LTP tape files.
  4. Real tape support via external program.
  5. Requires Hercules, CGA or VGA.
  6. One of the fastest emulators.
  7. Freeware. More than $8 or poem about Spectrum for source code.
  8. Tape file emulation supports some non-standard loaders (even from ordinary .TAP file). Many Hercules modes supported. Comes with program to convert .SNP to .Z80, .SNA to .SNP and .TAP to .LTP files and vice versa. Has a simple debugger.
  9. R register incorrectly implemented, only one of flash and bright paper can be displayed at a time, and the flash emulation flashes only the ink, not the paper colour.
  10. Previously known as ZXSpectrum_v3.67, and as ZX in this FAQ.
  11. Available from the author's home page, as well as World of Spectrum.

Back to top

Roman ZX (Roman & Easy Inc.)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum.
  2. Doesn't load snapshots, loads files from .H (header) and .B (bytes) files.
  3. Doesn't save snapshot, saves to .H and .B files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires CGA.
  6. Non-graphic applications quite fast but Manic Miner, for instance, is 10 times slower than on Z80.
  7. Freeware?
  8. Good points?
  9. Z80 emulation - bug in IM/2 emulation. Lots of wasted slack space on disks with large cluster sizes due to tape emulating method using lots of small files.
  10. This program appeared on the SEZAM-BBS in Belgrade in the summer of 1991, most probably from Slovenia. It seems, according to one newspaper, that the author is Peter Kroselj.
  11. Available from?

Back to top

SimCoupe 0.74 (Allan Skillman)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum and the SAM Coupé (as you may have guessed from the name!).
  2. Spectrum emulation has no loading ability (Coupé can load from either real disks or images thereof).
  3. Spectrum emulation has no saving ability (Coupé can save to either real disks or images thereof).
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires VGA.
  6. About twice as fast as a real Spectrum on a P100.
  7. Freeware (available as either source or binary).
  8. Good points?
  9. Sound emulation requires use of the SimCoupe Audio Drivers TSR, which is available from Aley Keprt's home page.
  10. The above is a bit unfair, as this is a Coupé emulator first, and a Spectrum emulator second. Also available for Unix/Linux.
  11. Available from the author's homepage.

Back to top

UPDATED Sinbas (Pavel Napravnik)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum Basic with ZX printer.
  2. Loads .TAP files, snapshot can be loaded from CONFIG.DAT file, and screens can be loaded from .SCR or .PCX files.
  3. Saves .TAP files, snapshot can be saved into CONFIG.DAT file, and screens can be saved into .SCR or .PCX files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires EGA or VGA.
  6. Very fast (Author claims it to be twice as fast as Z80).
  7. Shareware (No specified amount).
  8. Can create standalone running programs, and has a simple built-in debugger and online help for Basic commands.
  9. Requires COMMAND.COM to be in the root directory of current disk. Documentation and everything is in Czech. Poor user interface.
  10. Obviously, can't run machine code programs.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

Back to top

Sinclair v3.00 (Pedro M. R. Salas)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum and 128K Spectrum, and Kempston joystick using the PC joystick.
  2. Loads .SIT and .Z80 snapshots and from .TAP and .BLK tape files.
  3. Saves .SIT and .Z80 snapshots and to .TAP and .BLK tape files. (The .Z80 snapshots written are slightly non-standard in that they include the ROM in the snapshot; some other emulators, eg Warajevo, don't like these).
  4. Real tape support via a separate program only supplied with registered version.
  5. Requires VGA, and an Adlib card for 128K sound.
  6. Speed quite good on a 486SX/25, very fast on a P100.
  7. Shareware; unregistered version has nag screen that renders the built-in debugger practically unusable. Registered version can save Spectrum screen to .PCX screens and comes with a tape loader program, plus a disk full of games as .BLK files.
  8. Built-in debugger (much like Borland's Turbo Debugger) for stepping through, breakpointing, modifying etc. Z80 code (including the ROM). 128K sound is very clean.
  9. Currently only available in Spanish.
  10. The .BLK file format is the same as Z80's .TAP format, just with a different name.
  11. Available from the author's web site.

Back to top

SP (J. Swiatek and K. Makowski)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum.
  2. Doesn't load snapshots. Loads from TAPE_ZX.SPC file.
  3. Doesn't save snapshots. Saves to TAPE_ZX.SPC tape file.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires CGA or EGA and a ROM file called ROM.SPC - this file is just a 16Kb ROM dump, identical to the SPECTRUM.ROM file included with JPP and xz80.
  6. 'One of the fastest emulators' so I'm told.
  7. Freeware?
  8. Built in MON-like debugger (press F8) for stepping through Z80 code.
  9. No accompanying documentation at all. Colour palette a bit odd. The version available on the net is a 1988 version, probably unfinished, with dozens of bugs.
  10. No other comments.
  11. Available from NVG.

Back to top

SPEC v1.4 (Robin Edwards)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum, Kempston joystick (using PC joystick), cursor joystick (on cursor keys).
  2. Loads .SNA snapshots.
  3. Doesn't save snapshots or files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires VGA, P100+.
  6. Needs more than a P100 for normal Speccy speed - P120 might do.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Undocumented Z80 instructions emulated, doesn't run too fast on fast machines (goes to maximum of 100% Speccy speed).
  9. Allows modification of the ROM. Z80 emulation incomplete. No user interface. Slow.
  10. Written by the author mostly to learn about writing an emulator!
  11. Available from the author's SPEC homepage.

Back to top

SPECTRUM v0.99 / VGASPEC / SPEC386 (Pedro Gimeno)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum.
  2. Loads .SP snapshots. VGASPEC uses a different .SP format though.
  3. Saves .SP snapshots.
  4. Loads from tapes through a wire connected to the parallel port, but only standard speed tapes.
  5. Requires VGA, 286. (386 for version 0.99D - SPEC386.EXE)
  6. Matches real Spectrum speed at 386/25MHz.
  7. Shareware.
  8. Includes diagram for tape interface.
  9. Z80 emulation - R register and I/O (other than tape) are not emulated.
  10. VGASPEC emulator is an illegal prerelease of this emulator. All documentation and onscreen messages in Spanish. Previously called 'Sinclair' in this FAQ.
  11. Available from NVG.

Back to top

The Spectrum Emulator / SPECEM (Kevin J. Phair)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum with Multiface 1, Kempston joystick (with cursor keys and Alt).
  2. Loads .PRG snapshots and files from 'tape' - i.e. your hard disk.
  3. Doesn't save snapshots. Saves files to hard disk, but can't cope with headerless files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires 16MHZ 286, EGA or better.
  6. Works reasonably fast on 286 and a bit faster than necessary on 386/486 systems. 386/40MHz or 486/25MHz is needed for good sound emulation.
  7. Freeware, but a donation to the author gets you the source code plus 'various utilities'.
  8. Includes program for loading snapshots from MGT/Datel Plus-D disks. Comes with a Z80 disassembler written in BASIC, and a speed testing program. Ran at least one snapshot (Scumball) that no other emulator could manage (JPP's documentation makes a mention of this one not working - Arnt thought it was a bad snapshot).
  9. Z80 emulation - imperfect R register emulation. Allows modification of the ROM (though it does get refreshed to normal condition whenever loading/saving).
  10. Onscreen display of Z80 registers (can be disabled, but not removed from the screen). Attributes can be disabled for faster emulation.
  11. Available from NVG.

Back to top

SP_UKV / SP_EMU (Author?)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K Spectrum with TR-DOS (Technology Research Disk Operating System for the BetaDisk 3.5" disk drive).
  2. Loads .SNA (both standard 48K and a new 128K version) and 128K .Z80 snapshots. Loads from .TAP and .SPC tape files.
  3. Saves .SNA (48/128) and 128K .Z80 snapshots. Saves to .TAP and .SPC tape files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires EGA and 286.
  6. Rather slow on a 486SX/25.
  7. Shareware. Registered version has an excellent Turbo Debugger style debugger (similar to Sinclair v2.00's one).
  8. Supports TR-DOS disks with non-standard sector layouts.
  9. No BORDER.
  10. Usually found as SP_UKV.ARJ along with SP_EMU.ARJ; the latter being a cracked version which appears to be enable all the options only available if you register it. The help screen is identical to the one on the Polish emulator - was that an old version? All documentation in Russian.
  11. Available from NVG (SP_UKV).

Back to top

Suzanne's Spectrum Emulator v0.01 (Suzanne Archibald)

  1. Emulates 48K, SpecDrum and the Kempston mouse, with partial emulation of the 128K/+2.
  2. Loads from .SP snapshots.
  3. No save capability.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires an Adlib card for 128K sound, and a SoundBlaster for SpecDrum output.
  6. Scaled to real Spectrum speed. Runs fine on my P100.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Not much at the moment, but this is only version 0.01 :-)
  9. Biggest problem is that IM2 is not emulated, so many games won't run.
  10. Emulation of many different machines, including the TS2068 and TK95, is planned for later versions.
  11. Available from the author's home page.

Back to top

Warajevo v2.0 (Zeljko Juric and Samir Ribic)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K/+2 Spectrum, ZX Printer, Interface 1 (RS232 and microdrives), Kempston joystick (with cursor keys and + or ~ keys as fire or with PC joystick or mouse), 128's keypad, MIDI port, the Sinclair network and supports user devices (e.g. parallel printer).
  2. Loads .SNA and .Z80 snapshots, standard .TAP and its own near-perfect virtual tape format. Supports .MDR microdrive format with slight improvements. Comes with an environment which allows conversion of almost any format (including .TZX and .VOC) to supported formats.
  3. Saves .Z80 snapshots, to .TAP tape files and to .MDR microdrive files.
  4. Supports loading (including turbo loaders) from real tapes via an RS232 link from a real Spectrum or with external routine for tape interface.
  5. Requires 286, Hercules, CGA, EGA or VGA, and a SoundBlaster card for MIDI emulation. An Adlib card allows better 128k sound emulation.
  6. A bit slower than Z80, though not as much as it used to be. This is not noticeable on anything more powerful than a 386 anyway.
  7. Freeware, though the authors welcome donations, in return for which you at least get your name listed in the documentation of the next release; 80 DM will get you the source code.
  8. Better AY-sound through PC speaker than any other PC emulator. Built-in debugger, though not as friendly as the ones in Sinclair v2.00 and SP_UKV. Can create stand-alone snapshot files that don't need to be loaded into an emulator (including possible mixing of Z80 and 80x86 code). The former problems with the colour palette and speed adjustment are much improved in this version.
  9. Slightly slower than previous versions.
  10. Written under very poor conditions during war in Bosnia. Generally considered one of best DOS-based Speccy emulators on the PC.
  11. Available from World of Spectrum.

Back to top

WinXZX v2.1.3 beta (Nick Savoiu, Razvan Surdulescu, Erik Kunze and Des Herriott)

  1. Emulates 48/128/+3 with Multiface 128, Interface 1 and Microdrive, Kempston Joystick.
  2. Loads .SNA, .Z80, .SLT (LLT also) snapshots and from .TAP, .MDR and .DSK files.
  3. Saves to .SNA, .Z80, .SLT, .TAP, .MDR and .DSK files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires MS Windows 95 or NT.
  6. Around 36% Spectrum speed on a P100, apparently around 50% on a PPro200. Note these speeds are for 1x1 scaled window. Larger sizes are slower.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Quick 1, 2 and 3 times normal screen scaling settings. Spectrum screen can be saved to SCR file or printed. Quite nice GUI.
  9. A little unfair as this is a beta version, but it is on public release, so: Slow. Fiddly to set up tape/disk/microdrives because these are buried in the options dialog. TAP routines seem buggy (many I tried didn't work or appeared to have no blocks within them).
  10. Lots of options to play with, including optional FLASH and border emulation. Work continues on AY emulation, VOC support, built-in debugger, DirectX fullscreen mode and other features. Multiface 128 ROM is not included due to copyright problems.
  11. Available from Razvan's homepage

Back to top

WSpecEm v1.21 (Rui F. Ribeiro)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum with Kempston/Sinclair joystick.
  2. Loads just about every snapshot and tape format there is - SNA, SNX, Z80, SIT, SP, RAW, PRG, ACH, DAT, TAP, SLT.
  3. Saves just about every snapshot and tape format there is, but not SLT.
  4. Real tape support provided via an extra program.
  5. Requires MS Windows 3.1, 3.11, 95 or NT, WinG.
  6. Around 25-30% Spectrum speed on a 486SX/25 @ 800x600 res, 64K colour Cirrus video card, 8MB machine. Runs at a bit over 100% speed on a P75 with otherwise identical setup. Note these speeds are for 1x1 scaled window, /3 frame rate. Larger sizes and full frame rate are slower.
  7. Freeware - GPL; all the author wants is a postcard.
  8. Resizable window, with quick 1, 2 and 3 times normal size settings as well. Quick save/load function for saving a snapshot and reloading it without going through a file selector. Drag and drop snapshot loading. Source (in C) supplied. Saves Spectrum screen to SCR and PCX files. Now has a nice installation routine for Win95; though it registers a lot of extensions (for different snapshots) which may interfere with other registered extensions (e.g. SIT is also a type of archive file, PRG is an Atari TOS program, and so on).
  9. Doesn't save SLT snapshots yet.
  10. The very first Spectrum emulator for MS Windows.
  11. Available from author's web page as well as here or NVG.

Back to top

x128 v0.8 (James McKay)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K Spectrum, +2A/+3, Kempston/Sinclair/Cursor joysticks, Multiface 128, Fuller Box. Also has emulation of the Pentagon 128 and (partially) the Scorpion (Russian Spectrum variants).
  2. Loads .SNA, .Z80 and .SLT snapshots, from .TAP and .TZX tape files (the latter complete with optional loading noise!), and from .TRD (TR-DOS) and .DSK (+3 disk) files.
  3. Saves .SNA, .Z80 and .SLT snapshots, .TAP tapes and .PCX screen dumps (including any rainbow effects).
  4. Real tape support via .VOC and .TZX files.
  5. Requires VGA or EGA.
  6. About normal Spectrum speed on a 486SX/25 thanks to rewritten emulation and screen update code (now using Intel assembler instead of C). SAOM version needs a Soundblaster and requires a more high-end 486 or you get fuzzy sound.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Hi-res emulation of screen and left & right border allowing colours in an 8x1 block (rainbowing). Has a nice file selector and Z80-like user interface. Just about perfect 128K sound on the SAOM version, pretty good on the Adlib version.
  9. Some changeable options require re-compilation.
  10. Also available for UNIX/Linux with X, OS/2 and OS/2 XFree86, though these are now way behind in terms of development.
  11. Available from author's home page.

Back to top

Z80 v3.05 (Gerton Lunter)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K Spectrum with Multiface 1/128, cursor, Sinclair and Kempston joysticks, AMS Mouse, Disciple disk interface, Interface 1 and Microdrives, SamRam (author's own ROM with a basic MON-like debugger).
  2. Loads .SNA, .Z80 and .SLT snapshots, including level-loader support, and from .TAP tape files and .MDR microdrive files.
  3. Saves .Z80 snapshots and to .TAP tape and .MDR microdrive files.
  4. Loads from sample tapes (.VOC) and direct from Sound Blaster MIC input, or from parallel port using a custom interface (all these only in the registered version, and the parallel port interface itself costs extra - though a diagram is provided if you want to build your own). Contrary to what several people think, this support does allow loading of turbo- loaders, speedlock games, etc.
  5. Requires Hercules, CGA, EGA or VGA.
  6. Can be up to 200% Spectrum speed on a 486SX/25, depending on emulation options chosen.
  7. Shareware. Registered version has real tape support and speed setting can be altered (with v3.04+, shareware version has this enabled for only five minutes; previous versions could not be slowed down unless registered) and comes with several utilities (for converting from various formats etc.) and source code (mixture of assembler and C).
  8. Most user-friendly emulator; very good menu-interface and documentation. Good high-resolution colour emulation (rainbowing!). Version 3.04 now has much improved keyboard handling in Windows, and is now actually useable in that environment as a result; v3.05 has some more general useability improvements and some bugfixes, including a fix to the dreaded sampled speech playing much too sloooowly bug.
  9. 128K sound can be a bit wobbly.
  10. Considered by many to be the best emulator available for any platform; certainly one of the best DOS-based ones with features unavailable in other emulators. Earlier versions were pretty good but do not compete with version 3.04+, which has several useful bugfixes and SLT support. Unregistered copies of previous version could not be slowed down, so many people used an illegal copy of 3.02 which was released on a PC Format cover disk (it was effectively a registered copy). Gerton had stated that version 3.04 would be the last DOS version; but then v3.05 came out! Version 4, which will include TZX support, is currently in beta, and should be available soon.
  11. Available from NVG

Back to top

Z80-TR-DOS 2.02 (modified version of Z80 3.02 by Vitaliy Mochalin)

  1. As Z80, with addition of TR-DOS emulation.
  2. As Z80.
  3. As Z80.
  4. No real tape support; if you want that, you'll need to register a real version of Z80.
  5. As Z80.
  6. As Z80.
  7. An illegal hack.
  8. As Z80. Version 3.02 of Z80 had slightly poorer high resolution colour emulation however; and this hack is the same.
  9. As Z80.
  10. This program is an obviously modified copy of Z80 version 3.02 (as released on a PC Format cover disk) with Russian documentation which has been kindly translated for me by Kirill Panyushkin. Vitaliy Mochalin has this to say about this hack of Z80: "The changes to the original version by G.A.Lunter do not pursue the aim of copyright infringement. The adaptation has been made solely for use on the territory of Russia and to add TR-DOS (by Technology Research) disk system support." From other comments in the documentation it appears the price asked for registering Z80 is totally out of the reach of Russians; it is the equivalent of a month's wages for the average person.
  11. Not made available at Gerton's request, nor will I reveal the site I got it from.

Back to top

ZX (Eduard Rindt & Ludek Brukner)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum, ZX Printer.
  2. No snapshot loading. Loads tape files from .001 files, its own tape format.
  3. No snapshot saving. Saves tape files to .001 files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires DOS 3.3+, EGA/VGA.
  6. Very quick. Runs very nicely on my 486SX/25.
  7. Freeware, though the authors ask that you send them $1 if you like it.
  8. Very quick; useable on a 286. Comes with a Tape Manager utility to convert DOS files to .001 tapes and vice versa. Nice keyboard help screen, and two keyboard access modes; one normal and one which maps PC keys to Spectrum equivalents (e.g. Shift-2 = Symbol Shift P).
  9. No speed control; goes way too quick on anything more than a slow 486.
  10. This was previously a commercial emulator, though I'd never heard of it. Hynek Med convinced the authors to make it freeware. There is a program which converts their special format (extension 001, 002 etc.) to TAP, called KDATEZ80.EXE, which is available from NVG.
  11. Available from NVG.

Back to top

UPDATED ZX32 / Spectrum Emulator for Win95 v1.03.98.0211 (Vaggelis Kapartzianis)

  1. Emulates 48K/48K+/128K/+2/+3/+2A, Kempston/Sinclair/Cursor joysticks.
  2. Loads .SLT (LLT also), .Z80, .SNA and .ZXS (RIFF) snapshots and from .TAP tape files, .CPD and .DSK disk images.
  3. Saves .Z80, .SNA and .ZXS (RIFF) snapshots (ZX32's own format) and to .TAP tapes, .CPD and .DSK disks.
  4. No real tape support, nor will there ever be apparently.
  5. Requires DirectX, Windows 95 or NT, 486DX2/66, P75 recommended.
  6. Very fast on a P100 with 32Mb, Cirrus Logic 5446 PCI video card (sets itself to normal Speccy speed by default, speed adjustable) - much faster than WSpecEm.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Very fast, very professionally done - help file, install/uninstall routines, comes with a selection of games so you can start straight away (or you can just grab the minimum size archive without them). Freely changeable window size, plus fullscreen mode (with rounded edges and scanline emulation like ZX-Jam - very nice). Rainbowing too, I never noticed before! Quite good AY emulation too, with selectable frequency/volume/noise masking. Can open snapshots/tapes from within ZIP files without you having to unzip them. No fiddling with tapes, you open them just like snapshots - automatically starts LOADing from the selected tape.
  9. I dare not say anything bad about it for fear of having a picture of me being strung up placed in the next version's help file. And, er, I can't think of anything this time... apart from possibly wobbly AY sound, but this may be down to my DirectSound driver being out of date and therefore nothing to do with zx32...
  10. Even with slightly incomplete Z80 emulation (supposedly, I've yet to find a snapshot that doesn't work) this is the best Windows-based Speccy emulator. Hell, it plays Ghosts 'n Goblins now, that's all I cared about... now if only it supported TZX... :-)
  11. Available from the ZX32 homepage.

Back to top

ZX-Jam v1.12 (Juan Antonio Moreno)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K Spectrum and has experimental Pentagon 128K support (Russian Speccy clone).
  2. Loads .Z80 and .SNA snapshots and from .TAP tape files.
  3. Saves to .Z80 snapshots and to .TAP tape files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires VGA and a 'fast Pentium'. Best sound produced if you have a GUS; any OPL-based card (e.g. SB) will produce fairly decent sound though.
  6. Runs at good speed on a P100; certainly manages full Speccy speed.
  7. Freeware.
  8. Unusual screen mode - tries to emulate the TV effect by leaving a blank line every other scanline, and does quite well! No dot crawl quite yet though :) Includes built-in Z80 debugger. Some support for rainbowing and border effects. Nice menuing system.
  9. Z80 emulation incomplete? (e.g. ICUPS crashes the emulator a lot), only partial AY emulation. No joystick emulation.
  10. Improving all the time. Joystick emulation, better AY/beeper emulation and better rainbowing/border emulation are all on the cards.
  11. Available from the author's home page.

Back to top

ZX-Spectrum Emulator 128K v3.01 (N. V. Shalaev)

  1. Emulates 48K/128K Spectrum with TR-DOS, Kempston mouse, Interface 1/2/Kempston joystick.
  2. Loads only .TRD (TR-DOS) files (but see below).
  3. Saves only .TRD files.
  4. No real tape support.
  5. Requires 386, VGA, MS-DOS 5.00 or better, DOS/4GW extender.
  6. Now a fair bit faster than SpecEm apparently.
  7. Shareware.
  8. BORDER effects without snow. AY emulation using both Adlib and Soundblaster. Lots of options to vary the program's speed and emulation quality.
  9. No snapshot or tape support in the basic program.
  10. Has an open architecture which allows other modules to extend the program. Modules to allow reading of .SNA and .Z80 files are available from ChaOs files, along with a patch to translate almost all of the user interface into English.
  11. Available from Andy Schraepel's Russian Spectrum Emulators page.

Back to top

ZX Spectrum-Emulator v1.0s / SPECEMU (Bernd Waschke)

  1. Emulates 48K Spectrum, Kempston joystick (using PC's analogue or digital joystick).
  2. Loads .SEM snapshots.
  3. Saves .SEM snapshots.
  4. Real tape support (registered version only) via a Soundblaster card, but you have to manually calibrate it with a number.
  5. Requires 386DX/40 and 1Mb of RAM.
  6. About 75% of normal Spectrum speed on a 486SX/25.
  7. Shareware. Some options not present in unregistered version.
  8. POKE facility. Also has what appears to be a Game-Genie/Game Wizard-like option to automatically find POKEs (registered version only).
  9. Z80 emulation - doesn't emulate flags register properly; in particular, the H flag. BRIGHT attribute not emulated.
  10. All documentation and onscreen messages in German. Anyone fancy translating it?
  11. Available from NVG

Back to top