Favourite Emulators

[PeterJ]

Which are peoples favourite Emulators with a good mix of features and compatibility?

Peter

[Pegaz]

For the most accurate emulation I use SpecEmu on Windows PC or Baremulator on Raspberry Pi.
Also, to emulate some Russian models, I use ZX Mak 2 and UnrealSpeccy.
To transfer and test real floppies, I use the "RealSpectrum" emulator for DOS on an old laptop.

[PeterJ]

Thanks, is this the latest version of SpecEmu?

SpecEmu31-b111119

[catmeows]

Good old Spin.

[Ast A. Moore]

My main workhorse is Fuse, because it’s got a macOS-native build. For some serious debugging, testing the +2A/+3 floating bus, and an occasional ULA snow test I run SpecEmu under Wine. Retro Virtual Machine is fun for playing around with CRT/TV display effects. zxsp is awesome for looking and the memory graphically.

EsPectrum has a nice feature that shows you the electron beam at any point of code execution, but the emulator itself is very rough and clunky. It’s got good potential, though.

By the way, the latest version of SpecEmu is 3.1.b270220, I believe.

[PeterJ]

By the way, the latest version of SpecEmu is 3.1.b270220, I believe.

Thanks, that tip got me here:

https://keybase.pub/woodywoodster/specemu/

[Ast A. Moore]

By the way, the latest version of SpecEmu is 3.1.b270220, I believe.

Thanks, that tip got me here:

https://keybase.pub/woodywoodster/specemu/

Huh? Mark’s finally found a semi-permanent place to host SpecEmu builds? Have I slipped into an alternate universe at some point?

[Firefox]

Fuse, because native Linux build included in package manager, plus it seems a pretty comprehensive and accurate emulator (for my needs, anyway).

[MonkZy]

I use Fuse on the PC, when I am coding or trying out tape files.
Fuse is a Unix (Linux) emulator, so it is available in the Debian repository. It supports my Recreated ZX Spectrum keyboard. It has a great 'virtual zx printer' facility that allows you to dump Spectrum output to a text file via LPRINT. I often write BASIC routines that dump 'defb' lines that I can paste into assembly.

For game playing you really cannot beat ZX Baremulator on a Raspberry PI.
GPIO Keyboard input allows you to build it into an old Spectrum Case (up to +2 grey) and have very low latency key input. The PI has HDMI and composite video output, so you can plug into an old CRT or a new monitor. ZX Baremulator passes all of Patrik Raks CPU tests. The emulator includes a great tape loader interface and also a Multiface, so you can POKE your way out of a tough game ZX Baremulator also has three emulator sessions running simultaneously, you can switch between a 48k and two 128k flavours. So I can have Atic Atac on the 48k, and switch between that and a text adventure on one of the 128k sessions. Brilliant!

[Ersh]

ZXDS hands down. Feature-rich but easy to use and highly accurate with a smooth 50hz refresh rate. It's also got a log to keep track of play-time, something I wish more emulators would adopt. Being on the DS it's a very convenient thing to have with you.

[8BitAG]

Still Spectaculator, despite the fact it's no longer updated. I just find the menu system/UI so much easier to use than a lot of the other alternatives.

[Ralf]

My main emulator is Spectaculator, I use it about 80-90% of time.

I like it for friendly interface and stability (not hanging or crashing). It also works very well with .rzx recordings which is
important for me personally. Has also good support of joysticks and disk systems.

Small but nice feature is being able to copy/paste Spectrum screen directly into graphic editor without saving a file.

I don't really care for some esotheric stuff like MEMPTR register or new inventions like ULA+.

What I miss in Spectaculator is:
-good tape editor: being able to edit, rename, move, copy or delete blocks on your virtual tape
-advanced debugger.

In case when I need advanced debugger, I use Spin. That's probably my remaining 10-20% of time.
Shame that Jon abandoned Spectaculator He presented some screenshots with really nice advancements to debugger.

[llewelyn]

It's FUSE all the way for me. Has never given me a problem but then I'm not a very demanding user since most of its facilities are meaningless to me! However it is robust and idiot proof (I should know!) and I'm at least two upgrades behind but it just does what I want and you can't say fairer than that.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

- SpecEmu for Windows.
- ZXDS for N3DS XL. The coolest way of playing, definitely.
- Spectaculator for Android in a 10' tablet + USB keyboard is also another funny option.

[zx81]

- ZXDS for DSi XL.
- Fuse and/or JSpeccy for Linux.
- ZXBaremulator for Raspberry PI. Play easily at full-screen over HDMI using a Bluetooth gamepad is too much addictive.

[MatGubbins]

EmuZWin2.7 for Windows XP. Does everything that I want it to do. Excellent for assembler, fabulous sprite/graphic finder and a debugger that does just that. It's smooth, runs things the way I want it to be.
The roll-back time is most helpful for checking that a bit of programming has done what it is told, claiming back that life when it was grabbed, testing a leap of faith from platform into the unknown.
Control of the speed from 5% to 800% to watch a screen draw or to skip though an unskippable cut scenes.

[Lethargeek]

EmuZWin2.7 for Windows XP. Does everything that I want it to do.

but beware, EmuZWin was abandoned for a long time, and each version is buggy in its own unique way
for example, 256 colors mode is broken in 2.7 but works in 2.6 and there were other bugs i can't remember right now

[MatGubbins]

EmuZWin2.7 for Windows XP. Does everything that I want it to do.

but beware, EmuZWin was abandoned for a long time, and each version is buggy in its own unique way
for example, 256 colors mode is broken in 2.7 but works in 2.6 and there were other bugs i can't remember right now

Yup, that and those bugs I am aware of. As with many emulators out there, they too have bugs and quirks that make them a hassle to use, view and listen to.