This page gives you an impression of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer, the Speccy. Click on the pictures to hear the sound.
Famous Games
Features
- Sound
-
It did not have any sound chip. One bit on the only port it had switched the speaker (which was about 3cm in diameter) on and off.
Keep this in mind when listening to the sound samples on this page -- they are truly amazing! Multichannel sounds on a 1-bit device in software: Wow!
And by using amazing programming techniques totally unknown today, it sometimes did play music during games. (Though, rarely.)
- Graphics
-
Graphical resolution was 256x192. 8 different colours for background and foreground, combinable with extra brightness and/or blinking. Every 8x8 pixel area could have different colours!
- Disk
-
You had to have an additional interface to connect a disk drive (usually, it was used with a standard cassette recorder). None of my friends had that floppy drive + interface!
- Programming
-
To enter the Basic command beep 1,1 you had to type:
- [Caps-Shift]+[Symbol-Shift]
- [Symbol-Shift]+Z
- 1
- [Symbol-Shift]+N
- 1
Loading a Game
Listen to the following sound files to hear how games sounded on the cassette recorder and how they were loaded into the Speccy.
Warning: Loud and nasty sounds!
| Normal speed ROM loader |
| SpeedLock turbo loader |
International Karate
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| Full point red | Begin | Half point white | ||
Winter Games
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Manic Miner
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Boulder Dash
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Spectrum Webring
