Most of the sound didn't come from the speaker.

March 18, 2013 2:19 PM

What emulators are there for the 80s 8-bit microcomputers, that simulate the incidental noises the machine makes — particularly, the sounds of the floppy drive?

I've only managed to find two, and they're both Apple II emulators for Mac OS X. I'm interested in emulators of any and all 8-bit micros, for any and all platforms, as long as they make that floppy drive noise.

The two that I've found:

• OpenEmulator (open source), which emulates the Apple I and Apple II, but not the //e.
• Virtual ][ (commercial), which emulates the Apple II and //e.

posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

this doesn't exactly answer your question, but there's the Museum of Endangered Sounds.
posted by TDIpod at 2:25 PM on March 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

Best answer: If you're prepared to relax your 8-bit requirement, then the Amiga emulator WinUAE will produce all the crunchy floppy noises you could need.
posted by punilux at 3:47 PM on March 18, 2013

Best answer: JavaCPC, if I remember correctly, makes all the right tape & disk noises that an Amstrad CPC used to make. The original used 3" disks, so it's quite a special sound.
posted by scruss at 4:22 PM on March 18, 2013

Response by poster: I shouldn't have said 8-bit. If WinUAE makes floppy noises now, it's definitely the sort of thing I'm looking for.
posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 4:45 PM on March 18, 2013

Best answer: (just gilding punilux's answer, since it's a cross-platform port of WinUAE: FS-UAE adds incredible detail to the Amiga grink-gronk floppy noises.)
posted by scruss at 5:34 PM on March 18, 2013