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Synthesizers, Commodore 64 Style

Posted by Hemos on from the pretty-damn-cool-hack dept.

A reader writes: "Elektron, a little company in Sweden, has been selling a MIDI synthesizer module based on the MOS 6581 SID chip pulled out of old Commodore 64 Computers, called the Sidstation. It's pretty slick looking, and makes some pretty amazing bleeps and blurps. Its complete with an operating system which controls a huge number of features of the SID chip, and even a little built-in sequencer. They've been manufacturing these things for almost 2 years now, but but they are about to stop production (roughly a little over 100 units left), due to the lack of SID chips around."

1 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. If you can't get enough of the SID sound.. by Myself · · Score: 4

    You should have a HardSID card in your PC. Because sometimes, emulation just doesn't cut it.

    http://www.hardsid.com/

    Having blown up my own SID chip at the age of 11 while trying to wire it directly to an amplifier (to avoid the distortion caused by the RF mod/dem stages of the TV), I can claim to be a true fan of the sound these chips make. The emulation you'll find now is pretty good, but very CPU-intensive. Still, nothing beats the real thing.

    P.S. I don't get money from these guys; I don't even know them. I just think it's cool.