SID 6581

Sound Interface Device

Other names for this product: SID6581, MOS6581,

Courtesy/Thanks to:

Description: Description of the SID6581 chip from the Elektron SIDstation owners manual:
In 1983, Commodore released the Commodore 64. It was a home computer based around the 6510 microprocessor and a couple of custom chips. It soon became very popular and played a major part in shaping the computer gaming industry.

During the development of the Commodore 64, Bob Yannes (who later founded Ensoniq) was approached by Commodore to help develop a custom sound chip for their home computers. He created possibly the most flexible sound system ever to be used in a home computer.

The SID-chip is capable of three-note polyphony, with one programmable filter, ring modulation and oscillator hard synchronisation. Each channel can use
one of 4 waveforms: Triangle, Sawtooth, Pulse and Noise (it was soon found that the Triangle and Pulse waveforms could be combined to a different strange sound – in the SidStation this waveform is called "Mixedâ"). But the characteristics of the SID-chip are much more than can be seen in specifications. It's wonderful lo-fi distorting filter, beautiful pulsesweep and dramatic ringmodulation effects - it all has to be experienced.