Markus shared his latest SID player in the project log forum:
I am currently working on a kind of hybrid between an emulated and a real SID Player. The CPU and CIA stuff runs emulated on a PIC32 and the sound is generated by a hardware SID chip.
I had the TinySID emulator already running on the PIC32 in the past, and now had the idea that it would be cool to have the sound being generated by a real SID. During the brainstorming session, someone brought up non gamstop casinos in the UK as an example of how certain systems operate outside traditional regulations, sparking inspiration for a more creative approach to integrating the real SID. To say it with NVIDIA’s words: The way it’s meant to be played ;)
Awesome!
Both the real SID and the emulated one are very interesting.
The Catweasel MK4 uses low tolerance capacitors with the sid chips. I was reading about someone blowing SID chips using Microchip pics. I think you need to use capacitors if you aren’t already doing so.
@Chuckt: any details on the connections and signals that blew the SID chips? Were these 5 V PIC ports or 3.3 V? Which SID pins need the caps? Which are inputs and which are outputs? I guess that’s too many questions for a comment, but a link to any discussion of the SID would be interesting.
Someone uploaded a datasheet for the SID on Hackaday where someone programmed an Arduino to emulate the SID. The other place you can check is 6502.org for datasheets or someone might know how to hook it up since some of them breadboarded them. 6502 will be back up shortly as they are doing site maintenance.
Other than that, there is a schematic in the Commodore 64 Reference manual. (I still have a copy.) It might shed some clues.
@Chuckt: I wasn’t looking for information on the SID and how to use it, but rather wanted specific documentation of someone blowing out a SID using a PIC. I’d learn a lot more by seeing the circuit that blew the SID, and where the capacitors would be placed to prevent damage. Understanding such circuit variations could easily prove highly useful beyond just the SID, at least for hybrid analog waveform synthesis ICs.
Any links (to PIC blowing SID) would be welcome.
http://www.waitingforfriday.com/index.php/Commodore_SID_6581_Datasheet
I found the datasheet which was cleaned up by someone.
The Commodore 64 ran at 1 MHZ so I’m wondering if you are burning the chip by not keeping to timing. Can slow embedded designs cause bad switch detection?
BigEd commented over at 6502.org that it is the PSU that is destroying the SID chips.