SIDKick pico by Frenetic is a microcontroller-based C64 SID replacement. Analog inputs for paddles and mice are available just as for the original SID.

SIDKick pico uses firmware similar to its “big brother” SIDKick. However, the pico variant is based on the Raspberry Pi Pico board that uses the RP2040 microcontroller which is much cheaper and has better availability than the Teensy that is used by the normal SIDKick.

Technical features:

• Dual 6581 and/or 8580 emulation based on reSID 0.16 (optional: extension for digi-playing techniques).
• 2nd-SID address at $d400, $d420, $d500, $d420 + $d500 simultaneously, $de00, $df00 ($d500 is not available on the C128), or any address when an external chip select signal is used (e.g. on Ultimate 64 boards).
• Paddle/Mouse support.
• Built-in configuration menu (launch with “SYS 54301″/”SYS 54333″, also from C128-mode).
• Sound output via PWM (mono) through the C64/C128 mainboard, or in stereo using a PCM5102A-DAC-board.
• Flashing RGB-LED (WS2812) on GPIO 23 (installed on some Pico-clones)

My personal opinion:

My personal opinion as an inveterate purist is that no emulation or implementation will have the sound performance of the native SID (6581/8580).

I can accept as a good implementation the FPGASid and ARMSid where the developers have done a really good job.

SIDKick defends itself well and is low cost, furthermore it’s Open Source, also has a nice feature that i appreciated a lot, it has integrated configuration software that can be run with a simple SYS in both C64 and 128 modes.

So my final opinion is most people will never notice any difference, but i assure you that the differences are there, so i recommend it to everyone unless you are a SID purist.

Note:

The audio output and emulation improves if you use the PCM5102A-DAC add-on card, in my test i chose not to use it because i wanted to show you a plug’n'play without too many cables, jacks and patches. Maybe it was better to include this additional module directly on the SIDKick PCB? probably yes.

The KIT was purchased from restore-store.de, fast shipping and impeccable service.

Gallery of the shipping box:

Gallery:

Video:

source: c64-wiki.com github.com/frntc/SIDKick-pico restore-store.de

Project born in 2017 for my SX-64++

I wanted to improve the schematics and make a PCB, the previous version was made on prototyping board pcb.

I have also added some features that i need when i will install the FPGASID in the SX-64++ and like the previous version the sidSwitcher integrates perfectly with the Overlay-64 & Keyman-64.

This circuit is not for sale. Schematics, Gerber and Atmel hex will be available soon for Download.

P.S: This project can also be used as a simple SPDT of analog audio signals. 2 INPUTS and 1 OUTPUT.

Features:

• Output for Overlay-64 (http://henning-liebenau.de/overlay64/)
• Input Push Button or Keyman-64 (http://henning-liebenau.de/keyman64/)
• Bicolor LED (SID1 GREEN / SID2 RED / SID1 + SID2 ORANGE)
• Output Mono or Stereo SID1 (LEFT+RIGHT / LEFT) / SID2 (LEFT+RIGHT / RIGHT) / SID1 + SID2 (LEFT+RIGHT / LEFT-RIGHT)
• Possibility to use the mute function.
• Jumper for configuration.

Schematics: (Prototype and Final):

The following photos are of the first version, second enhanced version, prototype breadboard and pcb.

Assembly and Replacement of the old DualSID with the MixSID.

Unlike the DualSID i had to replace the two electrolytic capacitors (see picture) because the PCB of the MixSID is much more big and the two capacitors hinders the right installation of the PCB in the SID socket.

For the technical specifications of MixSID go here

Gallery:

source: henning-bekel.de

This is a new version of the Java SidPlayer (Command line & Gui Interface). This Java applet should work on Mac OSX, Linux and Windoze.

Download here the latest updated version of the Java SidPlayer.

source: jsidplay2.sourceforge.net

ACID 64 Player Pro is the sequal of Acid 64 Player and is a cycle based Commodore 64 music player designed for playing SID tunes on sound cards/devices that have a real SID chip (6581/6582/8580) on board like the HardSID cards and HardSID 4U USB device.

ACID 64 emulates the MOS 6510 micro processor, the 6526 CIA chip and partially the 6569 VIC chip to run the code of a SID tune and it controls the SID chip on the device for playing the Commodore 64 music.

What’s new in version v3.2:

• JSidDevice v1.2 support, get the new version at the JSidplay2 site.
• Increased performance for building folder tree view.
• Seeking back for some tunes could lead to stopping the voice bars.
• Small improvements.

Download: ACID 64 Player PRO v3.2 (WIN32) (1549)

source: acid64.com

ACID 64 Player Pro is the sequal of Acid 64 Player and is a cycle based Commodore 64 music player designed for playing SID tunes on sound cards/devices that have a real SID chip (6581/6582/8580) on board like the HardSID cards and HardSID 4U USB device.

ACID 64 emulates the MOS 6510 micro processor, the 6526 CIA chip and partially the 6569 VIC chip to run the code of a SID tune and it controls the SID chip on the device for playing the Commodore 64 music.

What’s new in version v3.1:

• Stereo SID (2SID) support for: HardSID 4U, HardSID Quattro, multiple HardSID ISA/PCI cards.
• JSidDevice v1.1 (beta version is available at JSidplay2 site)
• Emulation improvements.
• SID ID configuration is now embedded and can be overwritten as a preference setting.
• Improved calculation of player speed.
• Improved SID search for some characters, re-index required.
• Made application UAC aware for Vista/Win7.
• Automatic device changes can now be locked via context menu.
• Many small improvements.

Download: ACID 64 Player PRO v3.1 (WIN32) (1490)

source: acid64.com

The Hybrid SID is a portable SID Player with a OLED LCD and a USB connector.

The Hybrid SID plays the most common variety of chiptunes, music written for playback on a SID chip. Probably the biggest collection of SID music is the High Voltage SID Collection, which has 36,000 SID tunes, free to download.

This prototype use a real SID chip (6581/8580) for play music and a CUI32 PIC32MX Development Stick for the CPU (6510) Emulation.

A YouTube video is available here.

source: dangerousprototypes.com

This is a great 8/16 Bit music player for Android OS.

Plays music from:

• Amiga tracker files (.mod .xm .it. .s3 .med)
• C64 (SID Player, HVSC #54 Songlength DB integrated)
• Nintendo SNES / NES / Gameboy
• Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) / Master System
• Amstrad CPC / ZX Spectrum / Atari Pokey

Features:

• Sleep timer.
• Volume boost.
• Shuffle.
• Direct seek within tracker formats.
• Fast forward for other formats.
• Not overloaded, just plays.

source: androidzoom.com

This is a new version of the Java SidPlayer (Command line & Gui Interface).

This Java applet should work on Mac OSX, Linux and Windoze.

Download here the latest final version v2.0 (Live Installer).

source: jsidplay2.sourceforge.net

ACID 64 Player Pro is the sequal of Acid 64 Player and is a cycle based Commodore 64 music player designed for playing SID tunes on sound cards/devices that have a real SID chip (6581/6582/8580) on board like the HardSID cards and HardSID 4U USB device.

ACID 64 emulates the MOS 6510 micro processor, the 6526 CIA chip and partially the 6569 VIC chip to run the code of a SID tune and it controls the SID chip on the device for playing the Commodore 64 music.

What’s new in version v3.0.4:

Read more…

This is a new version of the Java SidPlayer (Command line & Gui Interface).

This Java applet should work on Mac OSX, Linux and Windoze.

Download here the latest Beta Version (Live Installer).

source: jsidplay2.sourceforge.net

ACID 64 Player Pro is the sequal of Acid 64 Player and is a cycle based Commodore 64 music player designed for playing SID tunes on sound cards/devices that have a real SID chip (6581/6582/8580) on board like the HardSID cards and HardSID 4U USB device.

ACID 64 emulates the MOS 6510 micro processor, the 6526 CIA chip and partially the 6569 VIC chip to run the code of a SID tune and it controls the SID chip on the device for playing the Commodore 64 music.

What’s new in version v3.0.3:

New:

• Support for the new HardSID USB devices: Uno and UPlay.
• Auto detection of turned on/off USB devices.
• Added sorting on column of every grid.
• Emulated SID reading.

Improvements:

• When performing e.g. mute/unmute, filter on/off or pause then no time gap isn’t noticed anymore while playing on a USB device.
• Seek bar is always going smooth now and still synched with the 6510 CPU clock.
• Improved fast forward.
• HardSID.dll isn’t required anymore for USB devices.
• Many small improvements.

Fixes:

• Works now without administrator rights.
• When using dual monitor ACID 64 will now be centered on the screen instead of the desktop.

screenshot:

source: acid64.com