SID 6581/8580 (Sound Interface Device) reference

SID register set:
    7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
$D400 (W)FREQLO1 Channel 1 Frequency Low-Byte
$D401 (W)FREQHI1 Channel 1 Frequency High-Byte
$D402 (W)PWLO1 Channel 1 Pulse Width (PW7-0)
$D403 (W)PWHI1 unused Channel 1 Pulse Width (PW11-8)
$D404 (W)CR1 NOISE PULSE SAW TRI TEST RING SYNC GATE
$D405 (W)AD1 Channel 1 Attack Channel 1 Decay
$D406 (W)SR1 Channel 1 Sustain Channel 1 Release
$D407 (W)FREQLO2 Channel 2 Frequency Low-Byte
$D408 (W)FREQHI2 Channel 2 Frequency High-Byte
$D409 (W)PWLO2 Channel 2 Pulse Width (PW7-0)
$D40A (W)PWHI2 unused Channel 2 Pulse Width (PW11-8)
$D40B (W)CR2 NOISE PULSE SAW TRI TEST RING SYNC GATE
$D40C (W)AD2 Channel 2 Attack Channel 2 Decay
$D40D (W)SR2 Channel 2 Sustain Channel 2 Release
$D40E (W)FREQLO3 Channel 3 Frequency Low-Byte
$D40F (W)FREQHI3 Channel 3 Frequency High-Byte
$D410 (W)PWLO3 Channel 3 Pulse Width (PW7-0)
$D411 (W)PWHI3 unused Channel 3 Pulse Width (PW11-8)
$D412 (W)CR3 NOISE PULSE SAW TRI TEST RING SYNC GATE
$D413 (W)AD3 Channel 3 Attack Channel 3 Decay
$D414 (W)SR3 Channel 3 Sustain Channel 3 Release
$D415 (W)FCLO unused Filter Cutoff Low (FC2-FC0)
$D416 (W)FCHI Filter Cutoff High (FC10-FC3)
$D417 (W)Res/Filt Filter Resonance Filt Ex Filt 3 Filt 2 Filt 1
$D418 (W)Mode/Vol Chan 3 Off High Pass Band Pass Low Pass Volume
$D419 (R)POTX Potentiometer X
$D41A (R)POTY Potentiometer Y
$D41B (R)OSC3 Channel 3 Oscillator
$D41C (R)ENV3 Channel 3 Envelope


Frequency:

The frequency registers of the SID are written with a 16 bit value which is added to the oscillator every clock cycle. Calculating a frequency register value for a given frequency can be done using these formulas:

PAL:  x = f * (18*2^24)/17734475   (0 - 3848 Hz)
NTSC: x = f * (14*2^24)/14318182   (0 - 3995 Hz)


Waveforms:

The SID offers four basic waveforms which can be selected by the control register of each channel.

Triangle:Triangle
 
Sawtooth:Sawtooth
 
Pulse:Pulse
 
Noise:Noise


Pulse width:

The pulse waveform offers additional control via the 12 bit pulse width registers which are available for every channel. A value of $800 will result in a square wave.

$400Pulse width 25%
 
$800Pulse width 50%
 
$C00Pulse width 75%


Noise waveform LFSR:

The noise waveform of the SID is generated by a simple 23 bit LFSR. On shifting, bit 0 is filled with bit 22 EXOR bit 17.
Unlike the other waveforms, the noise waveform does not use the topmost 8 bits for output. The 8 bits of the noise waveform are assembled from bits 20, 18, 14, 11, 9, 5, 2 and 0 of the oscillator.


Playing a sound:

1. Set frequency and ADSR, and in case you use the pulse wave also set the pulse width.
2. Set the waveform and the GATE bit in the control register. Setting the gate bit will start the ADSR envelope generator.
3. Wait for as long as you wish the note to be played.
4. Clear gate bit. This will start the release phase of the ADSR.


© 2009-2014 Graham

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