A sound chip is an integrated circuit (i.e. "chip") designed to produce sound (see chiptune). It might be doing this through digital, analog or mixed-mode electronics. Sound chips normally contain things like oscillators, envelope controllers, samplers, filters and amplifiers.
List of sound chips by audio capabilities
This is a list of sound chips, as well as sound cards/boards (for arcades and computers), which often used multiple sound chips.
Year | Sound chip / card / board | System(s) | Output | PSG channels | PSG waveforms | Sampling | Max sample channels | Max sample bit depth | Max sample rate (kHz) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1975 | Taito 597-907 Logic Board | Arcade (Taito Discrete Logic, Midway 8080)[1] | Mono | 2 | Noise, Pulse | No | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1977 | Atari TIA | Atari 2600, Atari 7800 | Mono | 2 | Noise, Pulse | No | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sega Tone Generator | Arcade (Sega Vic Dual) | Mono | 2 | Noise, Pulse | No | ||||
1978 | Intel 8244 | Magnavox Odyssey² | Mono | 2 | Noise, Pulse | No | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TI (Texas Instruments) SN76477 | Arcade (Taito 8080, Midway 8080) | Mono | 2 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse | No | ||||
1979 | Atari POKEY | Arcade, Atari 8-Bit, Atari 5200, Atari 7800 | Mono | 4 | Noise, Square | No | 0 | 0 | 0 |
GI (General Instrument) AY-3-8914 | Arcade, Intellivision, Intellivision II | Mono | 4 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | No | ||||
Namco Galaxian Sound Section | Arcade (Namco Galaxian)[2] | Mono | 5 | Noise, Pulse, Square | No | ||||
Sega Oscillator IC Sound Board | Arcade (Sega Discrete Logic)[3] | Mono | 6 | Noise, Pulse | No | ||||
1980 | Digitalker MM54104 | Arcade (Namco Galaxian, Zaccaria Scorpion) | Mono | 1 | Filter | DM (DPCM) | 1 | 4 | 11 |
Namco King & Balloon Sound Section | Arcade (Namco Galaxian)[4] | Mono | 6 | Filter, Noise, Pulse, Square | DM (DPCM) | ||||
GI AY-3-8910 | Arcade, DECO Cassette System, Colour Genie, Oric 1, Elektor TV Games Computer | Mono | 4 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | Virtual PCM | 1 | 4 | 11 | |
Taito Z80 Board | Arcade (Taito Z80)[5] | Mono | 6 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | Virtual PCM | ||||
Konami The End Board | Arcade (Konami Scramble)[6] | Mono | 8 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | Virtual PCM | 2 | |||
MOS Technology VIC | Commodore VIC-1001 / VIC-20 | Mono | 4 | Noise, Square | No | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Namco WSG | Arcade (Namco Pac-Man, Namco Galaga, Namco Pole Position) | Mono | 4 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Sawtooth, Square, Triangle | No | ||||
1981 | GI SP0250 | Arcade (Sega G80) | Mono | 0 | N/A | LPC | 1 | 8 | 10 |
Sega USB (Universal Sound Board) | Arcade (Sega G80)[7] | Mono | 3 | Noise, Pulse, Square | LPC | ||||
Harris HC-55516 CVSD | Arcade (Irem M27, Williams Midway Y Unit) | Mono | 0 | 0 | CVSD (ADM) | 1 | 4 | 24 | |
Irem M27 Board | Arcade (Irem M27)[8] | Mono | 8 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | CVSD (ADM) & Virtual PCM | 3 | |||
Irem M27 Board | Arcade (Irem M27)[9] | Mono | 8 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | CVSD (ADM) & Virtual PCM | 3 | 4 | 24 | |
Konami Scramble Logic Board | Arcade (Konami Scramble)[10] | Mono | 6 | Envelope, Filter, Noise, Square | Virtual PCM | 2 | 4 | 11 | |
Mockingboard (AY-3-8910) | Apple II | Mono | 4 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | Virtual PCM | 1 | |||
Namco Galaga Board | Arcade (Namco Galaga)[11] | Mono | 4 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Sawtooth, Square, Triangle | No | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Sega 834-0123 Sound Board | Arcade (Sega VCO Object) | Stereo | 5 | Noise, Pulse, Square | No | ||||
TI SN76489 DCSG | Arcade, TI-99/4A, BBC Micro, ColecoVision, Sega SG-1000 | Mono | 4 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | PWM & Virtual PCM | 1 | 4 | 8 | |
1982 | Namco Audio II Board | Arcade (Namco Pole Position)[12] | Quad | 8 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Sawtooth, Square, Triangle | DAC | 1 | ||
GI AY-3-8912 | Arcade, Vectrex, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC | Mono | 4 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | No | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Sega SN76496 | Arcade (Sega Z80, Sega System E), Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive | Mono | 4 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | PWM & Virtual PCM | 1 | 4 | 8 | |
Sega Z80 Board | Arcade (Sega Z80)[13] | Mono | 8 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | PWM & Virtual PCM | 2 | |||
MOS Technology SID | Commodore MAX, CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 | Mono | 3 | Envelope, Filter, Noise, Pulse, Sawtooth, Triangle | Virtual PCM | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
Oki MSM5205 | Arcade (Irem M52, Data East Z80, Taito Unique, Capcom 68000), NEC PC Engine CD-ROM² | Mono | 0 | N/A | ADPCM | 1 | 12 | 32.1 | |
Irem M52-SOUND-C Board | Arcade (Irem M52)[14] | Mono | 6 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square | ADPCM & Virtual PCM | 4 | |||
1983 | Yamaha YM2149 | Arcade, MSX, Atari ST | Mono | 4 | Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Sine, Square | Virtual PCM | 1 | 4 | 21 |
Notes
- ↑ Taito 597-907 Logic Board includes two sound chips:
- Taito Sound Generator
- Taito Amplifier
- ↑ Namco Galaxian sound section includes seven sound chips:
- Namco Tone Generator
- Namco LFSR
- Namco NE555 x5
- ↑ Sega Oscillator IC Sound Board includes six custom Sega sound chips
- ↑ King & Balloon sound section includes eight sound chips:
- Namco Galaxian sound section
- Namco Tone Generator
- Namco LFSR
- Namco NE555 x5
- Digitalker MM54104
- Namco DAC
- Namco Galaxian sound section
- ↑ Taito Z80 Board includes three sound chips:
- Taito DAC
- General Instrument AY-3-8910
- Texas Instruments SN76477
- ↑ Konami's The End board includes:
- 2x General Instrument AY-3-8910 @ 1.78975 MHz
- ↑ Sega USB (Universal Sound Board) includes:
- Sega 8255
- Sega Melody Generator
- Sega DAC
- General Instrument SP0250
- ↑ Irem M27 arcade system board includes two sound boards:
- Irem M-27B Audio Board
- 2x General Instrument AY-8910
- Irem UE-17B Voice Board
- Harris HC-55516 CVSD
- Irem DAC
- Irem M-27B Audio Board
- ↑ Irem M27 arcade system board includes two sound boards:
- Irem M-27B Audio Board
- 2x General Instrument AY-8910
- Irem UE-17B Voice Board
- Harris HC-55516 CVSD
- Irem DAC
- Irem M-27B Audio Board
- ↑ Konami Scramble Logic Board includes:
- 2x General Instrument AY-3-8910 @ 1.78975 MHz
- 2x Konami RC @ 1.78975 MHz
- ↑ Namco Galaga board includes four sound chips:
- Namco WSG @ 3.1 MHz
- Namco 50xx Sound Sequencer @ 1.6 MHz
- Namco 52xx Audio Processor @ 1.6 MHz
- Namco 54xx Sounds @ 1.6 MHz
- ↑ Namco Audio II board includes four sound chips:
- Namco WSG @ 48 kHz
- Namco 52xx Audio Processor @ 1.6 MHz
- Namco 54xx Sounds @ 1.6 MHz
- Namco DAC
- ↑ Sega Z80 board includes two sound chips:
- Sega SN76496 @ 4 MHz
- Sega SN76496 @ 2 MHz
- ↑ Irem M52-SOUND-C board includes four sound chips:
- 2x Oki MSM5205 @ 384 kHz each
- 2x General Instrument AY-3-8910 @ 895 kHz each