Codex Gamicus
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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.

List of hardware by 2D graphical capabilities
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 2600Atari 7800 Mono 2 Noise, Pulse No 0 0 0
Sega Tone Generator Arcade (Sega Vic Dual)
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
1979 Atari POKEY ArcadeAtari 8-BitAtari 5200, Atari 7800 Mono 4 Noise, Square No 0 0 0
GI (General Instrument) AY-3-8914 Arcade, IntellivisionIntellivision II Mono 4 Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square
Namco Galaxian Sound Section Arcade (Namco Galaxian)[2] Mono 5 Noise, Pulse, Square
Sega Oscillator IC Sound Board Arcade (Sega Discrete Logic)[3] Mono 6 Noise, Pulse
1980 Digitalker MM54104 Arcade (Namco Galaxian, Zaccaria Scorpion) Mono 0 N/A DM (DPCM) 1 4 11
Namco King & Balloon Sound Section Arcade (Namco Galaxian)[4] Mono 5 Filter, Noise, Pulse, Square
GI AY-3-8910 ArcadeDECO 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
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
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
Harris HC-55516 CVSD Arcade (Irem M27, Williams Midway Y Unit) Mono 0 0 CVSD 1 1 24
Irem M27 Board Arcade (Irem M27)[8] Mono 8 Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square CVSD & Virtual PCM 3 4
Irem M27 Board Arcade (Irem M27)[9] Mono 8 Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square CVSD & 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
TI SN76489 DCSG Arcade, TI-99/4A, BBC MicroColecoVisionSega SG-1000 Mono 4 Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square
1982 Namco Audio II Board Arcade (Namco Pole Position)[12] Quad 8 Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Sawtooth, Square, Triangle DAC 1
GI AY-3-8912 ArcadeVectrex, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC Mono 4 Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Square No 0 0 0
TI SN76496 Arcade (Sega Z80, Sega System E), Sega Master System, Sega Mega Drive Mono 4
Sega Z80 Board Arcade (Sega Z80)[13] Mono 8
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 ArcadeMSX, Atari ST Mono 4 Envelope, Noise, Pulse, Sine, Square Virtual PCM 1 4 21

Notes

  1. Taito 597-907 Logic Board includes two sound chips:
    • Taito Sound Generator
    • Taito Amplifier
  2. Namco Galaxian sound section includes seven sound chips:
    • Namco Tone Generator
    • Namco LFSR
    • Namco NE555 x5
  3. Sega Oscillator IC Sound Board includes six custom Sega sound chips
  4. King & Balloon sound section includes eight sound chips:
    • Namco Galaxian sound section
      • Namco Tone Generator
      • Namco LFSR
      • Namco NE555 x5
    • Digitalker MM54104
    • Namco DAC
  5. Taito Z80 Board includes three sound chips:
    • Taito DAC
    • General Instrument AY-3-8910
    • Texas Instruments SN76477
  6. Konami's The End board includes:
    • 2x General Instrument AY-3-8910 @ 1.78975 MHz
  7. Sega USB (Universal Sound Board) includes:
    • Sega 8255
    • Sega Melody Generator
    • Sega DAC
    • General Instrument SP0250
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. Konami Scramble Logic Board includes:
    • 2x General Instrument AY-3-8910 @ 1.78975 MHz
    • 2x Konami RC @ 1.78975 MHz
  11. 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
  12. 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
  13. Sega Z80 board includes two sound chips:
    • Texas Instruments SN76496 @ 4 MHz
    • Texas Instruments SN76496 @ 2 MHz
  14. Irem M52-SOUND-C board includes four sound chips:
    • 2x Oki MSM5205 @ 384 kHz each
    • 2x General Instrument AY-3-8910 @ 895 kHz each

See also

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