Contents1 Introduction2 Concept3 Features4 6581 Pin Configuration5 Description6 6581 SID Block Diagram7 SID Control Registers8 SID Register Description

8.1 Voice 1

8.1.1 Freq Lo/Freq Hi (Registers 00-01)8.1.2 PW Lo/PW Hi (Registers 02-03)8.1.3 Control Register (Register 04)8.1.4 Attack/Decay (Register 05)8.1.5 Sustain/Release (Register 06)

8.2 Voice 28.3 Voice 38.4 Filter

8.4.1 FC Lo/FC Hi (Registers $15, $16)8.4.2 RES/Filt (Register $17)8.4.3 Mode/Vol (Register $18)

8.5 Misc

8.5.1 POTX (Register $19)8.5.2 POTY (Register $1A)8.5.3 OSC 3/RANDOM (Register $1B)8.5.4 ENV 3 (Register $1C)

9 SID Pin Description10 6581 SID Characteristics

10.1 Absolute Maximum Ratings10.2 Comment

11 6581 (SID) Timing12 Appendix A - Equal-Tempered Musical Scale Values13 Appendix B - SID Envelope Generators14 Appendix C - Typical 6581 SID Application

Introduction

This article is a reproduction of the original Commodore 6581 Sound Interface Device (SID) datasheet. I made thisby taking a photocopy of an original document and using OCR to capture the content, then the document washand-edited, formatted for mediawiki and reassembled here with (cleaned-up and straightened) diagrams andtables.

The reason for this was that most sources on the web are low quality PDFs and, since the documents are graphicalcopies of the original, they cannot be searched or indexed. The SID chip is a complex device, so I hope anyonedeveloping projects around this device will find this mediawiki format datasheet useful.

Since it was converted mainly by hand (OCR is not terribly accurate!) I would appreciate it if you could notify meof any errors or omissions you find so I can make this as accurate as possible. If you would like to make a copy ofthis document please note the Creative Commons licence referenced at the bottom of the page.

Concept

The 6581 Sound Interface Device (SID) is a single-chip, 3-voice electronic music synthesizer/sound effectsgenerator compatible with the 65XX and similar microprocessor families. SID provides wide-range, high-resolutioncontrol of pitch (frequency), tone color (harmonic content) and dynamics (volume). Specialized control circuitryminimizes software overhead, facilitating use in arcade/home video games and low-cost musical instruments.

Features

3 Tone Oscillators

Range: 0-4 kHz4 Waveforms per Oscillator

TriangleSawtoothVariable PulseNoise

3 Amplitude Modulators

Range: 48 dB3 Envelope Generators

Exponential responseAttack Rate: 2mS-8SDecay Rate: 6mS-24SSustain level: 0-peak volumeRelease Rate: 6mS-24S

Oscillator SynchronizationRing ModulationProgrammable Filter

Cutoff range: 30 Hz-12 kHz12 dB/octave RolloffLow pass, Band pass, High pass, Notch outputsVariable Resonance

Master Volume Control

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Commodore SID 6581 Datasheet

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