Games - SidStation

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	Games - SidStation

The SidStation is a musical synthesizer, built around the MOS Technology SID mixed-mode synthesizer chip originally used in the Commodore 64 home computer. It was produced by the Swedish synthesizer company Elektron, and was introduced in 1999. As the SID chip had not been manufactured for years, Elektron allegedly bought up nearly all the remaining stock.

The company built the SidStation until 2003, when their initial supply of SID chips ran out. The last 100 units sold were called the Final 100 Edition, and these SidStations were numbered from 100 to 1. Later on, in March 2005 an additional supply of SID chips were found and the company sold another 100 units for € 920, USD $950, or SEK 8200 each.

Throughout the years when SidStations were manufactured, the company kept the price in relation to the remaning stock, meaning that the initial sidstations were fairly cheap and later on when supplies ran dry, the price increased.

The appearance of the SidStation is retro and features a small LCD-display where the sound editing is done, four assignable knobs, a keypad and a controller wheel.

Different models of sidstations

Besides the standard grey model of SidStation, two other models exist. The beta models of SidStations used by Elektron and their beta testers had a shining red color. It is doubtful that any of these exist outside the actual company and their beta-test partners.

Elektron also sold fifty black SidStation units, which had black aluminum casing and blue LEDs, contrary to the original green ones, called the Ninja Edition. This model also came with a different set of sound patches.

Sound of the SidStation

The sound of SidStation is of course very similar to the one of the original Commodore 64. Some people have argued that a key difference is that the SidStation produces a more noisy output than the original (mainly due to the fact that supposedly the videochip of the C64 is responsible for the noise of the SID chip and that you can turn it off on the C64) however this remains unconfirmed as Elektron states that SidStation produces a cleaner output than the C64.

The SidStation is capable of producing all the waveforms of the C64, Triangle, Saw, Pulse, Mix (which is a mix between Saw and Pulse) and Noise. Besides this is the synth, a 4-part LFO-modulation system which can be used with Lowpass, Highpass, Bandpass and various combinations of these filters. All of these are controllable by the four knobs on top of the SidStation.

Technical Specifications

MOS6581 SID-synthesis
Brushed aluminium casing
Alphanumeric backlit 2x16 LCD display
MIDI 3*DIN5P In/Out/Thru
1/4" line level audio out
1/4" line level audio in (routed through SID-filter)
Dimensions: 240W x 70H x 200D
Powerful and user-friendly SidStation OS
Three oscillators, phase accumulation synthesis
All oscillators syncable (ringmodulation and synchronization)
Sweepable pulsewidth modulation
Resonant multi-mode analogue filter
Portamento, individual for all oscillators
Variable interval-independent portamento time
Unique wavetable function in form of 3-track mini-sequencer
Flexible 4-part LFO modulation system
Extensive MIDI support

Trivia

Some musicans who bought SidStations have been known to put the SID-chip from their own C64's into the SidStation due to the fact that each sid-chip was manufactured with some inaccuracy, making the chips sound "personal".

Bands that use SidStations

Machinae Supremacy
auto-auto
code 64
Zombie Nation

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for SidStation ]

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