MOS Technology 6581

MOS Technology sound chip MOS Technology SIDs. The left chip is a 6581. The right chip is an 8580. CSG stands for Commodore Semiconductor Group. The numbers 3884 and 0692 are in WWYY form, i.e. the chips were produced week 38 of 1984 and week 06 of 1992. The last number is assumed to be a batch number. The MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID (Sound Interface Device) is the built-in programmable sound generator chip of the Commodore 64, Commodore CBM-II, Commodore 128, and MAX Machine home computers. Together with the VIC-II graphics chip, the SID was instrumental in making the C64 the best-selling home computer in history, and is partly credited for initiating the demoscene. The SID was an advanced design for the era, compared to competing sound chips like Atari's POKEY or the widely used General Instrument AY-3-8910 and Texas Instruments SN76489. In contrast to those chips, which were aimed at producing simple sound effects and music for games and similar purposes, the SID is better described as a single-chip music synthesizer. It included common synthesizer features like ADSR envelope controls, the ability to modulate channels with each other, and filters. These features allowed the SID