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Commodore_Free_Issue_16_2008_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64
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2023-02-26
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u
Interview with Tli Sndo - HardSID 4U
www.hardsid.com
Q. Please introduce yourself to our
readers
A. We're two Middle Eastern - European
guys with ordinary daytime jobs. We
love the SID/C64 & we're spending some
of our spare time to create SID devices
Q. Can you give our reader a little
history about yourselves?
A. We always loved SID music, since our
childhood. Things then changed: PCs &
monitors displaced C64s & big TV sets.
There were only emulators & emulators..
We seriously missed the SID sound, but
had no plenty of space to assemble an
original config day to day, then put it
back into the cabinet. So, we wanted to
create an ISA card that work inside the
PC & uses a real SID. We spent lots of
time achieving this. ..then the ISA bus
was displaced by the PCI bus & we had
to move on. Now that Notebook sales are
reported to be higher than desktop PC
sales over the world, we had to
release an external device.
Q. for the benefit of the uninitiated
"What is a HARDSID"?
A. HardSID 4U is a USB device for PCs
that hosts real SID chips. It has 2
main purposes:
1. Using it as a serious VSTi
synthesizer to produce music in
professional studios.
2. Playing the original SID tunes & C64
games with the original sound.
All with the original 25yrs old SIDs
with their analog filters. There are
two meanings of '4U' is: 1. Sounds like
'for you!' 2. Two chars representing: 4
SIDs on USB
Q. Can you describe the history of the
project, where did it all start?
Well, this is a duplicate question, I
think ;)
Q. So are the original Hardsid cards
available?
A. We have some ISA/PCI cards to keep
for the future, but we don't build
ISA/PCI cards now.
Q. The original cards were PCI & ISA
these were for IBM PC systems only?
A. Yes. Once we created Mac OS X
drivers too for listening to old SID
music & playing C64 games, but very few
people were interested in the end. So,
we stuck at the PC since then.
Q. SO why release the HardsidU?
A. The HardSID 4U can be connected to
notebooks too which are the most
popular computers today. ..the HardSID
4U has a seriously improved hardware.
It has two CPUs & main memory, so it
can act as a VST synth or a cycle-
accurate classic SID music player. This
all wasn't possible at such good
quality With former SID hardware.
Q. The whole thing is an external sound
module with Real SID chips inside?
A. Exactly.
Q. How many SID chips & what kind can
be incorporated in the device?
A. 4 SIDs. Any version (6581,8580,6582)
in any combination.
Q. You include a VST front end can you
explain this part of the package?
A. It's like any other VSTi synth,
except it drives semi-analog hardware
instead of calculating wave data for
the VST host. It can be driven by any
ASIO driver inside a VST host
application. It renders SID register
data for the hardware at 8000Hz data
rate (on any register). So it can even
render samples to the volume register
or things like that. It can run in up
to 4 instances. Each instance drives
one SID.
Q. So why not just create a VST
instrument modelled on the SID chip
whats the difference?
A. Why would you want to drive a real
car when you have a simulator? It's not
the same..
Q. Will the module be populated with
SID chips?
A. Yes, after April 2008. Until then we
offer very special prices by pre-
ordering without SID chips.
Q. Some readers are going to ask "with
the shortage of SID chips why didnt you
just produce some more"?
A. Because we're just two guys like
anyone else ..& people say that the
original method of producing those
original SIDs in the old time does not
exist now ...& re-designed, differently
manufactured SIDs will be not the same
either. Only if some company would dig
the old manufacturing methods out from
somewhere, that would be the real
solution.
Q. Do you think there ever will come a
time when someone looks at the SID &
realises its potential redesigns the
chip & produces a modern day version in
a buy off the shelf keyboard?
A. I don't think so. Mainly because of
the very low number of available SIDs
..like I said, re-manufactured super
-SIDs will just be another emulation..
Q. You do all these projects in your
spare time?
A. Yes. We both have ordinary daytime
jobs, like anyone else you know. ..&
the most important thing: families.
Yesterday morning, when I checked our
website's MP3s (I've uploaded that
night) in our living-room on decent
size JBL speakers, my 2 year old son
just said: "It's too loud!" So, I'll
have to train him seriously to start
enjoying SID music ;)
Q. Did many Commercial musicians us the
Hard SIDs?
A. I've got the impression that a lot
more successful musicians are using
HardSIDs than we can know of.. Most of
them will never confess officially.
Q. Can you plug your website & give our
readers a price for your new product?
Please check www.hardsid.com
Also, check the pricing at:
http://www.hardsid.com/order.php
Q. Did you have many problems with the
design?
A. Of course. This kind of development
isn't described anywhere. You have to
go the whole way yourself. ..which is
looooong..
Q. Why create a USB interfaced box what
was wrong with PCI cards?
A. Like I said, notebook connectivity,
improved hardware. Serious VSTi &
cycle-accurate playback capabilities.
This all was missing before.
Q. Does the package software & hardware
run on any other computer systems?
Linux, Apple Mac, Amiga & if not do you
have plans to include these?
A. It is compatible with Windows OSs.
Were not planning to move to other OSs
currently. Maybe we will (Linux
maybe?), but not in the near future.
Q. I posed the question in one issue of
Commodore FREE Will sid chart, do you
think a tune produced entirely on a C64
with minimal external processing could
ever make the charts?
A. If I had to answer to this question
some years before, I would say it is
insane....now I'm not sure that I won't
happen.
Q. How many people are involved with
the project?
A. Only 2: My childhood friend makes
the hardware, I'm doing everything else
(firmware, drivers, VST plugin,
website, etc...). Of course we work
seriously in touch, since he has to
design everything depending on my needs
& I have to code things depending on
his actual solutions.
Regards,
Tli Sndor, Hard Software