Catweasel MK4 - Awesome 4 SIDs!
 

Just got my new Catweasel MK4 in the comp with dual SIDs connected. What a result! It sounds wonderful, absolutely perfect in every respect. Very pleased here. I can't believe the difference in sound quality from the emulated version of SID. Just waiting for stereo SID support from Acid64 now. MK3/4 support will be included in the next release of SIDplay2/w. As I have asked Simon White politely to release an unofficial HardSID.dll for testing.

If anyone needs to get a spare 6581/8580 SID chip, then I would recommend you visit this site.

http://www.samcoupe.com

This guy builds his own SID interfaces for use in the SAM, but he also sells the SIDs separately at £9 each. Fully tested including postage, extremely nice guy.

thanks for that :) just ordered my 6581. Atm is Acid64 the only prog that supports the Catweasel ?

Yay!! got my SID this morning.. it`s in there and working lovely!!
Actually.. I read somewhere, can`t remember.. erm... I`m listening to Cybernoid right now... if I turn the filter on.. it takes out half the channels??


EDIT: also no samples either?? eh

You know, ask Bos for the experimental stereo beta version. :)

Who ? and why the stereo version.. I don`t have two SID`s to use that.. just want to know why I can`t play samples! :(

I always leave the filter on. Samples play perfect for me. Maybe your SID is faulty? Did you set the jumpers correctly?

Stereo sound is awesome.

aww
 

I put my 6581 in the slot nearest the backplate.. thats correct isn`t it ? also jumpered it as per the pic :( :(

The vertical slot is correct for single SID playback. I think your SID chip maybe faulty. Do you have all four voices ticked?

yeah I do have them all checked!! maybe I should get in touch with samcoupe.com !


Ok. I found out the problem.. I was using PSID files not RSID ??? news to me.. then again I used to emulate.. so...

all working now :)
thanks for your help anyways

Does anyone here know if this samcoupe place sells good sids? I did a bit of reading over at www.hardsid.com and according to them its possible to obtain faulty sids, not all the channels work and stuff like that! I just want to make sure!

He tests all the SID chips he acquires. I have bought two SID chips from him and both work perfectly. The only problem with the SID chip is the filter, some filters sound different then others. This was due to the manufacturing process, the filter was never perfected in time when the C64 was released. As a consequence, finding a perfect SID and filter is hard. They say Martin Galway had a perfect SID chip.

:D glad to hear the samcoupe guy tests the chips!

I dont really know much about these sid chips, didnt realise they were different to each other... I bet that Galways sid is worth a bit nowadays :D

How would I use the sids once plugged into the catweasel? I assume c64 emulators will use them yes?

Yes, the C64 emulator called VICE supports the Catweasel and for normal playback just use Acid64.

www.viceteam.org

Excellent :D

I just got a reply from the samcoupe chap, He has written a util that fully test's the chip for faults!

I don`t think Samcoupe has any more 6581`s left.. I thought I had a problem with mine and was offered a refund as he didn`t have any more!..... unless he`s got some more in of course ;)

And I have one that is almost identical in sound. :)

I have a HardSID Quattro with 3 x 6581s and an 8580. The 8580 is very clean and is good for modern synthesis. The 6581s have varying filters: weedy (Hubbard), medium (Galway), extreme (Dunn). It's good to have the balance because some SIDs sound totally different on different chips. For example, the weedy chip plays Rob Hubbard tunes that sound far better than on the other chips or with reSID, so the filter probably matches the one that he had. The extreme chip plays David Dunn tunes really well (these tunes sound totally different on each one to the extent that you can't even hear some of the sounds on the "wrong" chip). David Dunn's stuff is amazing on the right chip. Really superb use of the filter. Such a shame that hardly anybody has heard them properly. And of course, my medium chip sound just like Martin's does on the recording from his own SID chip on Project Galway.

As far as using for music creation, again the balance is good. The cleanliness of the 8580 is useful, as are the extra waveforms that are present, but with the 6581s you can shove up the resonance and distort the filter, getting some really amazing dirty sounds.

I got one SID chip with the card and got the others from C64s bought from car boot sales.

A HardSID Quattro is highly recommended.

The HardSID Quattro supports true stereo sid output? I personally think the Quattro is a little too high in price for me for what it is. You only need two sids for true stereo output, hence my Catweasel choice.

This is rather interesting :)

I have two 8580's on order but does anyone know where I can obtain a pair of 6581's? I shall be wanting some later...

Also with two sid's in the catweasel, can I control it somehow.. with midi? or maybe software like reason or octamed soundstudio?

I have a spare 6581 revision 2 chip that I bought from Colin at Samcoupe. It works perfect but the filter does not match my other "Martin Galway" sid chip.

Would you be able to sample those different filter types? I am very interested in how they sound. Myself, I prefer the Galway filter type. How does the mixed output sound with your sid combination?