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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: drHirudo on December 15, 2011, 04:20:29 PM
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So far the C64 sound chip - The Sid was used in the Elektron SidStation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidstation) synthesizer, the Apple IIGS sound chip was used in the Ensonik SQ-80 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ensoniq_SQ-80) and the Ensonik ESQ-1 and Ensonik Mirage.
Recently I used to play a lot on my Korg PA50 synth and got interested in synthesizers and music, so I would like to know if there is any music synthesizer that is based on the Amiga Paula sound chip? So far I can not find any...
It would be a pity if the simpler machines like the C64 and the Apple IIGS got their sound chips used in professional audio equipment and the Paula to be left only in the vintage Amiga machines.
Or because the Paula is good for Digital sound while the Sid and the Ensoniq produce better Analog sounds, the latter were better suited for synthesizer music?
The Amiga had lot of trackers that can replace the synthesizers, but nothing can beat the real performance on the keyboard.
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Paula is complex beast that does a whole lot more than just Audio... It would have been/is much cheaper and easier to use a dedicated highspeed 8bit (or even 16bit) DAC, which would then have multiplexed to give the required number of channels...
Paula isn't like the audio chips of those "lesser" machines :)
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The audio portion of Paula is pretty much just a DAC. Without Agnus it doesn't do much.
the Apple IIGS sound chip was used in the Ensonik SQ-80 and the Ensonik ESQ-1 and Ensonik Mirage.
Because Apple chose an Ensoniq sound chip that was designed for synthesizers for the IIGS.
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I have a good buddy who makes custom instruments. SID chips are very handy but the other one he likes to get his hands on is from the old speak and spell machines. I don't have a clue what the chip is but by all accounts it is very useful. He's made custom synths, guitars and all manner of weirder machines, some of them for well known bands.
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Paula used in professional audio equipment?
Don't know the facts, but considering there's nothing special about Paula audio at all, I somehow doubt it (might be wrong :)).
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The guy who designed the SID chip went on to form Ensonic.
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Don't know the facts, but considering there's nothing special about Paula audio at all, I somehow doubt it (might be wrong :)).
Basically You are right... Paula is little more than 4 8-bit DACs, which have a fair amount of "colour" due to their implementation, but really a Synthesizer designer could put a simple 8resistor ladder and a single opamp in place of Paula for a fraction of the cost and probably better quality :-/