I think this is a common misunderstanding; people don't realise Paula is just a sample playback chip. They hear it produce 'chip' music and assume it's being synthesised - it's an easy mistake to make.
If you want to recreate that 8 bit sound an old dedicated sampler like an Akai S2000 would do this 'out of the box' - one of the reasons they were used for old-school hiphop beats. They already have the midi gear and floppy/scsi interface built around them. Why reinvent the wheel?
Regardless of what others may say - the SID chip is unique. There weren't any pre-built synths that could sound anything like it; it was worthy of development into the SidStation.
