Two Commodore 64 sound chips get a USB connection to modern computers

A maker who goes by LouD built a board that plugs real Commodore 64 sound chips into a modern computer. USBSID-Pico “bridges real MOS 6581/8580 SID chips (and SID hardware replacements) to USB, MIDI, WebUSB, and ASID via a Raspberry Pi Pico,” according to its Hackaday.io project page, and it drives up to two chips at once, with four on the way.

The SID is the chip that gave the C64 its sound, and Hackaday’s Tyler August calls it “the die that launched a thousand chiptunes.” The board takes an original 6581 or 8580, or a modern replacement such as ARMSID or FPGASID. The project page lists Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and AmigaOS, and WebUSB lets a web browser play through it.

The reason to bother with real chips is the sound. Hackaday writes that some people say the physical chip’s own inaccuracies give it “a unique vibe emulators don’t match,” the same argument tube amplifier fans make about their gear. Hackaday leaves that fight for others and points out the project is certified as Open Source Hardware.

The project started at home. LouD writes that it was inspired by an older brother who repairs Commodore 64s, and LouD wanted to hear the SID tunes already listened to on the computer, and “maybe even play them through a real SID chip.” It’s now an entry in Hackaday’s 2026 Retrocomputing Challenge.

If there’s an old SID chip in your drawer, or a C64 that won’t boot, this gives that chip a job again. Hackaday warns that PAL and NTSC differences can leave your music out of tune, and that these chips haven’t been made in decades. If you’d rather not pull one out of a working C64, a hardware replacement goes in the same socket.

The SID chip outlived the computer it was built for, and with this board it can play through an Android phone or a browser tab.