Here’s a small but fun little project I’ve been working on recently that you can now purchase for yourself if it would be a good fit for your C64 rig.
I recently got a SX-64 which had a number of problems with it, one being the SID chip. After confirming that many secondary aspects of it were still operational but the internal analog synthesis had many problems, I figured it needed to be replaced… but not all is lost! I found this simple but effective hack where you could use both the old MOS6581 and a Nano SwinSID (which lacks paddle functionality and some other other secondary features) in tandem. Since I needed to get my hands on a SwinSID anyway (and preferred to not have a bunch of bodge wires running around), I figured I’d combine the two together into the Nano SwinSIDb Piggyback!
The schematic is almost entirely based on the original Nano SwinSIDb with a few small alterations and of course the piggyback hack baked in. So, it sounds 1 to 1 with any other SwinSID. If you’re looking to get an NSS anyway but don’t have a semi-operational SID chip to go along with it, this might still be a good option to pick up since you can always pick up a used & (semi-)broken one on Ebay to slot in at a later time.
This was a fun project for me to get a few boards produced and practice SMD soldering and ISP programming at scale. Plus, it’ll be the first project of mine 100% complete and on sale at the storefront! That’s pretty cool. Hope you like it. 🙂