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Spencer Owen, designer of the favored RC2014 modular microcomputer, has set himself a problem to construct a brand new RC2014 module each month this 12 months — and the newest is a soundcard that avoids the necessity to discover salvaged AY sound chips: the Why Em-Ulator Sound module.
“I am nonetheless on observe for a brand new module each month in 2024, [and] I’m happy to announce that the RC2014 Why Em-Ulator Sound Module is now accessible at z80kits,” Owen says of the brand new board. “This does away with the reliance on outdated YM2149/AY-3-8910 or the gamble of shopping for pulled chips from eBay with AVR-AY firmware working on a [Microchip] ATMega [microcontroller].”
Hidden beneath an optionally available “camouflage” DIP chip is a microcontroller emulating a basic FM synthesis module. (📷: Z80Kits)
The Sound Module, because the title implies, provides an audio output to the RC2014, a modular retro-themed microcomputer, offering a extra handy solution to get synthesized music from the machine than boards which depend on sourcing ever-dwindling inventory of authentic Common Devices and Yamaha synthesis chips. “These chips have been out of manufacturing for many years, and NOS [New Old Stock] chips are very uncommon,” Owen explains. “Used chips which have been pulled from outdated methods can be found on eBay or AliExpress, [but] be warned that these is usually a little bit of a big gamble.”
The answer: emulation, with an onboard Microchip ATmega48P eight-bit microcontroller pretending to be a Common Devices AY-3-8910 or Yamaha YM2149 FM synthesis chip — without having for an authentic half. To the host system, the distinction between the emulator and the unique {hardware} needs to be imperceptible.
The module can act as a Yamaha YM2149 or Common Devices AY-3-8910, relying on firmware. (📷: Z80Kits)
For many who would like to keep away from seeing trendy surface-mount chips of their in any other case wholly through-hole RC2014, there’s even a non-functional DIP socket into which any 40-pin chip will be inserted to cover the microcontroller. “It is a good use for a non-functional YM2149 or AY-3-8910,” Owen writes of the camouflage characteristic. “Or why not use a 6502 and prank your mates!”
The Why Em-Ulator is now accessible on the Z80Kits retailer, priced at £21 in its default YM2149 1.7734MHz mode or £23 to be reflashed for increased clock speeds or in AY-3-8910 mode [around $26.50 and $29 respectively).
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