Atari Sound with POKEY

Playing with POKEY

Everyone always says that the Commodore 64 with its impressive SID chip had the best sound capabilities of all 8-bit computers. The SID chip certainly was impressive, especially for music. After all, its designers went on to found Ensoniq, the digital synthesizer company!

But to me music is only part of the appeal of 8-bit sound. Sure, SID played some impressive tunes, but I always thought that video game sounds on the Commodore 64 felt a bit off.

For example, take a listen to Pac-Man on the C64: