Sound chip

A sound chip is an integrated circuit (chip) designed to produce audio signals through digital, analog or mixed-mode electronics. Sound chips normally contain audio components such as oscillators, envelope generators, envelope controllers, samplers, filters and amplifiers.

History
A number of sound synthesis methods for electronically producing sound were devised during the late 20th century. These include programmable sound generators (PSG), wavetable synthesis, and frequency modulation synthesis (FM synthesis). Such sound chips were widely used in arcade game system boards, video game consoles, home computers and digital synthesizers.

Since the late-1990s, pulse-code modulation (PCM) sampling has been the standard for many sound chips, as used in the Intel High Definition Audio (IHDA) standard of 2004. The PCM sampling method is used in many mobile phones and sound cards for personal computers.

Projects

 * Sound Off by Steve Ciarcia, Byte, July 1979, pp. 35-51, circuits for SN76477 and AY-3-8910 ICs