It’s not specifically for music, but I can imagine people doing amazing chiptune music with this and some old trackers.
Compatible with most old software and peripherals, but also includes HDMI, USB and Wi-Fi. It seems it also have a couple SID chips sockets.
Wow, real SID? Isn’t there is a shortage of them?
Looks like it doesn’t come with any installed:
Audio: 2 × SID sockets (6581/8580) with auto voltage and filter detection
It comes with UltiSID octal core FPGA SID emulation so you don’t need real SID-chips but have the possibility to add them for the real deal 
I have a few for my TherapSid so this is a bit tempting. But I already have a C64 and a C128 so not in dire need… but it would be cool to be able to have one just for the sake of it
Oh, missed this detail. Yes, there are two sockets, but not two chips, only an emulation.
Armsid have made a good sid substitute for me. I do have real sid in my breadbin but I’m using a pair of armsid in my chip synth (midisid) and they sound really good to me. They can emulate either sid type as well.
I probably won’t be buying any more commodore machines at the moment but I was a little tempted by the custom colored cases that popped up recently to coincide with the new cbm ultimate release.
In the end I decided that half of what gives me those nostalgic feelings looking at a c64 is the iconic tan colored breadbin so while I may change my tune if the clear cases come back in stock, I’m still pretty happy with the original commodore appearance even now
I run two ARMSIDs in my Ultimate Elite II based C64. I couldn’t be happier with their output. The built-in SID emulations on the board are excellent too, but I still like having those sockets populated, so I run the ARMSIDs. I absolutely love the C64C I’ve built, but I still want an additional Commodore branded modern 64. I love that Retro Recifractics bought the company. So cool!
Since I have the C style case, it would be cool to also have the bin style, so I’ll definitely be picking one up once they’re readily available. If I hadn’t just built one, I’d back it early, but I only have so much in the C64 budget currently. 
What I find intriguing about this version of C64 is that it has internet connectivity. The C64 community could start using everything the internet can offer for their new projects. I know there are still hardcore C64 folks who do current stuff with them (to the extent the HW allows). Now you can haz www based online MUD games with LLM on the server side, its the kind of childhood fantasy which never existed before… You could watch youtube videos and everything, if crazy people adopt this tech (sound quality would be super lofi and video res something super retro, plus would probably require server side conversion of the videos somehow)
Well, if is just for making chiptunes, you can also the MIDISID route, though replacing the factory chips for ARMSIDs may be a good idea.
I think this is more about having the full C64 experience but with a modern take. Hopefully it will open up for even more chiptune artists that will be able to have a true way of doing it but for most it’s probably to go on a journey of memory’s 
Hi. New here
I was thinking of this as well, but waiting for the first batch reviews later this year.
I had a C64 growing up and loved the old sid music.
Apparently the emulation seems very good, but I was thinking to score a real
sid chip. They are available here and there, even on ebay.
Interesting to see how this turns out for music making
I bought from a guy on EBay who ships from Hungary and is really great. So if you ever want to get some SIDs let me know and I can point you in his direction, that is if you are living in Europe
People are VERY particular about their SID chips. Personally I’ve always preferred the 8580 (later version) which has an overall cleaner sound. On my original C64C, I modded it to boost up the sample playback and changed out the filter caps so I had the best of both worlds. 8580 music, boosted samples, etc.
I just love SID chips and SID tunes in general. Give me the SID, I’ll find a way to enjoy it.
All of that said, I REALLY love the ARMSIDs, and I think they’re the perfect modern replacement. They sound excellent, and are quite flexible in how they’re set up on the Ultimate Elite II boards at least. IMO they provide a much wider range of SID sounds than either of the original SID chips do.
I sold off all of my SID chips a while back. Had some 8580s, 6581 R4s, 6581 R3s, and some 6581s that had no revision marking, so not sure which rev those were. Just didn’t feel like they were needed anymore.
The SID is all digital except for the filter anyway, so other than sample playback amplitude and analog filter characteristics (which are all pretty well modeled now) there’s really only so many differences.
Original purists will argue against that all day most likely, but I have zero complaints with the ARMSIDs.
My complaint would be that you can’t configure ARMSID without any extra hardware. How good are they at their default state?
I never bothered to configure my Armsid beyond their default state and I’ve always thought that they were great. Also, the way that they were designed is pretty smart because I had a brief conversation with them about it and the chips know whether to use a 6581 or 8580 profile based on the voltage you provide. Anything under 10V supplied to the chip will give you an 8580 emulation and anything over 10V gets the 6581 emulation, however from my understanding you can reconfigure this behavior if you do go through the setup process.
It’s been a few years since I purchased mine so haven’t observed the recent prices but when I bought them I remember thinking that despite being more expensive than Swinsid, that it was quite a good deal for the quality of sound and reliability.
I have heard someone note that the pins are fragile, but that wasn’t my experience with them so I guess maybe if you do a lot of chip swapping then that might be something to keep in mind.
They completed the order and shipped very quickly as well, going through the manufacturer atleast. I ordered directly from retrocomp.cz
The 6502 on FPGA – plus most of the circuit board !
Here are the tech specs:
Core: AMD Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA
Memory: Memory: 128MB DDR2 RAM (16 MB system, 16 MB REU, 16 MB GeoRAM (soon), remaining MB RAM Disk), 16MB NOR flash
Video:
Audio:
Controls:
Storage & Compatibility:
Keyboard:
Lighting:
Had a Spectrum and had many an argument with Commodore owners about which was the best! Wasn’t until I got my Amiga that I realised they were probably right! Still, loved my Spectrum!
