Thanks @Boboulus ! Great to hear you scored a good deal on the real thing!
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Everything should work the exact same, it’s a fully functional plug and play replacement for sid chips. I’ve never used the external input on a sid station but you aren’t changing the fundamentals of your synth, just the sound source and it’s designed to replicate the original sound source so sonically it’s very close to the original. Being that it’s emulative you can even set it up to sound like an 8580 but I prefer the sound of the 6581 just because it’s a little more sizzly, like that “pew pew, lasers” sound, I don’t know how else to describe it, more nostalgic for me.
As far as functionality, I don’t think your sid station will know the difference, but if possible I’d encourage you to try and reseat the chip and if possible meet up with someone who has a sid synth or a c64 so you can verify your chip is bad, otherwise if you buy armsid and your synth still needs work I don’t want you to feel frustrated about spending money and waiting for a part you didn’t need. Otherwise, you could still preserve your chip and use an emulative chip instead just for the longevity of use. I already said it, but I really like armsid and it was easy to get a hold of the guy that makes them and get questions answered so it felt like I didn’t have much to worry about going forward.
Anyways the filters and everything are fully functional on my synth which has armsid chips in it so I can’t see any reason you would have trouble still using the filter input of the sid station.
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Because I’m new, the the Elektronauts forum system made me wait 24 hours before adding any additional replies. Just wanted to say thanks again to everyone for the incredible help and I’ll report back if I have any success!
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No problem, hope everything works out. Let us know what happens, I’m no expert but if I have any other answers that might make it easier I’ll do what I can to help.
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This forum is part of the discourse platform and there’s a pretty routine system for going from the first user level (0) to the next level and then beyond that. It’s mostly reading posts and doing a few specific things, it might be easier on you if you take a look at this. If you want to be active on the forum, it’s just helpful knowledge to have going forward. It won’t teach you everything, but at least to have knowledge of basic leveling up is pretty useful as a new user so if you have time you can check it out here:
Understanding Discourse Trust Levels
Also a really useful post to reference by @LyingDalai has some tricks for adding soundcloud links or using different approaches to formatting messages that may not make sense until you see them.
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Thank you, this is certainly a well thought out platform. That post by @LyingDalai Is a great resource–I’ll keep it handy. This seems like a great community. And good news, I was just alerted that I’ve made it to Level 1. On the way up! 
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baller 
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Can I just say, I appreciate anyone taking the time to keep older gear alive. Good job samSID
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!!! I almost can’t believe it yet, but I’m BACK IN BUSINESS!!!
I had a Commodore 64 that was in pretty bad shape and hadn’t worked maybe a couple decades. I didn’t think it would work but thought I would give it a shot…it turns out the SID chip was just waiting in there all this time to be given new life!!!
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I’m so excited to have the SidStation back! I downloaded some default patches from the Elektron website and am going to start exploring!
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This is awesome man, really didn’t expect such a quick turnaround but good work and too bad about your C64 but you could always buy a swinsid or an armsid and still use the commodore to play games!
haha sounds awesome too. I have a sid problem, I can’t get enough of that sound.
Budokan is a lot like the “last ninja” patch for MSSIAH.
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I definitely felt bad about pulling from the C64… but I haven’t gotten it to work for years. And I’d rather have the SID being used what it’s meant for. Yes, I figured I could resupply the C64 with a SID should it be brought back to life.
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From what I’ve read the commodore black screen can be a result of any chip failing so it’s tough for initial diagnosis, you were super lucky your sid chip was still good. Worked out for the best though, immediate joy.
Anyways, good update.
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Yes, I don’t even know where to begin on the C64 diagnosis and I know I’ll get a lot more use out of the SidStation even if I had them both up and running.
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Your help has been invaluable!! Thanks again! I’ve been poking around the forum a little bit, seems like a great community here!
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Yeah there’s nothing like the sid sound. Could listen all day… I’ve missed it!
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Sometimes in life one must choose between the lesser of 2 evils. I would say this time was a bit more cut and dry than one of those times. Not like you’re throwing away the breadbin. Spend some time collecting replacement chips, probably starting with the PLA chip (easy to find) or other socketed chips, you could replace a few things and see if it helps. If you still have the old fin style power supply it’s recommended you replace the voltage regulators so it doesn’t destroy your motherboard.
No problem, in the end you did all the work yourself but if the info helped put your mind at ease about a course of action I’m glad to have been able to help. I also like to see old gear get the love it deserves, keep your classics on the road.
It’s a nice forum, all sorts of folks with a lot of experience in different areas. It’s a nice resource even if you don’t post too often.
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I think I mentioned I’m just starting to learn to repair my equipment. The SidStation was the SEEMINGLY most monumental task I’d undertaken so far, but actually, it really turned out to be quite straightforward. Just a little bit of knowledge is what I needed.
Your last post makes me think perhaps the C64 can see life again one day!
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