High Voltage SID Collection: Update #69
Date: June 23, 2018

Resulting Version: 69
 Previous Version: 68

After this update, the collection should contain 50,705 SID files!

This update features (all approximates):
     473 new SIDs
     811 fixed/better rips
       8 repeats/bad rips eliminated
    1176 SID credit fixes
      36 SID model/clock infos
       7 tunes from /DEMOS/UNKNOWN/ identified
       5 tunes from /GAMES/ identified
      17 tunes moved out of /DEMOS/ to their composers' directories
       5 tunes moved out of /GAMES/ to their composers' directories       

Summer has started, and we are proud to announce a new HVSC Update. This time
we have 473 new tunes which makes a total of 50,705 tunes in the collection.

We are always looking for others to help make HVSC a better collection.
If you find any errors or have new rips to add, please email:

 iAN CooG  <hvsc (sid) c64.org>

Thanks to all the people who have helped to make HVSC the collection that it
is today, without your help it would be a much tougher task.


SID RELATED NEWS:


###########
# DeepSID #
###########

DeepSID is an online SID player made by JCH of Vibrants. It emulates music
created for the Commodore 64 home computer. It supports nice features like:

- Toggling between WebSID/jsSID for SID emulation.
- Rating folders and SID files.
- SID player and year display for each song.
- STIL info.
- Search through HVSC/STIL.
- and much more.

More info can be found here: http://chordian.net/2018/05/12/deepsid/

For the online player, check out: http://deepsid.chordian.net/


############################
# Tiny'R'Sid HVSC Explorer #
############################

Jürgen Wothke released new features for the HVSC Explorer for his online SID
player WebSID.

Changes:

- New context menu allows to play the "complete" content of some folder.
- The added "shuffle mode" lets you play your playlists in random sequence.
- Share a song with your friends from your playlist.
- All tracks in the SID file will be expanded into the playlist when pressing
  the "shift" key while drag and dropping a song to the playlist.
- The player now supports WebAssembly which creates less CPU load and it is
  smaller in size.
  
Check it out: http://www.wothke.ch/tinyrsid/index.php/explorer?playlistId=115&autoplay=true


###################
# Hoxs64 v1.0.9.9 #
###################

Hoxs64 v1.0.9.9 has been released. Hoxs64 is a C64 emulator for Windows written
by David Horrocks.

Audio changes since version v1.0.9.5:

- Fixed audio clock sync sound bug that can happen when running a monitor 
  FPS that is less than the emulated FPS.
- Fixed audio clock sync that was causing slowdowns in windowed mode VBL sync.
- Updated 8580 SID combined wave form with improved samples from a real 8580R5.

Get the new version from: http://www.hoxs64.net/


#################
# Blackbird 1.2 #
#################

Blackbird belongs to a family of C64 music editors known as trackers, where
musical data is organised into tracks. The editor is made by Linus Åkesson and
it runs on the C64 itself.

Changes:

- Feature: Possible to mark .sid files as being compatible with both sid models.
- Bugfix: Editor allowed pulse-width operator '-' (it behaved like '+').
- Bugfix: Birdcruncher didn't handle blank tracks properly.
- Bugfix: Birdcruncher was applying the groove timing backwards.

Get the release from here: https://csdb.dk/release/?id=161554


##############
# CGSC v1.35 #
##############

The Compute Sidplayer Collection has been updated and contains now 15441 MUS
files, 4319 STR files and 5348 WDS files.

Get the collection here: http://www.c64music.co.uk/


############
# VICE 3.2 #
############

VICE 3.2 has been released. VICE is an open source cross-platform emulator of
several Commodore machines.

VICE also includes VSID which can be used to play SID files.

SID related changes:

- Added 4SID support.
- reSID: fixed envelope bugs shown by testprogs/SID/env_test/.

You can get VICE from here:

http://vice-emu.sourceforge.net/


#############################
# ACID 64 Player Pro V3.6.2 #
#############################

A new version of ACID64 has been released. ACID64 is a cycle based player for
Windows that can play SID tunes on sound devices with a real SID chip and via
network devices that emulate the SID chip, like JSidDevice that is part of
JSidplay2.

Changes in version 3.6.2:

- Ultimate device added to play SID and MUS files directly on a C64 via the
  network interface of the Ultimate cartridge II/II+ and Ultimate 64 board.
- Changing device when playing stereo files that read the SID will not crash
  JSIDDevice anymore.
- MUS files load range is now visible in properties dialog.
- Clock and voice bars can now be delayed for JSIDDevice and Ultimate devices.
- You can now press slash key everywhere to go to the search text box.
- Control + and Control - keys added for changing song in SID.
- Optimized network performance for network SID devices.
- Fix for pasting HVSC path into the search field.
- Included latest sidid.cfg
- Small fixes.

The new version can be found at: https//www.acid64.com


###################
# SID-Wizard v1.8 #
###################

Mihaly Horvath (Hermit) released a new version of SID-Wizard. SID Wizard is an
open-source C64 music tracker. This tracker runs on the C64 itself.

The following has been changed:

- Many fixes and changes made in the editor and exporter/converter.
  See ChangeLog.txt file in the manuals folder.

The new version can be downloaded here: https://csdb.dk/release/?id=165302


##################
# SID Visualizer #
##################

SID visualizer is an online program/player that shows a lot of the inner
workings of the SID chip while playing a tune. It has been improved recently by
JCH of Vibrants.

The following has been improved:

- Added pulse width boxes for each voice with a span of exactly 12 bits each.
- Darkened the filter cutoff box line color and tweaked its span to 11 bits.
- Widened the frequency boxes and tweaked it to show a wider range.
- Shrunk the sample boxes as they’re not as interesting as the other boxes.
- Added a stop button as the original one was just a pause (renamed that one).
- Switched the name and author lines.
- HQ mode is now sticky between songs and browser sessions.
- Added a different and bigger list of SID tunes.
  (you can still drag-and-drop your own files)
- Various minor tweaks of the layout.

More info: http://chordian.net/2018/03/18/improved-sid-visualizer/


###################
# Sidplay64 V1.21 #
###################

Sidplay64 is a C64 program made by GRG / Shape to play back SID files. You can
browse SID files from disk and it also has support for random playback of SIDs.
Sidplay64 has support for 1541 Ultimate I & II, REU, netdrive, iec, cmd, ide64
and Sd2iec.

The following has been changed:

- Added SIDFX card support.
- Added Chameleon support for two emulated sid chips.

Get it here: https://csdb.dk/release/?id=161475


################################
# The Ultimate SID Player V2.0 #
################################

The Ultimate SID Player V2.0 has been released for the 1541 Ultimate II/II+ and
for the Ultimate 64 board. The player can be found in firmware version 3.2. 

Changes:

- Rewritten player.
- Added displaying clock, song length, time bar and system info.
- Keyboard support for sub tune selection, fast forward and for returning to
  Ultimate menu.
- Added support for SIDFX (firmware 3.2a)
- Song length is now shown when SID collection contains SSL files. 
  Read the Songlengths.faq in HVSC for all info about how to generate SSL files
  and how to make the SONGLENGTHS folders hidden on the Ultimate device.
- Many improvements and fixes.

The latest firmware with the new player can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1541ultimate/


##############################################
# C64 48Khz HiFi Digi Player 1 for Easyflash #
##############################################

Antonio Savona made a 48Khz HiFi digi player for the Easyflash cartridge and
made a demo for it.

The encoder is based on vector quantization and can encode from ~3:1 to ~4:1
with no noticeable difference compared to the original.

The player runs on a C64 with an Easyflash or 1541 Ultimate cartridge installed.
Both SID models are supported.

Get the demo from here: https://csdb.dk/release/?id=162941

Also check the blog about it: https://brokenbytes.blogspot.com/


#############################################################
# SID 8580 vs. ArmSID vs. SwinSID Ultimate vs. SwinSID Nano #
#############################################################

kompjut0r made a blog about audio differences between:

- a real 8580R5 SID chip
- SwinSID Nano
- SwinSID Ultimate
- ArmSID

He recorded different SID tunes on each chip which operates in 8580 mode.

Compare yourself what the differences are:

https://kompjut0r.blogspot.com/2018/04/sid-8580-vs-armsid-vs-swinsid-ultimate_12.html


###################
# SID Known v1.15 #
###################

Wilfred Bos has released SID Known v1.15. This version supports now HVSC #69.
SID Known is a command line tool which you can use to identify SID tunes from
SID and PRG files.

This tool can be used if e.g. you want to know which SID tune is used in a
specific C64 demo or C64 game, or you have a SID tune found or ripped and you
want to know if it is already in your SID collection.

SID Known can be used to identify music but it also helps to find out which
tunes are not in the High Voltage SID Collection. If you find music not found
by SID Known, it would be appreciated if you report this to the HVSC crew
(https://hvsc.de) or post it in one of the CSDb forums (https://csdb.dk) like
"SIDs that aren't in HVSC yet".

Get the tool here: https://csdb.dk/release/?id=165725
