SAA1099
| SAA1099 | |
 |
|
| Developer: | Philips |
| Released: | 1984-??-?? |
| Type: | Chip |
| Channels: | 1.) Square Wave/Noise |
The SAA1099 is a PSG designed by Philips around 1984.
Channels
The chip has the following features:
- Six 8-octave (256 tones per octave) tone generators
- Six tone/noise mixers
- Twelve amplitude controllers (2 per channel to give a stereo effect)
- Two noise generators
- Two envelope generators
- Two 6-channel mixers (one for each output)
Devices
The following sound cards and computer systems utilized the SAA1099:
| Release | Company | Device | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987-03-?? | Silicon Graphics | IRIS Professional 4D | Has an on-board SAA1099 for each computer in the series (50, 60, 70, 80, and 85). |
| 1987-08-?? | Creative | Creative Music System | Contains 2 SAA1099s. |
| 1988-10-?? | Silicon Graphics | IRIS Power 4D | Has an on-board SAA1099 for each computer in the series (1x0, 2x0, 3x0, and 4x0). |
| 1988-??-?? | Creative | Game Blaster | Contains 2 SAA1099s. |
| 1989-??-?? | Creative | Sound Blaster | Uses a YM3812, but has sockets for 2 SAA1099s for backward compatibility. |
| 1989-??-?? | Miles Gordon Technology | SAM Coupé | Has a single SAA1099 on the motherboard. |
The Sound Blaster 1.5 and Sound Blaster 2 both have empty chip slots for adding two SAA1099 chips for backward compatibility.
Games
The SAA1099 has also been used by in various arcade games and the System5 family.
Picture Gallery
A bare SAA1099P.
How the SAA1099 attaches to a SAM Coupé board.
Creative covered the two SAA1099s on the Creative Music System sound card with stickers that read "CMS-301."
The Game Blaster was just a re-branded Creative Music System.
The Sound Blaster 1 also had its SAA1099s covered.
A SAA1099P near the top left of a SAM Coupé motherboard.
A Sound Blaster 1.5 with optional SAA1099s added.
A Sound Blaster 2 with open slots for two SAA1099s.
Downloads
| Document | Download |
|---|---|
| Manual, 1984 | Download - (info) |
| Manual, 1986 | Download - (info) |
Emulation Status
The SAA1099 has been emulated numerous times:
- DOSBox - For Game Blaster emulation.
- MAME - Necessary to emulate various games.
- SimCoupé - A SAM Coupé emulator.
- SAASound - An SAA1099 emulator.
- SAAemu - An SAA1099 emulator.
Links
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips_SAA1099 - Wikipedia.
- onastick.clara.net/sound.htm - Adding a SAA1099 to a project.
- sgistuff.net/mirrors/4dfaq/#appendixB - Silicon Graphics usage of the SAA1099.
- velesoft.speccy.cz/saa1099-cz.htm - Adding an SAA1099 to a ZX Spectrum (in Czech).
