SAA1099
| SAA1099 | |
 |
|
| Developer: | Philips |
| Released: | 1984-??-?? |
| Type: | Chip |
| Channels: | 1.) Square Wave/Noise |
The SAA1099 is a PSG designed by Philips around 1984. 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)
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.
The SAA1099 has also been used by in various arcade games and the System5 family.
Picture Gallery
A bare SAA1099P.
- Error creating thumbnail: File missing
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.
- Error creating thumbnail: File missing
A SAA1099P on a SAM Coupé mother board.
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 (Czech).
