Innovation SSI-2001

Innovation SSI-2001 is a sound card for IBM PC compatible computers introduced by the Innovation Computer Corporation in 1989.[1] Unique to its design was the use of the MOS Technology SID as its sound chip of choice.

Description

Modern replica of the Innovation SSI-2001 (Renovation SSI-2001)

The sound card was produced by Innovation Computer Corporation and was intended to compete with Adlib. It is an 8-bit ISA card, with a single mono RCA output connector and a game port. It has three groups of jumpers which enable or disable the game port, control its sensitivity and, change the card's base I/O port from the default 280hex to 2A0hex, 2C0hex or 2E0hex. During use, the card uses 32 I/O ports.

This sound card did not gain much popularity and was supported only by a few computer games.[2] Lack of support led to the discontinuation of production, and many of the cards released were later disassembled to harvest the SID chips for the Commodore 64.[3]

It is considered one of the rarest PC sound cards, with only about 10 copies of the original board known to exist worldwide.[4] Since 2015, DIY replicas have been designed.[5]

Emulation

Reverse emulation is currently possible: the DOSBox emulator supports Innovation SSI-2001 emulation, without the presence of a real device.[6]

References