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Commodore "SFX Series" Sound Expander, Sound Sampler, Music Keyboard


cbm/carts/SoundSamp.gif
A product of Commodore UK, the SFX series proported to bring the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 to new audio heights.

The Sound Sampler is certainly a good example of that. Audio digitizing is an interesting and useful endeavor for a computer, and the software provided is certainly easy to use. However, the software also only allows about 1.5 seconds of audio to be recorded, which is hardly good enough to do anything serious.

The Sound Expander is a bit of a mystery. The premise behind it is that you need an extra sound chip, and a better one, and this is it. However, while the first premise is questionable, the second one is flat false. The 6581 SID chip is legendary, and the Sound Expander does not top it. However, the quality from the Sound Expander is good, and while the provided software is not quite as nice as that which comes with the Sound Sampler, it is adequate to the job.

The Music Keyboard is a quality piece of work indeed. Coming complete with a Sound Expander system, a serious synthesizer-music fan can be quite satisfied with this full-sized music keyboard. Although this properly belongs with the input devices, since the keyboard only interfaces with the Sound Expander, and is part of the UK SFX series, I felt it belonged here.

The keyboard overlay, however, is here only because the full-sized keyboard is here.



cbm/carts/SoundExp.gif

Model     : Sound Expander
Type      : Extended audio capabilities
Resources : Includes external speaker port
Connection: C64/C128 Expansion port
Notes     :


cbm/carts/SoundSamp.gif

Model     : Sound Sampler
Type      : Audio Digitizer
Resources : Includes volume/noise dials, external speaker and mic ports
Connection: C64/C128 Expansion port
Notes     :


cbm/inputs/MusicKeyboard.gif

Model     : Music Keyboard
Type      : Piano-style keyboard
Resources : Includes Sound Expander cartridge
Connection: to Sound Expander
Notes     :


cbm/inputs/MusicKeyboardOverlay.gif

Model     : Music Maker
Type      : Piano-style keyboard overlay
Resources : Includes music sheets, software
Connection: Lays over breadbox C64 keyboard
Notes     : "When I'm 64."


cbm/inputs/MusicKeyboardOverlay128.gif

Model     : Music Maker 128
Type      : Piano-style keyboard overlay
Resources : Includes music sheets, software
Connection: Lays over C128 keyboard
Notes     :


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