TherapSID

TherapSID is a dedicated SID performance synth built to pull every last ounce of bite, instability, and rude charm out of the legendary Commodore chip.

Hard-edged 8-bit character

This is not a polite nostalgia box. TherapSID is tuned for snarling leads, corroded bass, animated arpeggios, and textures that cut straight through a mix. The MKIII hardware update adds practical improvements where it matters, including DIN MIDI, quarter-inch outputs, and a power switch.

Deep hands-on control keeps the SID voice alive instead of locked into preset memory. Filter routing, modulation, arpeggiation, and CV interaction all stay close to the panel.

ASID playback and live remix

TherapSID can receive SID song data over the MIDI ASID protocol from compatible players such as Elektron ASID, DeepSID, VICE, and Sidplay variants. Instead of only playing the tune back, it lets you perform it: mute or solo chips and channels, force waveforms, sync and ring modulation, transpose pitch, reshape pulse width, and push ADSR, filter values, filter modes, and filter routes in real time.

A clean comparison mode lets you jump between the original SID playback and your remixed version, while reset controls can restore full groups or individual parameters. It turns classic SID files into playable material rather than static playback.

For players who already love the chip

TherapSID makes the most sense if you want a real SID-centered instrument, not a tribute. It is built for performance, patch movement, and aggressive presence.

Highlights

• Performance synthesizer for one or two compatible SID chips
• ASID protocol support for receiving SID song data from Elektron ASID, DeepSID, VICE, and Sidplay variants
• Real-time ASID remix controls for mutes, solos, waveforms, pitch, pulse width, ADSR, filter routing, and filter modes
• Analog multimode filter with flexible voice assignment
• CV and Gate connectivity for modular and hybrid setups
• LFOs and arpeggiator that sync to MIDI clock
• Preset storage with MIDI dump support
• DIN MIDI and quarter-inch outputs on the MKIII hardware revision
• Compatible with 6581, 6582/8580, and SwinSID families

Important

SID chips are not included with current units. If you already own compatible SID chips, Twisted Electrons can test and set them up for you.