SidStation

SidStation
SidStation, standard model
Manufacturer	Elektron
Dates	1999 - 2006
Price	US$950
Technical specifications
Polyphony	1 or 3
Timbrality	Monotimbral
Oscillator	3
LFO	4
Synthesis type	Analog Subtractive
Filter	1 (analog)
Input/output
Keyboard	numeric keypad
Left-hand control	4x realtime rotaries
External control	MIDI

The Elektron SidStation is a musical synthesizer sound module, built around the MOS Technology SID mixed-mode synthesizer chip originally used in the Commodore 64 home computer. It was produced by the Swedish synthesizer company Elektron, and was introduced in 1999. As the SID chip had not been manufactured for years, Elektron allegedly bought up nearly all the remaining stock.

The company built the SidStation until 2003, when their initial supply of SID chips ran out. The last 100 units sold, the Final 100 Edition, were laser etched with a number on the front panel's bottom-left corner and sold in descending order from 100 to 1. In March 2005, Elektron claimed to have encountered an additional supply of 100 SID chips and produced 100 SidStation units, selling them for € 920, USD $950, or SEK 8200 each.

In late 2006, Elektron claimed that "100 became 200", and the prices were raised once again. This marks the third time that an additional 100 chips were being produced, each time claiming to be the "final run". This (and the fact that some aftermarket clones of original SID chips exist) has raised skepticism as to how scarce the supply actually is, and which run is actually the final run. However, since January 18, 2007 no new SidStations have been shipped.

As SidStations are manufactured, the company keeps the price in relation to the demand, meaning that the initial SidStations were fairly cheap and later on, when the device was more sought-after, the price increased.

The appearance of the SidStation is retro and features a small LCD-display where the sound editing is done, four assignable knobs, a keypad and a controller wheel.

Besides the standard grey model of SidStation, two other models exist. The beta models of SidStations used by Elektron and their beta testers had a shining red color. Around twelve red units were made and approximately half of them were sold to early customers and beta-test partners. Some of these partners sold their units at a later time giving a handful of metallic red SidStations being owned by private people. Besides the color, these beta machines had a slightly more aggressive character due to some voltages running higher in the filter section, as well as certain beta-testing modes and the ability to upgrade the firmware to a greater extent.