The SID-Kick Pico 2040 is  a cheap alternative to replace the 6581 or 8580 SID chip. Based on a Raspberry Pi Pico and the ReSID emulation, added with a load of extra features it really packs a punch.

First of all, this SIDKick Pico 2040 design is officially licensed from the creator. This is important because this ensures he is paid a royalty for each unit, which then supports him to develop further products. The PCBs reflect the Retro8bitshop.com name, which is an indication this is a fully licensed SIDKick. Even though the project is open source (you can find it at https://github.com/frntc/SIDKick-pico), reselling SIDKicks other than building a few for yourself and friends, is prohibited for commercial use. Unofficial SIDKicks will reflect this on the PCB as the public PCBWay project does not provide the Gerber files separately.

The features

• Drop in replacement for the 6581 and 8580.
• ReSid emulation with additional Digiboost option for the 8580.
• Stereo and FM options incl stereo spacing.
• Raspberry Pi Pico 2040 chip and DAC integrated on the pcb
• Hardware configurable to allow for both mainboard and external audio line-out connection
• Built in configuration menu (SYS54301) and option to add additional programs. (several demos and games already pre-installed).
• RGB Led on the Pico is enabled to react to the music.
• Available in “Basic” and in “Pro” mode, the latter comes with additional pinheaders installed and 2 grabber cables for a small extra fee.
• Programmed with the latest firmware. For firmware flashing, a separate adapter is required (not included). See the Github for details as there are multiple options.

What model should I choose?

• If you only want to replace a (broken) SID, choose the standard SIDKick-Pico 2040 “Mono”. It’s the simplest version, plugs right in and works out of the box and routes audio to the modulator and video port like a normal SID would. If desired you can very easily convert it to full stereo DAC capability by adding some pinheaders and address headers/cables.
• If you want to go all out, with stereo, FM and externally routed audio, choose the SIDKick-Pico 2040 “Pro”. To use stereo SIDs and/or FM, you need to attach a clip lead (2 are included with the Pro version) to make additional addresses available (most stereo sids use $D420 which requires one clip lead attached to A5). A full 3-wire audio cable to route audio externally is not included since there are so many different ways of connecting the DAC output to your speakers, but you can find ready made cables that go from 3 female pin headers to a female 3.5mm jack on Ebay or AliExpress for example.Important: the solder jumpers for both versions will be set for audio routing through mainboard and op-amp enabled. For DAC output only, you need to reconfigure and desolder two jumpers, which both are next to a very tiny SMD capacitor which can be easily dislodged by applying too much heat or slip with your soldering iron. If you do not want to risk it, ask us to configure for DAC output in a note when ordering. We will not honour warranty or provide support on failed soldering reconfigurations by the user. 
• Finally, please read the documentation available on the Github page before ordering:  https://github.com/frntc/SIDKick-pico