Imagesource: https://lyonsden.net/

MP3 on the C64? No way. No, no, no.

And if you live in the same reality as I do, then you realize, that this should not be possible on any of the MOS65XX derivatives. Proof me wrong.

But: With the help of some external hardware it actually works! Steven Lyonsden - @LyonsdenBlog on Twitter - has recently found the proof for it, and presented the just mentioned piece of hardware together with the corresponding software to the world public. The actual hardware comes from an Italian developer named Pietro - unfortunately that's all we know about him. 😕

The piece of PCB, metal and plastic plugs into the userport. The actual core is a simple, probably chinese MP3 playback device. The MP3s are provided via SD card or via USB, but for the acoustic performance you definitely need your own amplifier. But with the help of the accompanying software, the playback works flawlessly, since all you do, is to control the signals which tell the hardware what to do, via the C64.

Sad that the device can't be delivered at the moment. Exciting project anyway.