# Yamaha YM2164

> sound chip developed by Yamaha

**Wikidata**: [Q1972965](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1972965)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamaha_YM2164)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/yamaha-ym2164

## Summary
The Yamaha YM2164 is a sound chip—an integrated circuit for computer sound—developed and manufactured by Yamaha. It belongs to the broader class of sound chips used to generate audio in electronic devices.

## Key Facts
- **Manufacturer**: Yamaha Corporation
- **Entity Type**: Sound chip (integrated circuit for computer sound)
- **Wikidata Identifier**: Q8048400
- **Freebase ID**: /m/06w3wdz
- **Arabic Alias**: ياماها واي أم ٢١٦٤
- **Image File**: Available on Wikimedia Commons as YAMAHA-YM2164.jpg
- **Wikipedia Coverage**: 5 language editions (Arabic, English, Italian, Korean, Russian)
- **Subclass Of**: Sound chip
- **Sitelink Count**: 5 (across Wikimedia projects)

## FAQs
### Q: What exactly is the Yamaha YM2164?
A: It is an integrated circuit sound chip engineered by Yamaha to produce or process audio in electronic systems.

### Q: Who makes the YM2164?
A: Yamaha Corporation—best known for musical instruments and professional audio—manufactures the chip.

### Q: Where can I see what the chip looks like?
A: Wikimedia Commons hosts a photograph titled “YAMAHA-YM2164.jpg” that shows the physical package.

## Why It Matters
Sound chips such as the Yamaha YM2164 are the silent workhorses behind countless electronic audio experiences. By converting digital instructions into analog waveforms, they let microprocessor-controlled hardware—keyboards, arcade cabinets, home computers, and early sound cards—produce music and effects without bulky analog circuitry. Yamaha’s long-running expertise in FM-synthesis meant its chips set durability and quality benchmarks, influencing later audio standards and helping establish Japan’s dominance in consumer and pro-audio silicon. For historians, collectors, and restorers, identifying a specific Yamaha part number like YM2164 pinpoints the sonic palette an original device could deliver, aiding authentic repairs and faithful emulation.

## Notable For
- Part of Yamaha’s extensive family of purpose-built sound chips
- Recognized under a unique Freebase machine-ID (/m/06w3wdz) for linked-data queries
- Covered in five major Wikipedia language editions, indicating cross-cultural relevance
- Photographed example archived on Wikimedia Commons, providing a public visual reference

## Body
### Classification and Hierarchy  
The YM2164 is filed in Wikidata as a direct subclass of “sound chip,” itself a subclass of integrated circuits devoted to audio generation or processing. This places the device among Yamaha’s larger portfolio of ICs that shaped electronic sound from the late 1970s onward.

### Manufacturer Context  
Yamaha Corporation, originally a piano and reed-organ builder, leveraged its acoustics research to enter the semiconductor market during the digital-synthesis boom. The YM2164 represents one of many proprietary chips the company produced to embed its FM-synthesis technology into affordable consumer and professional hardware.

### Documentation and Public Records  
No internal datasheet excerpts or electrical specifications appear in the provided source material; only bibliographic metadata (Wikidata, Freebase, Wikipedia sitelinks, and an image) are verifiable.

## References

1. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013