The Atari ST was released (in 1984) before the Amiga 1000 (in 1985) and was designed around being a low cost 16-bit computer. The Amiga 500, which was a much cl

The Atari ST was released (in 1984) before the Amiga 1000 (in 1985) and was designed around being a low cost 16-bit computer. The Amiga 500, which was a much closer competitor to the Atari ST in terms of target market, was released in 1987. Back at that time, 2 to 3 years was a big jump in terms of the processing performance you could get for your money. Sadly (I say this as an Amiga fan), the Paula sound chip was never upgraded, I believe it's the same in all Amigas, even the AGA ones. In some ways it's a testament to the capabilities of the Paula sound chip, but it's also just another example of Commodore squandering their technological lead. There were plans to go down the DSP route with the A3000+, but that machine never materialised, leaving the Atari Falcon as the best sounding 16-bit computer (IMO, of course).