You say, "10 leds+5 pushbuttons+4 chipcorder = 19 i/o
O.k. now have a 28 pins PIC wich will give you about 20-25 i/o. PIC16F870 PIC16F872,PIC18F2220 could be great choices."

On the final device we have 10 LEDs and 3 push buttons, not five so that is 13 plus whatever is required for the sound and I assume four is okay so that is 17, round to 18 for good measure and because you probably can't get a PIC with 17 I/O ports. There is still 5 total sounds, but not 5 buttons.

NONE of the three buttons will directly address the sound chip. Everything will need to route through the PIC as with each sound there will be different LED configurations to worry about as well.

So, am I right then that 18 ports will be the way to go?

I do not think there will be room for any onboard testing equipment for playback. That is fine for the recording pcb though.

What is this for the recording end of it?

"Edge connector with ICSP capability"

I assume this just means a way for me to run out of the PC with an audio cable and into the sound chip recording circuit?

I'm at work right now so can't spend a bunch of of time looking at spec sheets. I gather from your comments that the 4000 series has a different way to address instead of the 5 ports on the others? I'm getting from you that there is one port which will be the trigger to play and three lines we'll be using for the addressing?

And all this can be done with basic and NOT pro versions of the picbasic?

Thanks.

Bart