Retro sound chips appreciation page

Alianger · Post by **Alianger** » 2018-02-02, 14:54:16

I've added a page for the Oki MSM6295 chip: http://minirevver.weebly.com/msm6295-music.html

After the top 3, quality goes downhill pretty quickly it seems. I was surprised by how bad Donpachi sounds.

Also updated the yearly lists accordingly and did some minor tweaks here and there.

Alianger · Post by **Alianger** » 2018-03-04, 14:04:49

Latest additions:
-A Namco C219 Page: http://minirevver.weebly.com/namco-c219-music.html

-I took a detour and made a top list of 1980s composers & arrangers based on the top picks from each sound chip page: http://minirevver.weebly.com/top-composers-1980s.html

-Updated the main page with picture links, to make it easier to navigate for newcomers (hover over a pic to see what system it is if you're still not sure): http://minirevver.weebly.com/impressive ... -chip.html

-A QSound page: http://minirevver.weebly.com/qsound-music.html

I think QSound was a pretty big leap forward in terms of sound design for Capcom in particular, most of it being on par with good SNES music or better. A lot of it also sounds very similar though, and guitars still tend to sound kinda mechanical and/or in-between guitar and synth brass. If you're into jazz rock, fusion or 90s dance, most of this stuff is worth a listen.

Alianger · Post by **Alianger** » 2018-05-30, 12:34:55

Latest additions:
-Namco C352 page: http://minirevver.weebly.com/namco-c352-music.html
-Sega MultiPCM page: http://minirevver.weebly.com/sega-multipcm-music.html
-N64 page: http://minirevver.weebly.com/n64-music.html
-1998 page: http://minirevver.weebly.com/vgm-1998.html

Edit:
Finished a first draft of the 1999 page and updated the SB page accordingly:
https://minirevver.weebly.com/vgm-1999.html
https://minirevver.weebly.com/sound-bla ... music.html
1999 YT playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6UHAYE ... 7o_xrqVQzw

Also added 64DD games.

Alianger · Post by **Alianger** » 2018-06-11, 2:21:55

Added an OPL4/YMF278B page (ARC, PC, MSX2+):
https://minirevver.weebly.com/ymf278bopl4-music.html#

The Bombaman homebrew is probably the best example, but only uses 16 of 24 sample channels and no FM. Potentially the list could be a lot longer with it being general midi compatible, but there isn't much online it seems.

Added a page for the OTIS/ES5505 chip (ARC) and updated the yearly lists:
https://minirevver.weebly.com/es5505otis-music.html#

Added an ES5506/OTTO chip page (ARC, PC) and updated the yearly lists:
https://minirevver.weebly.com/es5506otto-music.html

Added a first draft for a YMZ280B/PCMD8 (ARC) page and updated the yearly lists:
https://minirevver.weebly.com/ymz280bpcmd8-music.html#

grauw · Post by **grauw** » 2018-06-11, 19:14:27

Like Bombaman, Pumpkin Adventure 3 and Sonyc are also scene productions. The MoonSound OPL4 expansion cartridge was released after the commercial lifetime of MSX. Not sure why they should be categorised differently though, they’re good games (especially the first two). Only Sonyc is MSX2+ by the way, the others are MSX2 games.

You may also find Dutch MoonSound Veterans interesting: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... SybaLPtKSc

ctr · Post by **ctr** » 2018-06-11, 23:33:46

the OPL4 being "general MIDI compatible" really only refers to the external sample ROM, which is pretty much identical to what was used on the TG-100 MIDI tone generator. Using the PC OPL4 with this sample ROM and Yamaha's drivers would pretty much give the same result as if you were using an external TG-100. That sample rom was also hardwired in the PC sound cards, with very few actually supporting external memory.

The arcade games using the OPL4 aren't really very interesting either, with Psikyo using a rather boring MIDI sequencer and Metro also not touching on the capabilities. If anything, Fuuki at least made use of both the FM and PCM...

Alianger · Post by **Alianger** » 2018-06-14, 22:18:36

I see, I'll add some info on that then. Well, even if not among the very best examples there are so few examples to go by for OPL4 and I'm trying to be all inclusive, so they end up pretty high on the list anyway in this particular case. Can't say I agree with The Fallen Angels not being interesting though.

grauw wrote:Like Bombaman, Pumpkin Adventure 3 and Sonyc are also scene productions. The MoonSound OPL4 expansion cartridge was released after the commercial lifetime of MSX. Not sure why they should be categorised differently though, they’re good games (especially the first two). Only Sonyc is MSX2+ by the way, the others are MSX2 games.

You may also find Dutch MoonSound Veterans interesting: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... SybaLPtKSc

Oh, yeah I think I'll change that list around a bit then. The homebrew sections are mainly intended for more recent, non-game examples which I didn't think was fair to bunch together with game OSTs.

Thanks, I thought MSX2+ was a requirement for OPL4.

Alianger · Post by **Alianger** » 2019-02-25, 13:38:27

Been a while since I posted here. The latest addition has been the completion of a first draft of the SCSP/Saturn page: https://minirevver.weebly.com/ymf292saturn-music.html
Ended up making a quick guide to audio formats used on Saturn, which is still WIP: https://minirevver.weebly.com/audio-for ... games.html

Since I'm separating streaming audio for Saturn, maybe I should do that for N64 as well though I don't know how to check such games yet.

Yearly pages were updated accordingly. Also since it'll get lost in the discussion in another forum thread, I decided to incorporate my comments on individual OSTs from 1984-1989 into the yearly lists pages. I wouldn't mind posting other people's thoughts as well if there's an interest in that, just try to keep the main criteria in mind.

Enjoy!

https://minirevver.weebly.com/vgm-1984.html

Edit:
Added BSMT2000 and DCS Sound System pages and updated the yearly lists accordingly.
https://minirevver.weebly.com/impressiv ... -chip.html

cetera · Post by **cetera** » 2023-07-06, 17:23:51

this is awesome, thanks

fusoxide · Post by **fusoxide** » 2023-07-10, 15:16:55

Maybe there could be a page on Yamaha SMAF sound chips? Those were used on mobile phones throughout the 2000s, and later iterations have interesting features like reverb and text-to-speech. While they were mostly used to play ringtones, they did get used in some mobile games, although I feel there's more ringtones that make interesting use of them; some examples:

ValerieWest · Post by **ValerieWest** » 2023-07-11, 4:37:38

Alianger wrote:Is there good info on the Konami K054539 anywhere?

You can go to Sites like Arcade-Projects or MAMEWorld Forum