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M1 Arcade Music Player

Current version: 0.79a1 (released on 2012-04-26)

Technical discussion about the VGM format, and all the software you need to handle VGM files.

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  • MagikGimp Offline
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Post by MagikGimp »

Thanks for your replies guys. Some very interesting tips to follow up on as I catch up with things.
Rotating Username wrote:What do you mean by "it no longer works properly"? It's been nearly a decade since either program was updated, and about a year since a release of an XML or list pack. On Windows 10, m1 & BridgeM1 still work about as well as they always have, as far as I can tell. Are you talking about the inevitable redumping and/or renaming of the ROMs, or am I missing something?
The software runs without problems on Windows 10, no doubt. What I was referring to, as I expect you well know, is that Bridge doesn't play almost anything as it can't read the lists properly (so only plays the first entry) and while M1 alone does play the tracks, it doesn't play them correctly (there's interference played over the song) although it can use lists albeit in a cumbersome way. If I was using older ROMs then there'd be no problem but too much has changed since between the last builds & dumps now.

Or is this just me? Are you guys able to play v0.185 ROMs without that interference I mentioned?

Post by Kaminari »

I'm using Tafoid's latest M1 playlist pack without any particular problem. Yes it's one year old, but I don't think many ROM dumps have changed since then.
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Post by MagikGimp »

Me too, but you're not getting any sound problems? Wonder what's the problem on my end then? I tried using Compatibility mode for Windows 7 but it crashed (didn't crash without)! I'll stick to VGM/Z files in Winamp for now...
Last edited by MagikGimp on 2017-06-17, 1:48:52, edited 1 time in total.

Post by Kaminari »

Have you tried changing the sample rate? I remember having occasional distorsions when using any frequency other than 44100 Hz. I've also disabled Normalize Output.
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Post by MagikGimp »

The default is 41,000 and none of the command line parameters seem to even work. I don't know what's up with it; I must have set up something wrong if you're not getting any problems. It sounds pretty funny sometimes actually. But wait...!
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I have another drive in this computer which I can dual-boot into XP from which has its own installation of M1. In fact I don't even need to boot XP to run it. And lo and behold, it plays fine. The beginning of some sound effects are cut off but that might be a Bridge thing. OK, let's compare files with WinMerge...
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Same up to date ROMs by the way. The build is an older one (2008), the lists are older although some haven't changed and some have been added while others removed since then.

So, what's wrong with this new version (which I found on this site)? Have I set it up wrong? :?
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Post by MagikGimp »

Turns out it was the .dll file of the new version that was the culprit. I have zero clue as to why this is. The new .exe works with the old .dll just fine and Bridge plays songs properly using it. Hope this is of some help!!
  • Paul999 Offline
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Post by Paul999 »

You need a rip of VGM in your Korean company of these are called SunA, SemiCom and Excellent Soft Design (ESD), because they are video games arcade, and more than update the version of M1 Arcade Music Player. :wink:
It's me! PS999
I'm really working and doing...
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My HDD USB is working on the PC home, now I'm back! I can work to the rip.
  • ctr Offline
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Post by ctr »

State your demands here and then watch those get ignored because M1 isn't updated anymore.

Post by Rotating Username »

Quite a few of these Korean arcade games use music shamelessly copied from other games chips that are already well emulated in M1, and could probably be added to the XML with enough trial and error. Some custom drivers might be tricky or even insurmountable, but I think it's mainly a lack of interest in non-Japanese titles, not a shortcoming of the software itself.

I'm actually surprised that no one seems to have set up a wiki for adding new entries to the XML, filling out playlists and documenting the more opaque technical bits. The same goes for HOOT. All this basic data could be easily shared and compiled. But instead, people seem to rely on new information surfacing from places like 2ch....?
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Issue with vgm-logging in M1

Post by ArcadeTV »

I wanted to complete all the missing Neo Geo packs and ran into an issue with M1.
As you can see in the attached screenshot, there's something added to the vgm that looks like chopped samples right before the sound starts. They are hearable on playback and sound like clicking or popping. Mame on the other hand doesn't add this to the vgm, but is less comfortable to log compared to M1.
This is present on all vgm's that I logged so far. Of course trimming the vgm gets rid of this, but often some samples do not play on start in the trimmed file when the edit-point is set too close to the starting-point of the note/sample.

Can anybody suggest a solution for this?
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Post by ctr »

I could think of two possible reasons here:

1. M1 emulation is old and/or inaccurate.
2. M1 plays music by requesting two sound codes in short succession. This would cause a "pop" that is actually part of the previous sound.

My suggestion is still to use MAME. You can make logging easier by using the Universe BIOS, enter the jukebox by pressing A+B+C during the boot screen. You can then play all the music in one log, though with some silence between the logs, and then split the VGM either manually or using vgm_sptd or vgm_spts (see the vgmtools readme on how to use those tools)

The sound codes in the Unibios jukebox should match with the M1 playlist files, though they are always shown in hexadecimals in unibios while M1 playlists can be either hex or decimal.
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Post by ArcadeTV »

Yes, I would use the unibios' jukebox if M1 won't suit, but I think I found something that helps:
In vgm_trim.exe there's a "state" parameter, which helps with samples not played in the beginning.
Just tried and now I'm able to trim the popping away and still have a complete and correct playback :-)

Thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated!!
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Post by ValleyBell »

Please, please don't use M1 for logging when you can avoid it.
Especially stuff like those pops is just half-hidden by vgm_trim and if you're unlucky it comes back.

Using MAME + vgm_sptd/spts should be almost as comfortable to use as M1. (except for missing tags maybe)
And it's also more accurate.

Post by slickmandela »

Ugh, M1. I can't believe that was ever considered "good". VGM is far superior when it comes to playing arcade music.
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Post by ArcadeTV »

Could you think of any way to test if a certain sound-code actually plays something?
In Unibios Jukebox one would have to go through all values by trial'n'error, there has to be a better way.
I tried looking through some "M" roms if there were any obvious lookup-tables but no luck...
It would be great to have a script or something that lists all sound-codes that actually play a sound.

Well, I guess since there are at least more than two sound drivers in existance (ADK MML and Mr.Pac) there's no way to have a general solution for this, right?
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