Is the Genesis sound chips one of the best matches for music

[DinnerX]

I have more fond memories of genesis music, but the SNES definitely sounded clearer and sharper.

like others have already mentioned, i thought the soundtracks to the streets of rage and sonic games were fantastic. i can't think of any SNES games that had tunes that were as catchy as those. but to be fair to the snes, its actual sound effects (punching and kicking, etc) were usually much clearer than its genesis counterparts.

The SNES has always sounded muffled to me. I'm astounded by the people saying it sounded clear and sharp.

Maybe some people have crappy genesis model revisions.

[Jrecee]

Tempo's in the house tonight. . . I was just thinking about that song the other day and how if I were to start singing it, there's about a 1 in 10000000 chance that anyone would have any idea what it was from.

[Lodestar]

I have more fond memories of genesis music, but the SNES definitely sounded clearer and sharper.

like others have already mentioned, i thought the soundtracks to the streets of rage and sonic games were fantastic. i can't think of any SNES games that had tunes that were as catchy as those. but to be fair to the snes, its actual sound effects (punching and kicking, etc) were usually much clearer than its genesis counterparts.

The SNES has always sounded muffled to me. I'm astounded by the people saying it sounded clear and sharp.

Sounds pretty clear with distinguished high frequencies to me, but ultimately it depends on how the composer mixed the music, I can think of some really rough sounding music for the SNES that sounds muffled like you say:

[Redifer]

Two of my videos have already been linked to in this thread! (Genesis/Mega Drive voice examples which features voices from real Genesis games and Genesis/Mega Drive Digital Audio Examples which is about how good the Genesis can sound when put to the absolute limit... every sound in the video, including the narration was made by my Model 1 Genesis launch unit).

Anyway, as a Sega fanboy of sorts, I will say that it absolutely depends on the person in charge of the sound. Most western developers thought of sound as an afterthought so we got some pretty crappy stuff. To me it often sounded like a kazoo when they tried to imitate an electric guitar. Or maybe a buzzsaw. Either way it was very painful on the ears.

But sometimes, when someone competent in their craft is behind the wheel, the Genesis chip will blow you away. Midnight Resistance sounds a crap-ton better than the arcade for example:

Genesis music (Another one of my videos)

Arcade music (Not my video)

So the with the Genesis you get what you put into it. Little effort, crappy sound. So I feel the developers are to blame for the crappy sounding games, not the hardware itself.

And yes, I feel that there are sounds that the SNES can make, that the TG-16 can make and that the Genesis can make that the other two could not replicate anywhere near as well. Could you do ActRaiser on the Genesis? It'd sound pretty goofy. How about Herzog Zwei on the SNES? It'd sound all muffled in comparison. That's why I love all systems for their individual characteristics, though I do slightly prefer the sound characteristics of the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 over the SNES (not a big fan of the muffles).

[ATARI800XLfan]

Have you guys heard some of the song remixes people have done on the Genesis. Like this one, the genesis version of lets go away from Dayton on the Saturn.



or super sonic racing.



Live and learn



Mega Man X storm Eagle.(Best in my opinion, almost sounds like it is coming from a real Genesis)

[arnold_the_bartender]

Two of my videos have already been linked to in this thread! (Genesis/Mega Drive voice examples which features voices from real Genesis games and Genesis/Mega Drive Digital Audio Examples which is about how good the Genesis can sound when put to the absolute limit... every sound in the video, including the narration was made by my Model 1 Genesis launch unit).

Yeah, you're kinda the go to guy for proving our points. Unfortunately, its a fact that more people own the model 2s with the motherboard revision with crappy sound (they are the most common that I come across anyway). Everyone, go Model 1 (high definition graphics and avoid the VA7 motherboard). Don't know what I'm talking about? See this please: http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread ... m-bad-ones.

Anyway, as a Sega fanboy of sorts, I will say that it absolutely depends on the person in charge of the sound. Most western developers thought of sound as an afterthought so we got some pretty crappy stuff. To me it often sounded like a kazoo when they tried to imitate an electric guitar. Or maybe a buzzsaw. Either way it was very painful on the ears.

THIS. I can't stress this enough. Many developers in the US used the GEMS audio engine, while games developed in Japan used other and much better drivers, including custom ones. Just take a look at all the sports games and compare them to the obvious ones, Streets of Rage and Sonic. I believe the reason why GEMS was popular was because of its similarity to MIDI, so it was more of a comfort thing.

People need to refer to this: http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php ... ngine_List

Honestly, SNES games sound muffled and tinny while the majority of games developed in the US for the Genesis sounded like crap. As said before, the SNES is great at orchestrated and atmospheric music and the Genesis is great at Techno, Electronic, etc and has better bass.

[Redifer]

Unfortunately, its a fact that more people own the model 2s with the motherboard revision with crappy sound (they are the most common that I come across anyway).

From what I have read, there are some model 2s that have good sound, but they seem to be in short supply. But yeah, the model 2 and the late model 1 have done a lot to harm the Genesis' reputation in sound quality. It's too bad that Time Trax title screen music by Tim Follin was recorded on a Genesis 2. You can hear how scratchy it sounds. I would love to get a ROM of that. I'd definitely upload a better version.

[dunpeal2064]

Maybe I missed it, but no one mentioned the first stage bgm of MUSHA aleste? It rocks!

I agree that Technosoft were the masters of bitchin chiptunes. Really great stuff.

I saw someone mention Kid Chameleon, I freakin love that game. Awesome music.

Don't know if it was mentioned, and I'm sure its obvious, but the music from the first Sonic game is fantastic. My favorite out of the entire series.

I definitely prefer the genesis to its competitors music-wise, but the snes still had some of my favorite tracks, like the Spark Mandrill stage in Mega Man X

[Nemoide]

Yeah, you're kinda the go to guy for proving our points. Unfortunately, its a fact that more people own the model 2s with the motherboard revision with crappy sound (they are the most common that I come across anyway). Everyone, go Model 1 (high definition graphics and avoid the VA7 motherboard). Don't know what I'm talking about? See this please: http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread ... m-bad-ones.
.

This is something I didn't know! I just found out I've been using a VA7 for years. D: Do you know if having the audio output through a Sega CD or a 32X attached improve things, even though the sound is still generated within the Genesis?
Now I want to try to swap it for a better model...

[DinnerX]

Yeah, you're kinda the go to guy for proving our points. Unfortunately, its a fact that more people own the model 2s with the motherboard revision with crappy sound (they are the most common that I come across anyway). Everyone, go Model 1 (high definition graphics and avoid the VA7 motherboard). Don't know what I'm talking about? See this please: http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread ... m-bad-ones.
.

This is something I didn't know! I just found out I've been using a VA7 for years. D: Do you know if having the audio output through a Sega CD or a 32X attached improve things, even though the sound is still generated within the Genesis?
Now I want to try to swap it for a better model...

A don't think the sega cd or the 32x do anything but pass through the genesis's sound.