Sega Genesis in Stereo!

[Betamax001]

I was thinking of this while driving earlier: The Sega Genesis does not normally output stereo sound but The Model 1 does if you use the headphone jack, (I'm not sure if the others do without modding)

But my question is was the music for games recorded in stereo or in mono? When outputting the Sega Genesis in Stereo is it "fake Stereo" with the mono sound coming out of both speakers or is the music actually stereo? I'm just curious.

[Hobie-wan]

The model 2, model 3, and 32X do proper stereo through the AV jack. A Sega CD has phono plugs for stereo out but you have to route the headphone out to the line in on the SCD from a model 1. Games are actually stereo, it just depends on whether the game is made with lots of directional sound effects or music.

[Betamax001]

Cool thanks! I did not know that the model 2s outputted stereo because many of the the Genesis 2 cables are Yellow/White not Yellow/White/Red.

[Devezu]

Many people forget that the best version of the Genesis was the Sega CDX. Not only did it have RCA, but also Headphones and Line-Out. And, to top that, it had S-Video, and not MASSIVE! But, it can't play that 1 Sega-CD game and the Master system and 32x attachments without modding.

[Hobie-wan]

Many people forget that the best version of the Genesis was the Sega CDX. Not only did it have RCA, but also Headphones and Line-Out. And, to top that, it had S-Video, and not MASSIVE! But, it can't play that 1 Sega-CD game and the Master system and 32x attachments without modding.

CDX has line out, headphone out, and the same AV plus as a model 2 and 3 genesis. You can get RGB out of the AV with a modded cable, but there is no S-video coming out of an unmodded one.

[PSony]

You can get stereo out of model 1's buy hooking some kind of y-cable from the headphone port to your tv/stereo.

I have 2 s-video/composite/rca stereo modded model 1's so I don't have to use the headphone port.

Also, the sound on model 2's are very bad. If you want the best possible sound get a High Definition Graphics model 1 (or a VA6 non-High Definition Graphics model 1).

[Hobie-wan]

You can get stereo out of model 1's buy hooking some kind of y-cable from the headphone port to your tv/stereo.

I have 2 s-video/composite/rca stereo modded model 1's so I don't have to use the headphone port.

Also, the sound on model 2's are very bad. If you want the best possible sound get a High Definition Graphics model 1 (or a VA6 non-High Definition Graphics model 1).

Or be feeding through a SCD or 32X.

[samsonlonghair]

I dug up this topic because I just connected my Model 1 Genesis to my stereo. Now I want some recommendations for Genesis games with the best audio. For instance, I like the music in Comix Zone; it sounds great in stereo. What other Genesis games have great stereo music or sound effects?

[Pulsar_t]

Check out
Shinobi III
Sonic 1/2/3/Knuckles
Mortal kombat 2
Streets of Rage 1/2/3
Ecco the Dolphin
Earthworm Jim 2
Vapor Trail
Vectorman
Rocket Knight Adventure
Zero Wing

All of these games had awesome stereo music, and I'm sure there's tons more. Most MD/GEN games had stereo music, but the quality of the music itself differs. Some developers used the much-abused GEMS engine to render audio which earned the MD its undeserved reputation for scratchy audio (Not the console's fault). I wish I could help you with gaming featuring positional audio. Folks over at Sega-16 ought to know about those.

You can test this for yourself by downloading this plugin for Winamp and playing these VGM rips. Not as accurate as the console itself but should be a fair indication of what to expect.

[Pulsar_t]

Frak it this topic has put me in the Yuzo Koshiro mood.