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Sonic chiptunes: Better with or without DPCM percussion?
8 years ago
General
Recently, I made a bunch of Sonic chiptunes:
* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Launch Base Zone Act 1 (MMC5)
* Knuckles Chaotix - Midnight Greenhouse (VRC6)
* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Hydrocity Zone Act 1 (VRC6)
* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Hydrocity Zone Act 2 (VRC6)
* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Hydrocity Zone Act 2 (2A03)
* Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Chemical Plant Zone (MMC5)
* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Marble Garden Zone Act 1 (VRC6)
I used a lot of DPCM (digitally-recorded audio) samples to supplement the percussion, which I've certainly done in the past.
However, whenever the DPCM channel is used in NES hardware, the triangle wave and noise channels become 25% quieter as a consequence. And since the triangle wave is often used as musical bass, that means each of the instruments needs to be quieter to compensate. Listen to some of my chiptunes that don't use DPCM and compare the difference in prevailing loudness:
* F·ZERO Maximum Velocity - Ending Credits (VRC6)
* Star Fox - Corneria (VRC6)
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (MegaDrive/Genesis) - Continue (2A03)
* Seiken Densetsu 3 - Powell (VRC6)
* Battletoads Double Dragon - Missile Mayhem (VRC6)
* Battletoads Double Dragon - Blag Alley (VRC6)
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Super NES) - Cafeteria (VRC6)
* Battletoads Double Dragon - Shadow Boss Showdown (VRC6)
* Battletoads in Battlemaniacs - Roller Coaster (2A03)
* Star Fox - Fortuna (VRC6)
Though DPCM allows me to use digital audio samples that otherwise would not be possible, I can't deny that they can sometimes make the result sound less "clean", if that makes sense. DPCM samples aren't always easy to make sound clean - often, despite my best efforts, they add a certain fuzz or hiss to the sound that, when combined with quieter non-DPCM instruments, can make a chiptune sound kinda staticky.
And considering many of my Sonic chiptunes use DPCM samples for fairly simple roles (like thud and kick percussion), does anyone think some of my Sonic chiptunes might in fact sound better and crisper using only simple noise channel percussion and not using DPCM samples?
* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Launch Base Zone Act 1 (MMC5)
* Knuckles Chaotix - Midnight Greenhouse (VRC6)
* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Hydrocity Zone Act 1 (VRC6)
* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Hydrocity Zone Act 2 (VRC6)
* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Hydrocity Zone Act 2 (2A03)
* Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Chemical Plant Zone (MMC5)
* Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Marble Garden Zone Act 1 (VRC6)
I used a lot of DPCM (digitally-recorded audio) samples to supplement the percussion, which I've certainly done in the past.
However, whenever the DPCM channel is used in NES hardware, the triangle wave and noise channels become 25% quieter as a consequence. And since the triangle wave is often used as musical bass, that means each of the instruments needs to be quieter to compensate. Listen to some of my chiptunes that don't use DPCM and compare the difference in prevailing loudness:
* F·ZERO Maximum Velocity - Ending Credits (VRC6)
* Star Fox - Corneria (VRC6)
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (MegaDrive/Genesis) - Continue (2A03)
* Seiken Densetsu 3 - Powell (VRC6)
* Battletoads Double Dragon - Missile Mayhem (VRC6)
* Battletoads Double Dragon - Blag Alley (VRC6)
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (Super NES) - Cafeteria (VRC6)
* Battletoads Double Dragon - Shadow Boss Showdown (VRC6)
* Battletoads in Battlemaniacs - Roller Coaster (2A03)
* Star Fox - Fortuna (VRC6)
Though DPCM allows me to use digital audio samples that otherwise would not be possible, I can't deny that they can sometimes make the result sound less "clean", if that makes sense. DPCM samples aren't always easy to make sound clean - often, despite my best efforts, they add a certain fuzz or hiss to the sound that, when combined with quieter non-DPCM instruments, can make a chiptune sound kinda staticky.
And considering many of my Sonic chiptunes use DPCM samples for fairly simple roles (like thud and kick percussion), does anyone think some of my Sonic chiptunes might in fact sound better and crisper using only simple noise channel percussion and not using DPCM samples?
