I’ve been revisiting some classic games lately, and while I love the Sega Genesis library, I can’t help but find its sound chip a bit grating. There’s something about the harsh, metallic tones and often scratchy quality that makes it hard to enjoy games at full volume. I know it has its fans, but compared to systems like the SNES or even some older consoles, it just seems unnecessarily rough.
Am I alone in this? Does anyone else struggle with the Genesis’ audio, or is this part of its charm for you?
I love it. Even GEMS stuff people always complain about - Chakan has some of my favourite vgm ever.
To me, the SNES was terrible sounding. Awful muffled music, or some really good composition but then the SNES puts so much reverb on it that’s all you could hear. It’s not all bad, but mostly. Especially the Final Fantasy games sounded very nice.
i’m personally the other way around- i live for FM soundtracks and can’t stand how muffled the SNES sounds compared to even other sample-based systems. beauty is in the… ear? of the beholder
Genesis/MD sound is definitely crunchy but there were multiple different audio chips of varying quality used in various Genesis/MD revisions. I usually play retro games on FPGA so I can only offer general advice but a modern emulator should allow you to mix and match those. You might want to experiment and see if you like some combination better. It won’t ever be like SNES though as it uses a very different approach to audio.
I have tried various low-pass filters, but I think the buttery smooth audio of the SNES has spoiled me. It’s a shame because the Genesis library has a lot of really impressive stuff.
I didn’t mean audio filters but you’re probably using Kega, right? Might want to check Genesis Plus GX core in Retroarch. See the docs here: https://docs.libretro.com/library/genesis_plus_gx/
By an off chance it’s also possible that something weird is happening to sampling rate, like your digital output only works at 48khz while Genesis outputs 44khz. Makes it sound horrible for sure. Happened to me on some occasions on Mac with a modern USB-C display recently (but like in general and not emulators).
Mega Drive/Genesis FM[genesis_plus_gx_ym2612]
Select method used to emulate the FM synthesizer (main sound generator) of the Mega Drive/Genesis. ‘MAME’ options are fast, and run full speed on most systems. ‘Nuked’ options are cycle accurate, very high quality, and have substantial CPU requirements. The ‘YM2612’ chip is used by the original Model 1 Mega Drive/Genesis. The ‘YM3438’ is used in later Mega Drive/Genesis revisions.
- MAME (YM2612) [mame (ym2612)] - Selects MAME (YM2612) [original Model 1 Mega Drive/Genesis] as FM synthesizer method which is fast and fullspeed.
- MAME (ASIC YM3438) [mame (asic ym3438)] - Selects MAME (ASIC YM3438) [later Mega Drive/Genesis revisions] as FM synthesizer method which is fast and fullspeed.
- MAME (Enhanced YM3438) [mame (enhanced ym3438)] - Selects MAME (Enhanced YM3438) [later Mega Drive/Genesis revisions] as FM synthesizer method which is fast and fullspeed.
- Nuked (YM2612) [nuked (ym2612)] - Selects Nuked (YM2612) [original Model 1 Mega Drive/Genesis] as FM synthesizer method which is high quality but has high CPU requirements.
- Nuked (YM3438) [nuked (ym3438)] - Selects Nuked (YM3438) [later Mega Drive/Genesis revisions] FM synthesizer method which is fast but has high CPU requirements.
Thanks for the tip on the sample rate! I did not think to try that. I will try the GX core tonight and make sure the sample rate is set accordingly. Maybe it will finally change my mind about the Genesis’ audio!
The Genesis sound hardware is/was extremely simple compared to some of its contemporaries and the exact hardware (or at least the behavior of said hardware) changed over the oodles of revisions of the consoles over time. In particular, basically all of its music is produced via FM synthesis and if you want wavetable-ish tunes like the SNES can generate you have to write your own music engine in software. Because of this a lot of developers used the GEMS sound engine as-is, which to be fair really does kind of sound like crap.
Furthermore, the first generation of discrete YM2612 FM synthesis chips used had a known bug in their output (low volume distortion) that some games deliberately took advantage of in their audio either due to cheekiness or the assumption that it was intended behavior. This is probably where the “first run Genesis sounds better” canard comes from. It probably also didn’t help that some of Sega’s own published documentation on this chip was incorrect.
Later revisions of the machines used FM synthesis hardware integrated into their ASICs in different incarnations, and of course the exact hardware used in the clone systems, not to mention the behavior of emulation, is all over the damn place. This may or may not make any particular game sound like crap but it can certainly make them sound different. It’s not that the Genesis has hard to emulate audio hardware, per se, but it’s that nobody can really agree on what the “canonical” setup is supposed to be including developers of games during the system’s original lifetime.
Genesis Streets of Rage is still one of my favorite soundtracks
Its not annoying when the composer knew what they were doing. Unfortunately, the Genesis, and actually all FM Synthesizer based music, is incredibly easy to make annoying sounds with.
Yes! I have always thought that music and sound on the Genesis sounded horrendous. A few games used the hardware well and made stuff that didn’t suck (Sonic the Hedgehog and Ecco just to name a few), but the vast majority of games, especially those with multiple ports, always sounded the worst on Genesis.
It seemed to do deeper, bassier techno sounds better than any kind of higher pitched sounds. IIRC, it’s because the instrument types selected for their MIDI shit was just bad.
I feel it deep down in my plums when it says SEGA
Take a look at the MSU-MD/MD+ project which adds CD quality music to a lot of top Genesis/MD games
Curious if you dislike all 4 versions of this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiu8wDLV_9g
I gave it a listen. I think the Model 2 is my favorite. To my ears it sounds the least grating and ‘metallic’. I don’t know why, but I get a metallic style feel from a lot of the Genesis sound. I guess it’s something associated with FM synth?
I think the other thing that holds me back is when they try to use samples on the Genesis they sound EXTREMELY tinny, and the SNES was actually pretty good at that. I think it’s basically the SNES that ruined the Genesis audio for me. I compare them quite frequently. If the Genesis had launched alone in the USA, I think I’d just chalk that up to what 16 bit platforms sounded like.
I gotta toss in that I actually really like the PC Engine/TG16 sound, but it may or may not count as a 16 bit console, depending how you feel about it.
I always thought the SNES music was over all nicer, however some Genesis titles had some rocking tunes.
Ah GEMS (Genesis Editor for Music and Sound Effects)… In the right hands it was good, elsewhere though… A muddy mess of noise
