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SNES is the next generation, with the Genesis/MegaDrive. SMS is NES era. I prefer MegaDrive due to its distinctive sound; sampled audio lacks character. Howeve

SNES is the next generation, with the Genesis/MegaDrive. SMS is NES era. I prefer MegaDrive due to its distinctive sound; sampled audio lacks character. However, like with the GameBoy, it really matters what model you have. Rev 1 Genesis and grey brick gameboys have excellent sound.

MrBuddyCasino 6y ago
Oh right, I misread. The SMS sound hardware was indeed quite good for its time! > I prefer MegaDrive due to its distinctive sound; sampled audio lacks character. Interesting, to me the MD sounds like any random 90s FM sound card or MIDI synth, while the SNES is instantly recognisable.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- dleslie 6y ago
  FM synth is more an instrument than a sample sink, and it can often sound terrible. Consider Doom for the 32X, which had just abysmal sounding music; but in the right hands... Doom 32X Original Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYqS5OEN4_U&list=PLB5E3C29128D14E10&index=13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYqS5OEN4_U&list=PLB5E3C2912... It's like someone's farting into a didgeridoo accompanied by the cheapest casio electric kids' piano. Doom 32X Music Hack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FehpU0sjXrQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FehpU0sjXrQ Oh hey, that's a world of difference. Same hardware, far more capable hands. Anyhow, it's easy to find good compilations of good Genesis music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QCKYS7OAfw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QCKYS7OAfw That EWJ2 track... Yeegad. I _highly_ recommend listening with a good pair of headphones or home hifi that has great range.
  - cycloptic 6y ago
    The EWJ2 track is unfortunately not FM synth, it's CD audio from the PC/Playstation/Saturn version. Not sure what it's doing in that playlist.
    - dleslie 6y ago
      It does sound unnaturally clean for the fm synth.
- deelowe 6y ago
  The two systems have very different approaches to audio. The SNES is completely sample based. This was novel technology at the time. The MD/Genesis instead has a more traditional solution consisting of an FM chip and "sound generator" or "noise" chip. It's hard to say which is "best" in this regard. They are fundamentally different approaches and each has it's own limitations. You can't really create sounds on the SNES. Instead, the chip is fed samples of recorded audio and then the chip allows for different actions to be taken on that sample (e.g. adjusting the EQ, Envelope, Loop, etc). The major limitations with this approach is bit depth for the samples (quality) and storage (sample length). On the MD, the chips themselves create the sounds either through direct manipulation of the waveforms (FM) or by selecting a specific waveform and performing various modifications such as pitch or frequency (sound chip). This is like having a synth built into the unit. It's only going to sound like that particular synth and with some clever hacks, you can get close to realistic sounding audio, they are still hacks at the end of the day. The MD isn't capable of playing samples using the built in hardware. The SNES was capable of producing a near limitless array of sounds and could even reproduce realistic sounding instruments as it was just playing audio samples. Something the MD simply couldn't do. That said, for the sounds the MD could produce, it would sound "better," if that makes sense. As an analogy, playing a song on a YM2612 based synth and the MD, which uses the same FM chip, would sound identical. However, playing a song on a YM2612 synth and then playing the same song on the SNES (via samples) would be noticeably different, or may not even be possible at all due to the limitations of the hardware at the time.
  - glhaynes 6y ago
    One little correction, I think: the MD/Genesis had one PCM channel so it could play samples. Hence digitized speech in some games, for example. But, yes, it had nowhere near the capability to manipulate samples (aside from involving the CPU, of course!) that the SF/SNES's chip had. What an interesting time when there were so many valid extremely different approaches to problems like "making sound" that led to such different outcomes.
    - dleslie 6y ago
      And the SEGA logo chorus. "Seeeegaaa" wasn't FM Synth.

MrBuddyCasino 6y ago

Oh right, I misread. The SMS sound hardware was indeed quite good for its time! > I prefer MegaDrive due to its distinctive sound; sampled audio lacks character. Interesting, to me the MD sounds like any random 90s FM sound card or MIDI synth, while the SNES is instantly recognisable.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
dleslie 6y ago
FM synth is more an instrument than a sample sink, and it can often sound terrible. Consider Doom for the 32X, which had just abysmal sounding music; but in the right hands... Doom 32X Original Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYqS5OEN4_U&list=PLB5E3C29128D14E10&index=13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYqS5OEN4_U&list=PLB5E3C2912... It's like someone's farting into a didgeridoo accompanied by the cheapest casio electric kids' piano. Doom 32X Music Hack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FehpU0sjXrQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FehpU0sjXrQ Oh hey, that's a world of difference. Same hardware, far more capable hands. Anyhow, it's easy to find good compilations of good Genesis music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QCKYS7OAfw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QCKYS7OAfw That EWJ2 track... Yeegad. I _highly_ recommend listening with a good pair of headphones or home hifi that has great range.
- cycloptic 6y ago
  The EWJ2 track is unfortunately not FM synth, it's CD audio from the PC/Playstation/Saturn version. Not sure what it's doing in that playlist.
  - dleslie 6y ago
    It does sound unnaturally clean for the fm synth.
deelowe 6y ago
The two systems have very different approaches to audio. The SNES is completely sample based. This was novel technology at the time. The MD/Genesis instead has a more traditional solution consisting of an FM chip and "sound generator" or "noise" chip. It's hard to say which is "best" in this regard. They are fundamentally different approaches and each has it's own limitations. You can't really create sounds on the SNES. Instead, the chip is fed samples of recorded audio and then the chip allows for different actions to be taken on that sample (e.g. adjusting the EQ, Envelope, Loop, etc). The major limitations with this approach is bit depth for the samples (quality) and storage (sample length). On the MD, the chips themselves create the sounds either through direct manipulation of the waveforms (FM) or by selecting a specific waveform and performing various modifications such as pitch or frequency (sound chip). This is like having a synth built into the unit. It's only going to sound like that particular synth and with some clever hacks, you can get close to realistic sounding audio, they are still hacks at the end of the day. The MD isn't capable of playing samples using the built in hardware. The SNES was capable of producing a near limitless array of sounds and could even reproduce realistic sounding instruments as it was just playing audio samples. Something the MD simply couldn't do. That said, for the sounds the MD could produce, it would sound "better," if that makes sense. As an analogy, playing a song on a YM2612 based synth and the MD, which uses the same FM chip, would sound identical. However, playing a song on a YM2612 synth and then playing the same song on the SNES (via samples) would be noticeably different, or may not even be possible at all due to the limitations of the hardware at the time.
- glhaynes 6y ago
  One little correction, I think: the MD/Genesis had one PCM channel so it could play samples. Hence digitized speech in some games, for example. But, yes, it had nowhere near the capability to manipulate samples (aside from involving the CPU, of course!) that the SF/SNES's chip had. What an interesting time when there were so many valid extremely different approaches to problems like "making sound" that led to such different outcomes.
  - dleslie 6y ago
    And the SEGA logo chorus. "Seeeegaaa" wasn't FM Synth.