NES & Famicom Sound Enhancement Chips
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
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Technical specifications
The console's main central processing unit (CPU) was produced by Ricoh, which manufactured different versions between NTSC and PAL regions; NTSC consoles use a 2A03 clocked at 1.79 MHz, while PAL consoles use a 2A07 clocked at 1.66 MHz. Both CPUs are second source variants of the MOS Technology 6502, an 8-bit microprocessor prevalent in contemporary home computers and consoles; Nintendo ostensibly disabled the 6502's binary-coded decimal mode on them to avoid patent infringement against or licensing fees towards MOS Technology, which was owned by then-rival Commodore International. The CPU has access to 2 KB of onboard work RAM.
The console's graphics are handled by a Ricoh 2C02, a processor known as the Picture Processing Unit (PPU) that is clocked at 5.37 MHz. A derivative of the Texas Instruments TMS9918-a video display controller used in the ColecoVision-the PPU features 2 KB of video RAM, 256 bytes of on-die "object attribute memory" (OAM) to store sprite display information on up to 64 sprites, and 28 bytes of RAM to store information on the YIQ-based color palette; the console can display up to 25 colors simultaneously out of 54 usable colors.
The console's standard display resolution is 256 × 240 pixels, though video output options vary between models. The original Famicom features only radio frequency (RF) modulator output, while the NES additionally includes support for composite video via RCA connectors. The redesigned Famicom omits the RF modulator entirely, only outputting composite video via a proprietary "multi-out" connector first introduced on the Super Famicom/NES; conversely, the redesigned NES features RF modulator output only, though a version of the model including the "multi-out" connector was produced in rare quantities.
The console produces sound via an audio processing unit (APU) integrated into the processor. It supports a total of five sound channels: two pulse wave channels, one triangle wave channel, one white noise channel, and one DPCM channel for sample playback. Audio playback speed is dependent on the CPU clock rate, which is set by a crystal oscillator.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintend...
00:00 - The NES Ricoh 2A03/2A07
01:53 - Japanese Famicom Disk System Ricoh RP2C33
02:09 - NES vs FDS - Legend of Zelda
03:14 - Namco 163 for the NES
03:38 - Erika to Satoru no Yume Bouken (Namco 163)
04:13 - King of Kings (Namco 163)
05:04 - Konami Virtual ROM Controller 6 (VRC6)
05:48 - Akumajō Densetsu vs Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (VRC6 demo)
07:13 - Sunsoft 5B
07:33 - Gimmick (Sunsoft 5B demo)
09:29 - Konami Virtual ROM Controller 7 (VRC7)
10:14 - Lagrange Point (VRC7 demo) - Ігри
Oh boy, one of my favourite topics! I like the way you did the comparisons and channel breakdowns. Some extra notes:
- NES didn't have the extra pins that allowed the Famicom to use expansion audio even though it has 12 more pins total. Super lame.
- Namco 163 has a funny attribute that the fewer channels you use the better the range and character you can get out of those cnannels because it mixes by time-division across each active channel. You'll commonly see abbreviations like "2N162" to indicate how many channels were used these days.
- VRC6 is probably the most popular expansion chip in the modern Famitracker scene, but it's interesting how different the use of it (and thus the overall character of the sound) tends to be from AJD. The sawtooth is key!
- VRC7 actually had a Yamaha YM2413 inside. That's the same OPLL as was found in the Japanse Sega Mark III (aka Master System), a pile of lower-end keyboards, and a number of arcade games. Of the Yamaha FM chips, it's one of the least popular because of how stripped down it was, but in the right hands... (Check out the Ultionus soundtrack for what it could sound like.)
- The 5B really played to the strengths of their composer. Sunsoft was and is known for punchy percussion, but that generally left them a touch starved for the main melody, so the extra square waves gave them the freedom to work in a lot of additional polyphony for a far fuller sound.
- Gimmick! is the greatest FC game.
Wow what a wealth of knowledge! I'm going to pin this comment as I think a lot of people could benefit from reading your summaries. Thank you so much for sharing
@@RetroCrisis Oh, goodness! Thanks! (.... aaaaaand now I can't fix the typos I see, lol)
@@WillowEpp 🤣
Also, not sure if this has already been mentioned, but DPCM wasn't used too much because of the amount of CPU time it took to process these samples. Not because of ROM size.
@WilloeEpp True. The YM2413 most famous use was on the MSX computer standard, where it was arguably used to create some of the best soundtracks of the OPL series, if not some of the best FM synthesis soundtracks.
the one thing I love about retro consoles is the amount of engineering done to make things work, especially with the music
Absolutely. Especially in a time before they were able to use cd quality sound.
@@RetroCrisis can someone please tell me why they didnt just use casette tapes ? it was cheap
@@abh6968I would guess cost savings. Hear me out I don't actually know. As a snot nosed little shit back then once our old nes broke, we moved on to the Sega Genesis until the Sony PlayStation came out. Cassettes themselves are cheap but to make a custom hardware that would utilize the tapes for both data, audio, and storing tilesets would be costly and knowing the video game crash of 83 I don't remember since my POS sperm and egg donors didn't shit me out until 5 years later, costs had to be kept down. Nintendo literally had to trick us retarded Americans by selling a console with a robot (r.o.b) just to revive the gaming industry, that entitled and greedy corporate managers destroyed by releasing shit games. They were being very careful. So yes the tapes themselves were cheap but it would've been costly to engineer a game console around it, so in other words, you can blame your parents or grandparents depending on your age for having sticks up their reckdums and greedy video game corporations that focused on profit over quality. Nintendo had to do social engineering on top of hardware and software engineering taking costs of manufacturing into account. Just think the famicom (Japanese version of the NES) had modems back then. WAAAAAAY before the Internet even was a thing. But that's my best educated guess 😂 fun fact: the world's first touch screen monitor was invented in 1990 and cost $20,000. It didn't sell.
@@abh6968 it would have to rewind every time the track loops and when you would go to a new area it would have to seek to the next track. So there would be long times with no music or it would have to pause until the tape catches up. Also it would be a hassle to have to insert the tape in addition to the cartridge for every game and an extra 5$ for the tape for every game unless the game used only a cassette. Then there would be long loading times and no expansion chips
For any English speakers that want to experience the original sountrack of Castlevania III theres a romhack that translates the text in the japanese rom to english
@@bearonguitar Not really, there is some dialogue throughout the game and there also text at the ending
It's a quite recent discovery that the VRC7 and all related forms of the Yamaha OPLL aka YM2413 chips can be made to produce a variety of "new" sounds by switching instrument presets while the sound is playing. Some parameters are updated immediately while others are not, so this effectively allows to mix and match new sounds built from parameters of the 15 presets each OPLL derivative comes with.
And it's a synthesizer for the nes. I thought it was for the msx
@@kennetheweka6690 Yep, for the MSX the original stock OPLL was used, the VRC7 has different presets and the drum mode is non-functional but only 6 channels are enabled (without messing with the chip).
Oh?? Could you link me an example?? I'd love to see this
@@i_am_kenokeno ua-cam.com/video/6Qy6bXyUmnk/v-deo.html or ua-cam.com/video/rzTFHu9ORKY/v-deo.html
WHOA, I NEVER heard of King of Kings for the Famicom. WHAT A SOUNDTRACK! I've been looking for an explanation of the Konami sound chips FOREVER! Thank you for all this amazing Info!
You're very welcome dude. This is one of my favourite videos that I've made. Glad you enjoyed it
Also, it's worth noting that the VRC6 pulses have eight duties, compared to the 2A03's three.
Well, the 2A03 has 4, it's just that 2 and 4 sound the same
Some of these chips are actually slightly modified versions of other sound chips.
Like, for example: The Sunsoft 5B, which is a slightly modified General Instruments AY-3-8910
And the Konami VRC7, a cut down Yamaha YM2413.
Videos like these really give me more of an appreciation behind the technical aspect behind games from the 80s and 90s. Working on a project on audio limitations in games that I'll be presenting in five weeks from now and might try to incorporate a sub section for sound enhancements cause this is really interesting.
Amazing, thank you for sharing. I just ordered the muramasa epsm board and n8 pro cart so I can enjoy all that expansion module sound from the additional chips and famicom disk system in stereo on my original nes. Thank you so much again!❤
Oh cool, I had no idea the EPSM board existed. Thanks for sharing. I'd love to buy one
Man this video brings back my time when I was using the famitracker. On my 1st semester when I was studying Network Security, my group had to do an learning app and I was programming the sound and music for this. Just for a week to produce that and got no knowledge and it was kinda good. Lil' story of my life😃
That's amazing - was the Famitracker hooked up directly to a Famicom unit? That sounds like a lot of fun!!!
@@RetroCrisis I don't know how I proceed with no knowledge in one stressful week to finish sounds and music stuff😆Famitracker is that with the typical nes stuff and also the exclusivs soundchip too. But programming after many years of hiatus with the software is kinda hard. Will take me some time to came back to that stuff😅
VRC6 Castlevania 3 is so much better
Thanks you for this video! A similar video for the MSX sound enhancement chips would also be very welcome.
Great visual and auditory examples. Made understanding the different channels easy and fun! I noticed additional channels when I played Ninja Gaiden 2 on my Twin Famicom.
Thanks so much for watching the video - I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Wow I had no idea Ninja Gaiden 2 had additional sound too!
ninja gaiden 2 didn't had extra sound channels
Before you even said what game the VRC7 was used in, I saw “two-operator FM synthesis” and knew it was Lagrange Point. Then you said it sounded like early Mega Drive tracks and that’s the first thing I thought whenever I heard it for the first time.
Thank you very much for such a valuable video, the truth is that I don't know if it happens to you, but at 40 years old I have "stereo" memories with games (that is, I hear the slightest piece of sound and travel in time).
I subscribe to your channel, I am sure I will enjoy your content, which already seems excellent to me.
Greetings from Chile.
Alvaro.
Bro all I have to say this was an amazing put together video!!! Amazing!!! Love how you broke down the tracks and your knowledge man! Gimmick a game I’ve never heard of busting out the tunes!!!!!!! This is one of my fav vids bro! Nice one! 6 channels, say what!!! Had to be Konami.
Hahaha Thanks so much for the support bro. I must admit I was nervous uploading this one because I thought nobody would watch it and find it too boring and geeky - but this is the kind of stuff I love talking about :P Just so you know, a remaster of Gimmick is coming out in 2023. It's one of my all-time favourites - the music is banging
@@RetroCrisis oooh amazing what’s it being released on! It might be geeky but it’s fascinating and you deliver it so well!
Another game that technically uses the VRC6 is shovel knight, it's soundtrack was composed in famitracker
Wow I had no idea. That would explain why Shove Knight sounds amazing!
thanks God I played and owning both systems famico and nintendo systems
I really must get my famicom sorted so I can use it, it sounds so good there!
I didn’t even realise some of this music was remotely possible on the humble NES. Great video
Time to show that Famicom come some RetroB8 love bro. Also, I'd love to know what you use to get it hooked up to a modern TV.
@@RetroCrisis yeah I think I that’s one of the mods it needs but I’ve a 1702 Commodore monitor that takes most things lol!
@@RetroCrisis i have a Famicom AV which is component only and no RF, but with the toploader NES I actually run the RF into a VCR and then run composite from that xD (its pretty rare i hook up the toploader because i have a frontloader too :D)
To be clear, none of this is possible on the NES, only the Famicom. The Famicom could route sound to the cartridge for additional mixing, but the NES doesn't have this capability. The cartridge pins that provide audio I/O don't exist on the NES.
@@RetroCrisis Retrotink's scalers are best in class right now, and more affordable than an OSSC. But a bit pricey...
The VRC7 example sounds impressive!
Another absolutely stellar video! Well done dude, and thank you! That was extremely entertaining!
Thank you so much for your kind words RP! Maybe you could stream one of these games soon on your projector! :)
I wished you had talked about the Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei 2 that used 2 additional sound chips, which are in fact the Namcot 163. The sound track of that game was amazing and become the bassis of later tracks in the series through the 90s
Ah cool, I didn't realise that game also made use of it. I'll definitely take a look at it
The VRC7 is essentially just an Adlib sound card for the NES
To be honest, you aren't wrong, as the VRC7 is a cut down Yamaha YM2413, which itself is a cut down version of the Yamaha YM3812 found in the AdLib/Sound Blaster.
That was a fascinating insight!
Thank you so much dude. I'm glad you enjoyed it
I always found the difference between the Japanese and American Castlevania 3 soundtracks to be similar to the difference between a band that's a power trio and a group with another melody instrument and/or more than one vocalist. There's nothing wrong with it being more stripped down and hearing the separation of individual parts, but adding more harmony and counterpoint can really broaden the whole scope and some people prefer that richer instrumentation.
That's a nice video. However, you forgot to mention Nintendo's MMC5 expansion chip, whice adds 2 pulse channels and one PCM channel.
I was going to include the MMC5 but took it out last minute as I struggled to find examples of games that meaningfully utilized it. Do you know of any?
@@RetroCrisisThe only game that uses all the channels is called "Just Breed". The other four games that have it only use it for SFX or only use It's PCM channel.
@@V-Ner_d Ah cool, well you've taught me something new today!
I was mind blown away about those sound enhancement in those supported famicom games,i was actually wondering why we western gamers had to miss sooo much for such long time,it’s not untill we discovered it wuth the invented internet,just unbelievible.
Wow I had no idea so few games adopted the changes. I remember hearing Zelda 2 the opening sequence on the FDisk system comparison and being very impressed but if its only reserved for a handful of titles it really isnt worth the hefty investment. Draculas curse certainly sounds incredible. Hasnt ruined it for me tho, as awesome as it is I love the classic
I totally agree - Dracula's curse is still a great NES title even without the enhanced music. I might start playing it again today actually lol
Great video man!
Thanks Marco!!!
Wow, Gimick reminded me of some early Sega Genesis and Lagrange Point? (was that the name?) that reminded me of Secret of Mana... but just thinking about having FM channels - that would be almost like installing a Sound Blaser card into each game produced. CRAZY!
And damn, that Castle Vania III audio difference... I wish there was a ROM hack to port the Audio over - but seems like there are too many compatibility issues.
I suppose there might be a rom hack to convert Akumajō Densetsu to English... and what do you know... there is.
My kind of NES video! That Namco N163 can do way more than any actual game used it for. It can be made to play actual samples if you ask it really nicely. No real games did that, but there are even examples out there of NES songs with Vocaloid using the N163 sampling technique (for example ua-cam.com/video/iOeXzyMgWuA/v-deo.html).
There should be more homebrews that use the VRC7
because it is an underrated sound chip in my opinion
I mean, FM on the NES? Why not?
Anyways, great video!
The NES was designed specifically to not allow audio enhancement chips. That’s why only Japanese games have them.
Nice video, I love this kind of videos. Is there any of the Master System or Zx spectrum sound chip? I just subscribed...
Hey dude welcome! ua-cam.com/video/M5LcAHsDAlQ/v-deo.html here's one I made for the SMS
in ntsc nes tetris,it uses the ricoh 2A03,which is fast,resulting in 60fps,however in the PAL version,it uses the ricoh 2A07,whis is ~~ 20% slower,resulting in 50fps.
sunsoft commited as much dpcm abuse with their dpcm bass as the developers of kirby did with the dpcm drums
Are the custom sound chips featured in any NES/Famicom emulator?
yes. most modern emulators will support the sound chips
The last one ends sounding so similar to "Song of Healing" from Majora's Mask.
The little "PEEEeeeeewww" Sound in Famicom Castlevania 3 gets me everytime for real
what about MMC5 (and maybe EPSM although thats more of a modern one)
i been adjusting my sound on my everdrive so that i can get proper sound out of all the extra sound channels on my AV famicom. 5b and vcr7 are great at 100% but i have to turn a lot up to 133% to sound right, couple i even had to turn down.
During the days of the famicom when a new sound chip came out it was only made for a few games which is sad😢
i have never heard of gimmick before but thank you, so so much, for putting me on to "happy birthday". genuinely
Ah you're very welcome! It's a fun game - I hope you enjoy it dude 🎂
fantastic video :) What do you think of SUNSOFT's "Journey to Silius/Raf World" This game do not use any sound extension chips and even then the music is amazing and easily beats all of yours examples here! :)
Journey to Silius has a great soundtrack. Another cool Sunsoft soundtrack is Batman Return of the Joker and Gremlins 2. Sunsoft certainly knew what they were doing.
@@RetroCrisis Batman 1 as well :) they are doing miracles without any additional sound chips :) sunsoft's graphics are great as well :)
@@intel386DX I totally agree with you!
I wonder if emulation has caught up in terms of sound quality yet
VRC7 - sounds closer to Master System as it also uses YM2413.
5:38 Yeah that warning is definitely warranted. It sounds way too good, it's like that 1 chip upgraded NES' sound capabilities to match the MSX. That's crazy! Imagine if you could get that as an upgrade for the NES/Famicom! Maybe the MSX wouldn't have been able to muscle the Famicom out of the enthusiast market in Japan so easily.
Thanks for the video! A question, though: Could the NES output stereo sound?
I don't believe it can
@@RetroCrisis ahhh pity! Thanks for the response! So in an emulator for example it really does a “double mono” and not real stereo?
@@mindblockandroid I could be wrong, but yes I always assumed NES "Stereo" was the just mono channel replicated
So which other game was the VRC7 used on, but didn't use the audio capabilities of the chip?
Tiny Toon Adventures 2.
8:39 gives me Pokemon DP vibes
FME-7 + YM2149F/AY-3-8910 = The Sunsoft 5B
Damn, very comprehensive
Bro it took weeks to make it lol
@@RetroCrisis it shows. 5 star production.
@@PixelCherryNinja Thank you bro
Isn't the VRC7 basically an OPL chip?
Yeah, it is. In fact, Yamaha codenamed it the OPLL.
Honestly you can put any sound chip you want in an nes, either on cartridge or via expansion port underneath, you can use preexisting mappers that provide extra gpio bits, to throw an 8910, which are still made, though 8930 is much better, and some extra sram
You can easily modify a famicom disk system ram adapter
To include this expansion since it already has a built in 8bit gpio port, just gotta add some chip select glue logic and mix the audio with the fds audio, and add another 32k of ram, so fds can hold 64k total, 128k if you bank 2 64k pages
And easier to debug since you can just load fds roms with a fdsstick, only difference is fds boot $8000 iirc and typically max 32k, but you can also dynamically stream chunks too
Also load custom bootloader that overwrites the system memory with faster loading routines and exploit the fact you can load via a high-speed microcontroller
With a famicom you could make a keyboard using 15pin connector and a microcontroller
Now that's a computer better than Family basic
You can then even use 8910 as gpio to daisy chain more soundchips or anything you want
16bit worth of gpio
So that's effectively 4gb of addressable locations if you include 16bit cpu address lines
Everyone likes learning new things but no one likes a show-off
What about Pictionary?
本体のロットで拡張音の大きさが変わり、最初の頃の本体は音が小さく聞こえにくくバランスが悪いです。ffマーク付なら大丈夫。もしffマーク無しの本体でも抵抗値をffマークの本体と同じにすれば大丈夫ですが、何番目の抵抗か忘れてしまいました・・・。
I think the NES couldn't use the special sound chips because of how the pins on the paks worked
I might be misremembering idk
I think you might be right
Nice. As an engineer I like learning about the technology that existed during my toddler years and before my egg donor $#!t me out of her $π@t©#. The complexity of the NES architecture helped me understand how digital computers used the control buses to...well....work 😂 thanks for this.
VRC6🔥🔥🔥
omg gst channel 2
"NES" sound chips - but the 5B seems to be the only one that works on the NES, the rest are Famicom only - how come?
Sadly the sunsoft 5B is still limited on the NES. It only fully works on the Famicom. I've tried both and the Famicom version sounds better....so....all Famicom - I should probably update my thumbnail to reflect that
I still don’t understand why Nintendo would forgo this sound expansion feature in their most popular markets.
Assuming it was down to cost cutting...but not 100% sure
From what I understand these wouldn't be compatible with the NES because of the hardware differences with Famicom
The NES was designed specifically to not allow expandd sound channels
But why the fauls thumbnail lol
No, I don't need headphones... but you need to use and oscilloscope.
Lol I'll be sure to save up for one
@@RetroCrisisNo. A "digital" one. Like in those chiptune-oscilloscope youtube videos to visualize sound waves.
can someone please tell me why they didnt just use casette tapes ? it was cheap ..
What do you mean? Why they didn't use casette tapes for the sound coming from a console?
@@PixelBrushArt yes . cds was really expensive back then . and casettes was really cheap . why not use it for game music ?
It probably wouldn’t work as well as you think it would.
they didnt use them because the games came in a cartridge format. if they used a cassette, it would basically be the same as how it works on a C64, which is to say practically the same as with a cartridge, but with more loading times. they couldn't just play audio off the cassette because there is no way to output that through a console, and after putting the game on a tape, there would be no space left.
@@incognitiosaystransrights i was thinking . they should have had casette add on . like the sega cd . but a really really cheap add on
interesting fact: almost all of the games with added chips are japanese
all of them, US/EU games couldn't use audio expansions
Damn it, my Japanese friend was right after all.. Famicom is sooo much better.
I find the Japanese consoles look better too. Especially Mega Drive and SNES
The triangle wave stands out more in the american ports making the sound beefier and simple. I kind of like the more lofi versions 🤷🏽♂️