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Comparing Amiga and SNES music/audio. Which do you prefer?

Which gaming system had better chip video game audio?

  • Total voters
    59
Afro Republican

Afro Republican

Banned
This will be a much tougher poll, the number one gaming computer and the number one home gaming consoles during the time frame of the early 90's are both well known for their sound capabilities.

But which one do you think produces the better audio? Post some examples of games that show off the sound of the SNES or Amiga soundchip(not CD because that would be cheating)

Here are some examples of both:

AMIGA

Turrican 2 intro:

Turrican 3 Intro:

Puzznic:

Zool:

Escape from Colditz:

-
-
-
-
SNES

Robotrek town:

Mega Man X3 intro stage:

F-zero Death Wind:

FF6 Figaro castle:

Bubsy stage 1:



So who do you think had the best music? Post your examples below.
 
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Freedom Gate Co.

Freedom Gate Co.

Banned
That Robotrek 7 second loop hs more audio quality than all your SNES examples combined, and I know you added it as a joke given you put Bubsy in the OP.
 
Danny Dudekisser

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Are we talking about the better platform in terms of sound tech, or in terms of the actual compositions we got? Because Amiga wins the former, but SNES wins the latter.

Though, if we're being real... I dunno why one would use MMX3 as an example of SNES audio. Most of the songs in the SNES version sound like a robot ripping ass into a microphone.
 
alabtrosMyster

alabtrosMyster

Banned
The early Amigas only had 4 channels, which means many games didn't play sound and music at the same time, but it could still have better quality sound since it had more memory to fit higher quality samples. Amiga is s a very interesting platform, but it was ultimately too weak in some areas to succeed as a gaming machine (at least as far as arcade type games, it's definitely great for games that work better with mouse and keyboard).

Here are the limitations I think hurt it compared to the consoles:
- 4 sound channels, it's just not enough for most games, but sound samples can be of much greater quality than those used on the SNES.
- 8 hardware sprites, sure there are tricks, but most games don't have much going on compared to any 16-bit system (especially fast moving objects) - SNES 120, Genesis 80, TG-16 64.
- Most systems did not have a hard drive (or games were not meant to be installed on one), which means games either had to fit on 800KB or swap whenever you had to get data from another disk.
- The controller most games supported had one button, which forced to do lame things like jump by pressing UP or putting some actions on the keyboard.

Sure there are still some pretty impressive games, however as far as I am concerned the interesting stuff is not in the console/arcade style games, but in the true "computer" games that play well with the mouse and KB like point and click or strategy. The demo scene too, obviously the demo scene!

Maybe that belonged in the general SNES v.s. amiga thread.
 
Afro Republican

Afro Republican

Banned
alabtrosMyster said:
The early Amigas only had 4 channels, which means many games didn't play sound and music at the same time, but it could still have better quality sound since it had more memory to fit higher quality samples. Amiga is s a very interesting platform, but it was ultimately too weak in some areas to succeed as a gaming machine (at least as far as arcade type games, it's definitely great for games that work better with mouse and keyboard).

Here are the limitations I think hurt it compared to the consoles:
- 4 sound channels, it's just not enough for most games, but sound samples can be of much greater quality than those used on the SNES.
- 8 hardware sprites, sure there are tricks, but most games don't have much going on compared to any 16-bit system (especially fast moving objects) - SNES 120, Genesis 80, TG-16 64.
- Most systems did not have a hard drive (or games were not meant to be installed on one), which means games either had to fit on 800KB or swap whenever you had to get data from another disk.
- The controller most games supported had one button, which forced to do lame things like jump by pressing UP or putting some actions on the keyboard.

Sure there are still some pretty impressive games, however as far as I am concerned the interesting stuff is not in the console/arcade style games, but in the true "computer" games that play well with the mouse and KB like point and click or strategy. The demo scene too, obviously the demo scene!

Maybe that belonged in the general SNES v.s. amiga thread.
Click to expand...

I don't think you understand how the Amiga sound system works which can produce results such as this:



You seem to be oversimplifying the sound tech.
 
Airola

Airola

Member
I might want to say Amiga but I won't because listening to Amiga tracks through headphones is subtle ear torture most of the time.

Total stereo with everything coming fully from both phones without even the tiniest bit of "leak" from one phone to another and with zero center sounds rapes my ears with force but with a tiny bit of pleasure. I want it but I feel violated.

EDIT:
I will allow this tune have its way with my ears though:


Nice memories :)
 
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RAIDEN1

RAIDEN1

Member
Gotta be said that the SNES did have the legendary "Ken Kutaragi" behind it when it came to the sound - the precursor to the PlayStation as it were....so I wouldn't say SNES music/audio was 2nd-rate...
 
nkarafo

nkarafo

Member
Why not compare Turican 3 with Super Turrican? Both games have more or less the same songs. And as much i love the Amiga sound, SNES version has the better quality.

Usually, SNES sound is too filtered. When it's not, it sounds better than the Amiga IMO.
 
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petran79

petran79

Banned
Amiga, only because it had more game genres than the SNES, which meant better music variety. Plus some tracks would be way too scary for a snes game



 
Godzilla Emu

Godzilla Emu

Banned
Hudo said:
Click to expand...


Amazing game and an amazing soundtrack (y).

🤔

I'd say that the 1990, "The Secret of Monkey Island" soundtrack & theme on the Amiga is superior and contributes to the mood of the beginning of the game even more so, though:




<Edit>

Also:

CtneZxR.png
 
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Afro Republican

Afro Republican

Banned
Hudo said:
Click to expand...


Ahh FF6, a game with droning audio with only 5 note pitches throughout the entire soundtrack. Good for the SNES though.

SNES is very limited in sound variety, looking at the GBA and SNES soundtracks of Mega Man & Bass gives you the best example of how many notes seem the SNES can do at once, which is limited.
 
Hudo

Hudo

Member
Afro Republican said:
Ahh FF6, a game with droning audio with only 5 note pitches throughout the entire soundtrack. Good for the SNES though.

SNES is very limited in sound variety, looking at the GBA and SNES soundtracks of Mega Man & Bass gives you the best example of how many notes seem the SNES can do at once, which is limited.
Click to expand...
And yet, the SNES had more games with memorable melodies than the Amiga ever had.
 
S

shenmue mugen

Member
What a beautiful thread...two audio powerhouses of their time. The best thing are the links you guys post to try to justify your preference.

I'm discovering so many fantastic tunes...

Keep it going!!
 
Godzilla Emu

Godzilla Emu

Banned
Hudo said:
evmrKFr.jpg
Click to expand...

Not even. Come at me bro :messenger_grinning_smiling:



Amiga music is better than Snes music.

Cash me outside. Howbow dah? :messenger_tears_of_joy:



I love both SNES and Amiga audio equally. There's an amazing volume of video game soundtrack composition goodness to be had on both platforms. What a great time to be a gamer
 
Shifty

Shifty

Member
Not even a contest in any way. The Amiga had vastly superior sound hardware.

Heck, if the SNES can't beat a Mega Drive in the audio department (no it can't, fuck off) then it doesn't have a chance when compared to the god-king of tracker music.

Now 'course, half the folks posting in the thread will likely be ignoring the all-important Which one do you think produces the better audio? question in the OP and stanning hard for their favourite compositions. That music is fine, great even, but it'd sound better coming out of an Amiga :messenger_winking:

I mean come on now:



Clear said:
Spoiler: C64 was better than both :D
Click to expand...
consciousness-709143.jpg
 
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Afro Republican

Afro Republican

Banned
Hudo said:
And yet, the SNES had more games with memorable melodies than the Amiga ever had.
Click to expand...

Which is why the SNES had to be 10 years post discontinuation for people to look back at it's soundtracks unlike the Amiga which had a music scene during relevancy.

You also make an unprovable claim which doesn't help you.
 
Afro Republican

Afro Republican

Banned
shenmue mugen said:
The best thing are the links you guys post to try to justify your preference.

I'm discovering so many fantastic tunes...
Click to expand...

(Actual reason why the thread was made don't tell anyone, shhhh.)

No one is falling for your Russian Style agent espionage! Posing as Neutral Dr.Shenmue or should I say Dr.RussianMario.
 
Dr.Morris79

Dr.Morris79

Gold Member
Shifty said:
Nice, I never played that one but the tunes are good stuff.




No surprise there of course, Bjorn Linne had a hand in composing them- author of such other godly tracks as this:

Click to expand...

Definite winner! I loved them all! :)

I found a few others I used to sit and listen to, the Amiga really did have a brilliant library.









 
Freedom Gate Co.

Freedom Gate Co.

Banned
All the Amiga examples sound like cleaner Genesis tunes.

As I said at the start of the thread, the Robotrek violin example in the OP for the SNES has better audio quality than every Amiga game including all examples posted in this thread.

Most people don't like crunchy dinging when they listen to music, especially with headphones. They want soft clean tunes that are consistent.
 
orfax

orfax

Member
These were the tunes I loved when gaming on the Amiga. And the Amiga was released in 1985. SNES 1990.

Hybris


The Killing Game Show


Xenon 2 (Bomb the Bass)


Silkworm


R-Type (Chris Huelsbeck)


I loved both systems and have favourite music on both, FF6 Dancing Mad & Lufia 2 opening theme to name a couple on the SNES
 
Hudo

Hudo

Member
Afro Republican said:
Which is why the SNES had to be 10 years post discontinuation for people to look back at it's soundtracks unlike the Amiga which had a music scene during relevancy.

You also make an unprovable claim which doesn't help you.
Click to expand...
So because the Amiga lived longer means that the Amiga had better songs? Those two things seem unrelated. The Amiga lived longer because it was a PC, people did work on those things and Commodore tried to support the hell out of it in order to make money, which the company direly needed. The SNES was a closed single-purpose system for gaming. Note that I never questioned your aggressive attempt at saying that the Amiga had better sound hardware. It certainly had better sound hardware (which you could even expand upon). But I found your tone so aggressive that I quipped back. I still stand by it though, you have more recognized composers and their melodies on the SNES than on the Amiga. Even Yuzo Koshiro composed something for at least one game on the SNES (Actraiser). And that guy was a YM-Man (The Yamaha OPN and OPM chips for FM-Synthesis) at that point and the Actraiser theme is pretty memorable (Filmore, more example). Then you've got the Athletic theme from Mario World. You've got the Yoshi's Island theme. All the Final Fantasies composed by Uematsu. Even Kenji Ito with the music on the Romancing Saga games and Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana. You've got Chrono Trigger with its theme. Comparing the Amiga with the SNES is weird anyway because those are two different platforms with two different purposes and are good at different things. My claim is unprovable, yes, as "what is the better music" is subjective but you can't refute that you'll find more SNES games on "which 16-bit games had good OSTs"-types of lists. But you are right, that is one point one can't rationally argue about. But then again, going by the thread title, it's the music I prefer as I have the most memories associated with SNES music, especially Square's games.

And by the way, if we go to "professional" electronic music, created by actual musical acts/artists, then the Atari ST is actually the thing one should look at. That had even more support for audio equipment than the Amiga.
 
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Stiflers Mom

Stiflers Mom

Banned
They are both just playing back samples.
In the end it comes down to if the Amiga is given enough chip ram for samples by the game. While the SNES always has the same 64 kb for the whole game as a sample ROM as far as I know.

I have to say, though, that David Wise with his Donkey Kong Country soundtrack blows everything out of the water that I have heard on the Amiga.
 
Team Andromeda

Team Andromeda

Member
The Amiga had better music but that came at the cost. Unlike the Mega Drive or SNES on the Amiga most of the time you either had great music and no sound effects or rubbish sound effects in-game
 
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