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SNES vs Genesis Sound

Aquatic Ambience

Someone might have posted it already, and I already mentioned it, but fuck it, here's a link to an extended version of it. I used to pause the game and put this on while I fell asleep at night. So relaxing...
 
This could be the most one-sided fight since 1973 when Ali faced an 80-foot tall mechanical Joe Frazier.

If a Sega fan was to try and pick a console wars topic when discussing SNES vs Mega Drive, it wouldn't be sound related.
 
Oh god, I absolutely can't stand the Genesis's sound.

That horrible chunky and screeching electronic music is literally as bad as nails on a chalkboard for me. Even though I'm a huge fan of 16-bit gaming, the Genesis's sound chip is a major barrier for me to enjoy anything on that console. If there's an equivalent port on the SNES or Sega CD, I'll play it over the Genesis version every time. Even 8-bit music is preferable to any sound that comes out of the Genesis. Sorry to hate, but this is one my biggest gaming pet peeves.
 
haha

many years later and the SNES / Genesis battles keep marching on....


love how this thread is all the links to amazing 16bit era music :D
 
Oh, surprised no one's dropped Bio-Hazard Battle or King Colossus yet. Whoever "K.N.U." was, he/she had an interesting style. Tokuhiko Uwabo was another one of those kinds of composers who really did some distinctive stuff on the Genesis. There's literally nothing else like his stuff.

Some people have brought up Follin's Rock and Roll Racing up here, but outside of a vaporware game, his Genesis stuff sounded pretty rough! Time Trax's soundtrack recently got leaked and the full soundtrack is available on Youtube. if you go to 12:14 you can hear what his "guitar" sounded like on the Genesis.
Shadow Hog said:
I dunno which Model you'd call this, but yes, it does.
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Stage 6-1 has an droning low end that's really hard to emulate which makes it sound more cavernous than it really is. Interestingly enough, Game Arts actually took the time to compose the Alisia Dragoon soundtrack for the Saturn sound chip (!) but I think it loses a lot of its distinctiveness and articulation in the process
 
Sergiepoo said:
Oh god, I absolutely can't stand the Genesis's sound.

That horrible chunky and screeching electronic music is literally as bad as nails on a chalkboard for me. Even though I'm a huge fan of 16-bit gaming, the Genesis's sound chip is a major barrier for me to enjoy anything on that console. If there's an equivalent port on the SNES or Sega CD, I'll play it over the Genesis version every time. Even 8-bit music is preferable to any sound that comes out of the Genesis. Sorry to hate, but this is one my biggest gaming pet peeves.
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Really? You prefer this to this?

I definitely give the SNES the edge head to head overall but there were plenty of exceptions.
 
I really don't get how closed-minded some people can be to just completely trash talk an entire console's worth of music. Generalizations get people nowhere; there's always exceptions. Some SNES soundtracks don't sound like muffled, low-quality MIDI (Tim Follin, Dave Wise and Ocean Software soundtracks usually provide good counterexamples), while Genesis soundtacks aren't always tinny or screechy shit (I'd like to think my first post in this thread contains enough counter-examples for anyone willing to listen).

kess said:
Some people have brought up Follin's Rock and Roll Racing up here, but outside of a vaporware game, his Genesis stuff sounded pretty rough! Time Trax's soundtrack recently got leaked and the full soundtrack is available on Youtube. if you go to 12:14 you can hear what his "guitar" sounded like on the Genesis. The song starting at 15:25 is ultra smooth for Genesis.
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Those aren't the right speed, though. The 50Hz ones at the tail end of the video match the only known recording from the game's soundtrack prior to the beta leak; hence, I'm inclined to believe that's the speed the game's soundtrack was meant to play at.

uncledonnie said:
Really? You prefer this to this?

I definitely give the SNES the edge head to head overall but there were plenty of exceptions.
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I prefer this to either, personally.
 
uncledonnie said:
Really? You prefer this to this?

I definitely give the SNES the edge head to head overall but there were plenty of exceptions.
Click to expand...
Yes.

The former version sounds better to me because the SNES can do a better imitation of an electric guitar (I think that's what it is? I'm not very musically literate). The Genesis's version's "beat" uses something that sounds like cymbals, and that just sounds bad, and the main melody has that synthy quality that I can't stand it most Genesis music.

Really, it's completely subjective, and I don't expect anyone to agree with me. It's more an irrational hate than anything.
 
While the SNES is good at natural sounds I much prefer the Genesis when programmed correctly, it was great for electronic music with it's punchy and dirty sound. It's good to see so many other ppl agreeing with me in this thread.

Warsong/ Langrisser: Friendly Fight

Warsong / Langrisser: Thought of the Holy

quackshot transylvania music

A good comparison between both consoles is Langrisser 2 / Der Langrisser.

SNES

Mega Drive

The MD version of Soldier has a much more colourful and punchy lead synth than the SNES version, Bosel is another good one to compare, the MD version has a great sawtooth, Morgan is another.
 
For sound effects, SNES > Genesis easily.

For music though, Genesis all day. The SNES sounds weak and flat in comparison to me. The Genesis could put out some ridiculous beats.
 
Synth said:
For sound effects, SNES > Genesis easily.

For music though, Genesis all day. The SNES sounds weak and flat in comparison to me. The Genesis could put out some ridiculous beats.
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Huh, I actually feel the exact opposite. I think that sound effects should be punchy and loud to really make actions feel strong or more powerful. SNES sound effects are generally more subdued. An explosion, for instance, would sound awesome on the Genesis, but not quite as impactful on SNES.
 
Why would you do that? said:
Huh, I actually feel the exact opposite. I think that sound effects should be punchy and loud to really make actions feel strong or more powerful. SNES sound effects are generally more subdued. An explosion, for instance, would sound awesome on the Genesis, but not quite as impactful on SNES.
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Hmm...you have a point I guess. I was too busy thinking of nasty vocal attempts in things like Street Fighter etc. Actually stopping to think about it (things like hit effect in Streets of Rage vs Final Fight and so on) I guess I do prefer the Genesis for sound in general.
 
Nickodemos said:
You sure? Wasn't it customised at some point?
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From Wikipedia:

"The main microprocessor of the Genesis is a 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU. The console also includes a Zilog Z80 sub-processor, which controls the sound chips and provides backwards compatibility with the Master System.

The system produces sound by way of an FM synthesizer and a Texas Instruments SN76489 Programmable sound generator. The Z80 processor directly controls both sound chips, producing stereo music and sound effects, both synthesized and digitized. The first version of the Japanese Mega Drive contains a Yamaha YM2612 FM synthesis chip and a separate YM7101 to process video; these two chips were integrated into a single custom chip for the North American Genesis and in later versions of the console distributed worldwide."

Doesn't say if any alterations were made.

EDIT: The Yamaha YM2612 Wikipedia page states that a custom chip (YM3438) was used in model 2's which was louder than the original so you are correct. Dammit there goes my preference for Model 1s
 
kess said:
Too bad the Sega CD sound chip was only used in about 3 games.
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I know, right? Particularly since Redbook audio was such a quantum leap from the Genesis.

Here's my top 3 from the Sega CD, though there's probably more:

Sonic CD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRcR0v6I_w8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq5IWgj-gtE

Ecco the Dolphin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upJ_1Q1WJy0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hzzln9zRAw

Lunar Silver Star:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtOfhXli8XQ
 
I like SNES OSTs as much as the next guy, but my eyes have been opened to Mega Power for awhile now:

Mega Turrican: Stage 2-1

Streets of Rage 1: Violent Breathing

Streets of Rage 2: Dreamer

Contra Hard Corps: Hard Corps Blues

Ristar: Ice Scream
(best ice stage theme in existence)

Ristar: Star Humming
(one more for good measure)

Sonic 1: Labyrinth Zone

Sonic 3: Hydrocity Zone Act 2

Does 32X count?

Virtua Racing DX - Replay

Lightening Force - Boss 1 Evil Destroyer

Crusader of Centy - Battle 1

Shinobi 3: Japonesque

Shining Force 2: To Arms!

Phantasy Star II: Death Place

Castlevania Bloodlines: That sinking old sanctuary

Sol Deace: Stage 1

Elemental Master: Blood stained lake

Sergiepoo said:
Oh god, I absolutely can't stand the Genesis's sound.

That horrible chunky and screeching electronic music is literally as bad as nails on a chalkboard for me. Even though I'm a huge fan of 16-bit gaming, the Genesis's sound chip is a major barrier for me to enjoy anything on that console. If there's an equivalent port on the SNES or Sega CD, I'll play it over the Genesis version every time. Even 8-bit music is preferable to any sound that comes out of the Genesis. Sorry to hate, but this is one my biggest gaming pet peeves.
Click to expand...

Please play the Streets of Rage series and Ristar. Those should be able to make it over the barrier. A subwoofer really helps to drive Genesis home.

Vigilant Gambit said:
People always sleep on Jewel Master and Motoaki Takenouchi.
Click to expand...

Whoa. Guess thats one to add to the list.
 
I'm a big fan of arcade soundtracks so I've always preferred the Genesis sound. The SNES sound just lacks the punch/clarity that the Genesis sound provides. The SNES doesn't sound bad if you're using TV speakers, but if you have a quality sound system, the limitations of the SNES sound hardware become more apparent.

I was comparing sound of the NES and SNES version of Super Mario Bros. 3 a couple of weeks back, and I was so amazed how much better the NES version of Super Mario Bros. 3 sounded. The music had punch and didn't sound compressed/pushed back like the SNES version.

If you want to hear a good discussion about Genesis and SNES sound hardware, check out this episode of the Legacy Music Hour Podcast with composer Matt Furniss (Puggsy, Mickey Mania): http://legacymusichour.blogspot.com/2013/07/episode-143-matt-furniss.html

two recent Genesis favorites:
James Bond 007:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4fK6TYVLMs
Master of Monsters (this ones very Vangelis sounding):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFSF6RhFJak
 
Even though the SNES was great for classical music scores, anything rock sounding (particularly electric guitar) sounded like crap. The only decent electric guitar on the SNES would have to be Rock n Roll Racing.
 
baphomet 666 said:
Snes sounds like bad early midi music.

Genesis has a very distinct sound that, when used correctly, puts snes to shame.
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This is how I feel about it. Lots of SNES stuff is just bad MIDI music which I guess was maybe technically more advanced, but I like how the Genesis sounds. I think it had a legit synthesizer for a sound chip, which would explain how it produced god-level results for any game that wanted a techno sound. Try to make some general MIDI stuff and you were going to get less than ideal results most times, but if you just went full tilt electronica it was pretty great. Some stuff on it still sounds modern today while pretty much everything on the SNES has to be listened to with the understanding the limitations of the tech available and you kinda have to throw sound quality out the window and just check out the composition and imagine what it would be like if it had good sounds in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OghWM69owAs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVoy6hDlROI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZCqeaPTXcU
 
I had a Genesis 1995-1998, and I still to this day shivers from the horrific sound effects.

I remember that games like Landstalker, Cannon Fodder and FIFA 96 were alright though...
 
It's weird seeing all the Genesis support in this thread. I was trying to argue for the Genesis' sound in that SNES vs Genesis poll thread, and it seemed like there were only 3 of us vs the rest of GAF, lol.
 
The SNES was capable of some amazing sounding music for its time. The Genesis was just using FM synthesis, nothing really distinct considering the Master System, most PC's and even THE NES had FM synth in games.

Some SNES songs that I really feel can push the chip (taken from an older thread).
Hourai Gakuen no Bouken!
Wonder Project J
Treasure Hunter G
Dragon Quest
Earthbound
Hourai Gakuen no Bouken! ...again.

It really is a sound system that can either sound awful or great depending on how well you can arrange things.
 
The main problem with Genesis music is on multiplatform games where the composers worked with samples to begin with. Generally, in comparisons between the same game, the SNES version will come out on top.

Genesis exclusives, however, generally are absolutely incredible. I'll admit that it's partially my personal preference, though, since I prefer punchy, ass-kicking music in my video games to ambience and orchestration.
 
I wish I could speak more intelligently on this but as everything, each has its highs and lows.

Someone mentioned that the SNES' synth guitar sounds are really weak; the worst is when they try to use a sampled saxaphone sound as a guitar. There's always exceptions: Capcom games like the Megaman X series and X-Men Mutant Apocalypse have some pretty cool guitar sounds. Licensed games and/or Western-produced games often have a really weak, muddled quality to them that just sound hollow.

Meanwhile most Genesis games just sound like trash. The developers really had to try to get good sounding music out of it, but when they were successful, nothing sounded quite so distinctly cool. Many Genesis games just sounded like synth noise and fart sounds, but stuff like Earthworm Jim and Rocket Knight sounded fantastic.
 
SNES had the better sound, no question. The DKC series is all the evidence that is required.

I still love me them S3&K musics, tho. <3 Mike Jackson and Howard Drossin.
 
FlynnCL said:
even THE NES had FM synth in games.
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Strictly speaking, no, it didn't. The VRC7 was only compatible with the Famicom; the lines to allow the additional sound channels were removed from all Western versions of the NES.

Really wish they weren't, though. Would've been amazing if Konami's (VRC6, VRC7), Namco's (Namco 163) or Sunsoft's (Sunsoft 5B) additional sound chips could've been used.
 
The SNES had a far better sound chip (and countless memorable OSTs to go with it), but the best soundtrack in a 16-bit game was on the Genesis, even with the inferior sound hardware - Streets of Rage 2. I play that game at least once a year, mainly because the soundtrack kicks so much ass.
 
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