emuxer
02-11-2013, 04:08 AM
This is a new version of my old thread (Thread 94767), I did this to have a clean start because of all the discussion about real Vs emulators that took about 2 pages in the old thread and because of all the great contributions from The Iron Goat. This thread is also intended to keep the new Lossless Thread (Thread 126974) clean of rips and to have only official releases there although the new one also allows to have them. (That thread, along with IG's rips, inspired me to do this one).
This time I will try to keep a links section in the first post and to contribute myself more often.
FAQ
What is a Real VGM rip?
Is a game music rip that comes from real software/hardware using the original sound engine, source and/or its physical sound output and not an emulator program to get the sound either from a ROM or the sound code. It also includes CD Digital Audio and the so-called hardfiles, which are files that are in the software and have the music recorded in it, examples are XA (PS1), ADX (Saturn, Dreamcast), BRMST (GameCube) and others. Sometimes they also use lossy formats (MP3, OGG), but as long as they are the original files in the software, converting them to a lossless format will be good way to archive it and preserve it.
Are there any rules to post here?
Post the source that you used to make your recording. These can be, but not limited to: Game Console, CD Audio, "Hardfile" (XA, ADX, MOD, etc, except for sequences) and region. A lot of times, the music and sound varies from region to region.
Absolutely NO TRANSCODES, NO EMULATORS. Do it only if it is extremely necessary to fill in for a missing sound or an SE-less version and others but not for a complete rip, if you do this, please be honest and mark the files as such along with the best recording you can get from the REAL game if possible; this rule does not apply to rips with sound from official collections in different consoles (such as Sega Smashpack for DC) or stand-alone consoles.
If you are re-uploading and you weren't the "ripper", please be honest and say so.
No discussions about emulator rips being better than real rips, please. Fot Lossless Emulator rips go to this thread (Thread 94775).
Try not to quote fully if the post is already too long.
Respect the uploader wishes about re-uploading and requests.
Which recording program should I use?
Any program that allows you at least to do the following: see the waveform graphically, alter the waveform's amplitude (volume, normalization, envelope, NR), save file in PCM format(s) with sample rates of 44.1 Khz at 16-bit at least and to edit the waveform properly. I recommend Gold Wave and Cool Edit to start with.
Any recommendations to record music from consoles?
Always check the sound input level, a low level will deliver white noise, a high input level will deliver cracking noises or clipping, many programs have VU meters that tell you how low or high the sound is, you can also tell by the waveform graph. Remember that if you alter the volume after the recording, the noise problems will remain there.
Try always to loop twice and fade more than 10 seconds with a bell envelope (check the help file of your recording program). That will give your recording a professional touch.
Always save a master file or files before editing and save the edited or converted files apart from the master .
If you need to use Noise Reduction, try not to use 100% saturation, this can create severe annoying distortion similar to those that old MP3's at 128kbps give. Make several tries without deleting the master recording until you get a good noise reduction.
If you need to use a copied game, make sure it is a 1:1 copy or a good dump, bad dumps can have corrupted files, have CD Audio with artifacts ("popping") or bad bytes that can give bad sound instruction or samples.
Avoid the use of the following to consoles to make the recordings: Atari 2600 and Famicom/NES pirate clones Genesis/MegaDrive models/clones other than Model 1 (the one with the headphone jack) Backwards compatible hardware. (only a few are good, some examples are MD Model 1 for SMS, MSX1/2/2+, Original PS 2 for PS 1, Atari 7800 for 2600.) (The Super Game Boy is also good for original GB games. However, some games also use the SPC chip of the SFC/SNES.)
In the case of FC games, as long as it's not an extra sound type (Akumajou Densetsu, Gimmick!, Final Lap), they will sound the same in an NES, so it's OK to use an NES/FC Cart combo.
MIDI files, PS SEQ files and other sequence files need emulators in order to play them without the real hardware because they only contain information on how the sound engine must run, these are not to be considered as allowed hardfile rips.
Trackers files (MOD, XM) for an AMIGA game are better to rip using a real AMIGA because it has some filters in the hardware, if they are from PC games or don't have a working AMIGA computer, a tracker converter will be OK (please, say what method did you use).
I'm new to lossless encoding
Please, refer to the FAQ at this thread (Thread 126974).
Links
SNES - Castlevania Dracula X (US) (Thread 127410)
SNES - TMNT Tournament Fighters (US) (Thread 127411)
SNES - TMNT IV - Turtles in Time (US) (Thread 127845)
----More to Come----
This time I will try to keep a links section in the first post and to contribute myself more often.
FAQ
What is a Real VGM rip?
Is a game music rip that comes from real software/hardware using the original sound engine, source and/or its physical sound output and not an emulator program to get the sound either from a ROM or the sound code. It also includes CD Digital Audio and the so-called hardfiles, which are files that are in the software and have the music recorded in it, examples are XA (PS1), ADX (Saturn, Dreamcast), BRMST (GameCube) and others. Sometimes they also use lossy formats (MP3, OGG), but as long as they are the original files in the software, converting them to a lossless format will be good way to archive it and preserve it.
Are there any rules to post here?
Post the source that you used to make your recording. These can be, but not limited to: Game Console, CD Audio, "Hardfile" (XA, ADX, MOD, etc, except for sequences) and region. A lot of times, the music and sound varies from region to region.
Absolutely NO TRANSCODES, NO EMULATORS. Do it only if it is extremely necessary to fill in for a missing sound or an SE-less version and others but not for a complete rip, if you do this, please be honest and mark the files as such along with the best recording you can get from the REAL game if possible; this rule does not apply to rips with sound from official collections in different consoles (such as Sega Smashpack for DC) or stand-alone consoles.
If you are re-uploading and you weren't the "ripper", please be honest and say so.
No discussions about emulator rips being better than real rips, please. Fot Lossless Emulator rips go to this thread (Thread 94775).
Try not to quote fully if the post is already too long.
Respect the uploader wishes about re-uploading and requests.
Which recording program should I use?
Any program that allows you at least to do the following: see the waveform graphically, alter the waveform's amplitude (volume, normalization, envelope, NR), save file in PCM format(s) with sample rates of 44.1 Khz at 16-bit at least and to edit the waveform properly. I recommend Gold Wave and Cool Edit to start with.
Any recommendations to record music from consoles?
Always check the sound input level, a low level will deliver white noise, a high input level will deliver cracking noises or clipping, many programs have VU meters that tell you how low or high the sound is, you can also tell by the waveform graph. Remember that if you alter the volume after the recording, the noise problems will remain there.
Try always to loop twice and fade more than 10 seconds with a bell envelope (check the help file of your recording program). That will give your recording a professional touch.
Always save a master file or files before editing and save the edited or converted files apart from the master .
If you need to use Noise Reduction, try not to use 100% saturation, this can create severe annoying distortion similar to those that old MP3's at 128kbps give. Make several tries without deleting the master recording until you get a good noise reduction.
If you need to use a copied game, make sure it is a 1:1 copy or a good dump, bad dumps can have corrupted files, have CD Audio with artifacts ("popping") or bad bytes that can give bad sound instruction or samples.
Avoid the use of the following to consoles to make the recordings: Atari 2600 and Famicom/NES pirate clones Genesis/MegaDrive models/clones other than Model 1 (the one with the headphone jack) Backwards compatible hardware. (only a few are good, some examples are MD Model 1 for SMS, MSX1/2/2+, Original PS 2 for PS 1, Atari 7800 for 2600.) (The Super Game Boy is also good for original GB games. However, some games also use the SPC chip of the SFC/SNES.)
In the case of FC games, as long as it's not an extra sound type (Akumajou Densetsu, Gimmick!, Final Lap), they will sound the same in an NES, so it's OK to use an NES/FC Cart combo.
MIDI files, PS SEQ files and other sequence files need emulators in order to play them without the real hardware because they only contain information on how the sound engine must run, these are not to be considered as allowed hardfile rips.
Trackers files (MOD, XM) for an AMIGA game are better to rip using a real AMIGA because it has some filters in the hardware, if they are from PC games or don't have a working AMIGA computer, a tracker converter will be OK (please, say what method did you use).
I'm new to lossless encoding
Please, refer to the FAQ at this thread (Thread 126974).
Links
SNES - Castlevania Dracula X (US) (Thread 127410)
SNES - TMNT Tournament Fighters (US) (Thread 127411)
SNES - TMNT IV - Turtles in Time (US) (Thread 127845)
----More to Come----