The Surround Game Music Thread!

Game music in multichannel audio!

Hey, all. I’ll be posting game music that’s encoded in surround sound – usually 4.0 or 5.1. The files are ripped from games in their native formats; they may be MP3 or OGG, or in lesser-known formats such as FSB, XMA etc. They are channel-mapped and exported as FLAC with Audacity.

FAQ

Why FLAC? Most music from gamerips is in lossy formats!

I use FLAC for two reasons: 1) because I want to preserve the quality of the tracks when I do channel-mapping, and 2) there are very few lossy surround formats and they can be cumbersome for most users due to their codecs (AC3, DTS, multichannel OGG). If you want to convert the FLAC’s to a lossy surround codec, go for it! Just make sure that you get the channel-mapping right, because it may vary across formats.

What is channel-mapping?

Channel-mapping is the assignment of multi-channel audio streams to the correct speakers.

This is the 4.0 channel-mapping for all formats:
Channel 1: Front Left
Channel 2: Front Right
Channel 3: Rear Left
Channel 4: Rear Right

This is the 5.1 channel-mapping for WAV/FLAC:

Channel 1: Front Left
Channel 2: Front Right
Channel 3: Center
Channel 4: LFE (Subwoofer)
Channel 5: Rear Left
Channel 6: Rear Right

Other codecs, such as OGG, will probably have the order as such: 1: FL, 2: C, 3: FR, 4: RL, 5: RR, 6: LFE.
DTS is the same as OGG, except that FL is on channel 2 and Center is on channel 1.
See also: Surround sound specifications (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surround_sound#Surround_sound_specifications)

Also, many of those pesky native formats may have a totally different channel order(depending on the game’s audio engine or console hardware). It will work fine in the game itself, but will sound weird when ripped and played back on a media player with a video game music plugin (such as the VGMstream and Game Emu Plugin components for Foobar2000 (http://foobar2000.org)). For example, the XVAG files in the Uncharted games are completely reversed.

Can I request game X?
It depends. While surround SOUND has been around in games for a long time (dialogues and SFX are heard in a three-dimensional sound field across the speakers), surround MUSIC is actually quite rare; some games may just upmix a stereo music stream, as not all game music is mixed in surround. Fortunately, the surround music format is becoming more and more popular in games released for consoles with true surround output (such as PS3, X360 etc.). Please, request games only if you’re certain the files have multichannel audio (or consist of many stereo tracks which, when put together, form a 5.1 file).

What exactly will and will not be posted in this thread?

The thread will contain the following uploads:
1) Channel-mapped Lossless Gamerips
These will be in two versions: The beta version, which will have channel-mapped lossless tracks without any tags, proper track order or filenames, and the alpha version, which will have the files properly tagged, renamed and placed in a comprehensive tracklist that will follow the structure of the game or a commercial soundtrack. I will need your help to make alpha versions, as I have not played many of the games which will be featured here!

2) Commercially released surround music
On very rare occasions, the surround version of a game soundtrack is released commercially on DVD-Audio, DVD-Video or Blu-ray (e.g. Rise of Nations, Halo Wars, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory).

3) The Vajumixes
Some games feature a dynamic soundtrack (e.g. Batman: Arkham City, Max Payne 3) which consists of multiple layers of music which will be enabled/disabled depending on the player’s actions. For example, in a quiet moment, you will hear only soft strings or synths, but when the enemies show up, drums and guitars are added. I will make my own 5.1 mixes of these, and will call them the Vajumixes (my username does not mean anything, by the way).

The thread will NOT contain (for the time being; subject to change):

1) Stereo music in a gamerip
2) Downmixes of multichannel material
3) Surround audio from cutscenes, unless there is a music-only cutscene with surround sound that should be ripped; if that’s the case, feel free to request it!
4) Upmixes of stereo music

Where do you get your gamerips from?
A good place to start is joshw’s archive (http://hcs64.com/mboard/forum.php?showthread=26929). Another great source is @Alpha23 ‘s Video Game Music Preservation Project (forums.ffshrine.org/f72/video-game-music-preservation-project-119745/). In some cases, I rip the music myself. 🙂

I have uploaded a surround sound gamerip/commercial release. Can I feature it here?
Certainly! If you haven’t done so already, make a thread for it and send me the link. I will feature your thread here and give you credit. 🙂

Nintendo 3DS music is multichannel! Will you post any here?
Sorry, the multichannel system 3DS uses is not meant for conventional 5.1 systems, since it’s a portable device we’re talking about. I don’t know how to map its multichannel tracks without screwing it all up!

Uploaded:
Mortal Kombat 9 (Alpha)
MadWorld (Alpha)
Beyond: Two Souls (Beta)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (Beta)
Alpha Protocol Theme (Alpha)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Beta)
Heavy Rain (Beta)

Currently on cue:
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Beta)
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Beta)
Batman: Arkham City (Vajumix)
Max Payne 3 (Vajumix)
Anarchy Reigns (Vajumix)
Aliens Vs. Predator (2010 game) (Vajumix)

Stay tuned, awesome stuff is on the way!

I’m interested in this. Kudos to you!

Mortal Kombat 9 (Alpha) 4.0 Surround
Source: PS3 – My own rip
I’ve upped this before, but the links have been down since.
31 tracks, full tags and artwork.

Tracklist:
01 – Title Screen
02 – Main Theme
03 – Character Select*
04 – Shang Tsung’s Courtyard (Night)
05 – The Pit
06 – Shang Tsung’s Garden
07 – Shang Tsung’s Courtyard (Day)
08 – Shang Tsung’s Throne Room
09 – Hell
10 – Goro’s Lair
11 – Shao Kahn’s Throne Room
12 – The Armory
13 – The Dead Pool
14 – Wastelands of Outworld
15 – The Living Forest
16 – The Soul Chamber
17 – Shang Tsung’s Flesh Pits
18 – The Evil Monastery
19 – Shao Kahn’s Coliseum
20 – The Desert
21 – The Rooftop (Day)
22 – The Street
23 – The Subway
24 – The Bell Tower
25 – The Graveyard
26 – The Cathedral
27 – The Rooftop (Dusk)
28 – Fatality – Start
29 – Fatality – End
30 – Krypt*
31 – Mortal Kombat Overture

* indicates a loop track

Download (https://mega.co.nz/#!IFhQFLQT!QfNco8ABOxpeb-VrQIzSOabgpDCxjansbvOW-sE_ENc)
pass is my username

Beyond: Two Souls (Beta) 5.1 Surround (4.0 Surround for a few files)
Source: PS3 (Alpha23’s rip (http://forums.ffshrine.org/f72/video-game-music-preservation-project-119745/41.html#post2495923))
255 files, no tags, correct filenames or artwork yet.
Download (https://mega.co.nz/#!9cAk0DQK!enPr3hzQK2AlwkMX-IMVa-yKIk6Pdpy-B5q-yq88WBM)

MadWorld (Alpha) 4.0 Surround
Source: Wii (Joshw Archive Rip (http://wii.joshw.info/m/MadWorld%20(2009-03-10)(Platinum)(Sega).7z))
13 tracks, full tags and artwork.
Many thanks to !!!!! for their Extended Soundtrack! I used the tags from there. Not all songs from the game are in this format, unfortunately. The back channels contain the instrumental versions of the songs.

Tracklist:
01 – Ox – Body That
02 – S.O.U.L. Purpose – Survival
03 – Doujah Raze – Come With It
04 – Ox – Get It Up
05 – Sick YG – Ain’t That Funny
06 – Ox – Let’s Go!
07 – Doujah Raze – Crazy
08 – Doujah Raze – Deathwatch
09 – Ox – Crimson Rain
10 – Ox – Move
11 – Sick YG – It’s A Mad World
12 – Ox – Ride!!
13 – Ox – Breathe

Download (https://mega.co.nz/#!0FpBwQRa!M8GuEgojoFL-kz_2VdRs0SEs7O-K0mpbcPVIRdSbZ3w)

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (Beta) 4.0 Surround
Source: PS2 or PC (I forgot), My own rip
Only 7 tracks from the game have quad mixing and thus are featured here. I didn’t use some because they were just ambient noises. No tags or artwork yet.

Download (https://mega.co.nz/#!RBJzBBxT!Lclq8LByLdQPTSjvtsTogDdqzRFgTzdeutDlKmR gDhA)

Alpha Protocol (Alpha) 5.1 Surround
Source: PC (Joshw Archive Rip (http://pc.joshw.info/a/Alpha%20Protocol%20(2010-05-28)(Obsidian)(Sega).7z))
Only the main theme of the game is in 5.1.

Download (https://mega.co.nz/#!4ZQUyBJS!RscVOgT03M7Q9gR1XKec7Nnf46QDo1_3ng4dbqm DNrU)

My username is the pass for everything.

Now uploading: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Beta)!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Beta) 4.0 Surround
Source: Xbox 360 (XMA files converted to WAV) (Joshw Archive rip (http://x360.joshw.info/c/Call%20of%20Duty%20-%20Modern%20Warfare%202%20(2009-11-10)(Infinity%20Ward)(Activision).7z))
80 files, more than three hours of music! Unfortunately, the main theme is in stereo only and thus is not included here.

Download (https://mega.co.nz/#!1MxEACrb!IX2kbvTDP9-Ju7ER9Pado1CC4x2aKDHZjwffMtcWj00)

Heavy Rain 5.1 Surround (Beta)
Source: PS3 (Alpha23’s Rip (http://forums.ffshrine.org/f72/video-game-music-preservation-project-119745/36.html#post2366813))
233 files!

https://mega.co.nz/#!EUhHmAxJ!bBHxN80C-nOJcm7vUVCSpp5MIlB1l7BN0nTzTIOZMUY

I’d be happy to see my user name connected with individual soundtracks where you used my source with a link to the according post. 🙂

thank you!

I’d be happy to see my user name connected with individual soundtracks where you used my source with a link to the according post. 🙂

Done and done! I added a link to your posts in the appropriate rips. Some rips I didn’t find on your thread, so I used the joshw links instead. Let me know if you were the ripper of any of those!

Update… I’ve gathered a buttload of surround game files now that the JoshW archive (http://hcs64.com/mboard/forum.php?showthread=26929) keeps growing, but I haven’t had the time to prepare and upload them, or even add proper filenames and tags to the ones I’ve already uploaded. Plus, I won’t have access to my surround speakers for a few months, so I won’t be able to make Vajumixes. Dammit.
Is there a game with multichannel audio that you guys would like me to do? I could sure use some motivation. 🙂

A big thanks !

thank you for sharing these beautiful scores, are in more in surround! a thousand thanks. I’d love to surround the soundtracks of Halo, gaiden ninja, Gears of War, and many still …… maybe some can them to do, lol
Thanks a lot

I just downloaded and started listening to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, I find that you’ve done a wonderful job. Compliments.
I’d like to hear more of your work in surround.
Many thanks again.

thank you for sharing these beautiful scores, are in more in surround! a thousand thanks. I’d love to surround the soundtracks of Halo, gaiden ninja, Gears of War, and many still …… maybe some can them to do, lol
Thanks a lot

You’re welcome! I still have lots more to do, and it looks like I’ll have some free time next week! Not sure about the other two, but I think Halo’s music was mixed in 5.1 for its Anniversary remaster. Last time I tried to decode it, it wouldn’t work, but I’ll try again. 😀

I just downloaded and started listening to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, I find that you’ve done a wonderful job. Compliments.
I’d like to hear more of your work in surround.
Many thanks again.

No problem! I will reupload it with proper tags.

Wow. You motivated me to upload more music now! Haha!

You’re welcome! I still have lots more to do, and it looks like I’ll have some free time next week! Not sure about the other two, but I think Halo’s music was mixed in 5.1 for its Anniversary remaster. Last time I tried to decode it, it wouldn’t work, but I’ll try again. 😀

No problem! I will reupload it with proper tags.

Wow. You motivated me to upload more music now! Haha!

Hello vajuvaju! Right now I’m listening to all the songs you’ve done except for Call of Duty I’m still coming down! and I think your work is exceptional, I like a lot, will listen very often. I thank you for your work and keep waiting to do another gem (maybe Halo)Hahaha. Now I have a system 4.0 joining two stereo systems, in which you hear your realizations super good, but I hope to have a good 5.1 system soon.
Thanks for sharing your work with us, and will look forward to your new work that I hope will not be too long in coming. (Translated with google).
bye 🙂

This is amazing stuff!

Looking forward to testing some of them out!
Especially my favorite CoD game.

Thanks for the efforts!

Especially my favorite CoD game.

And what one would that be? :p

And what one would that be? :p

MW2. The uncensored version with "No Russian" level.

MW2. The uncensored version with "No Russian" level.

Ooo, controversial. :p

My favorite Call of Duty game is none other, than the first. 😉