MMX MSU1 Genesis mod - Done?

[Anapan]

I'd like a bit of feedback before I submit this mod to the main site archive.  I've not yet had anyone test it.
I'd like someone to try the process and verify that it works, is understandable and is reproducible. 

http://anapan.525lines.moe/MMX_GEN_MSU1.ZIP

Savaged Regime remade/remixed the entire soundtrack to Mega Man X using the Sega Genesis FM and PSG chips and released them as VGM format.
https://youtu.be/9CzkswHHxQI
As soon as I heard it, I immediately wanted to play the game with that FM synth soundtrack instead of the roland low bitrate sampled one.
15 minutes of google searching made the process to convert the soundtrack easy.  I really just wanted to release the VGM-PCM raw audio, but after almost a  week of waiting for a response from the composer, I built a script bat file to fully convert the soundtrack from scratch on your own PC.

Here's my first compiled version of the PCM files with some heavy EQ and DSP added - I'd forgotten the EQ and DSP I had on Winamp when transcoding, and subsequently I had to apply compression to the wav files make it loud enough.  I think it sounds better on a small speaker system than the raw version, tho clearly adulterated...

http://anapan.525lines.moe/Mega%20Man%20X%20Genesis%20(DSP_EQ).zip
3 days ago Savaged Regime responded to my request and gave me full permission to do whatever I want with his soundtrack rendition as MSU1 SNES stuff is not in his interest. 

I'm sure I was too brief in the instructions somewhere...


Does this patch work for you?
Should I just submit it as is?
Can I just make the pre-compiled PCM files available while making the long-route instructions optional and save everyone the long boring inconvenience of manually converting all the files?
Is there a better place to upload the .PCM files than my friend's webspace (there may be a data transfer cap)?

edit: The last 3 songs (credits etc) are in the wrong order.  Fixing soon.  Respond plz tho, it's just a file naming error..

[DougRPG]

Hi, isn't it similar to the MSU-1 right? This has only FM quality or has a full Cd quality (44.1khz) like MSU-1?

I think Genesis doesn't have a MSU-1 yet. It's "easy" to do by the way. Pins B1 and B2 in the cartridge slot are the left and right analogic audio signals (so the hardware can support it), so it's only a matter of putting the MSU-1 code in an emulator. Easier said than done.

[Jorpho]

Does this patch work for you?
Should I just submit it as is?
Can I just make the pre-compiled PCM files available while making the long-route instructions optional and save everyone the long boring inconvenience of manually converting all the files?
Is there a better place to upload the .PCM files than my friend's webspace (there may be a data transfer cap)?

Personally I would prefer to have a tiny download and run a conversion script rather than have a gigantic download.

[Disch]

I think Genesis doesn't have a MSU-1 yet.

Doesn't it?  Isn't that what the Sega-CD is?

[KingMike]

so it's only a matter of putting the MSU-1 code in an emulator

Yes, the point of MSU1 was to add CD-like capability that was technically possible on the SNES. Possible on actual hardware.

The Sega CD is already that Genesis analogy.

[Anapan]

Sorry for the late reply;

@ Jorpho - yeah, or course I'll be only uploading the script here, I just would like to also add a link to the finished product - sans the modified rom.  I believe I've got a solution for the storage.

Some clarification

This ROM hack converts a remixed soundtrack (built to be played on real Sega Genesis hardware) for every track found on Mega Man X for the SNES and converts it to raw PCM for use on specialized hardware or software (the MSU1 chip) that the SNES doesn't contain.

The script I built and am askinbg for someone to test will convert the VGM(genesis format) soundtrack to PCM audio and modifies the ROM for Megaman X on Super Nintendo to play that PCM audio instead of using the SNES's SPU and samples.

As discussed, this rom hack requires that it be played on an emulator that supports MSU1 (Higan, and I think SNES9x) or a flash cart that has/emulates MSU1 hardware - currently only the SD2SNES flash cart.

Thanks for the replies, and sorry for the confusion and lack of detail on what this hack accomplishes...
I haven't yet fixed the out-of-order last 3 tracks.  Cheers!

[edale]

There's no reason for both a emulator and non-emulator patch.

The volume should be set to FF (max, the SD2SNES patch should have this setting), and the PCM audio should be normalized (typically at either -18dB or -21dB, using RMS normalization).

The need for different patches came from a bug in one of the chips in SD2SNES's earlier releases, that has since been eliminated (with firmware patches for the older ones). Check here for more info: https://www.zeldix.net/t1265-fixing-all-of-the-too-loud-audio-packs-for-good

A better/easier method to create the PCMs (including normalization):

-------------------------

https://github.com/vgmrips/vgmplay/releases
Grab VGMPlay (not in-vgm).
Extract the folder, and edit the following line in "VGMPlay.ini":

SampleRate = 48000 -> 44100
LogSound = 0 -> 1

You can either drag-and-drop the VGM files onto VGMPlay.exe at this point, or convert them through the command line via batch script (I'm not that good with batch scripts, so you'll have to build that yourself)

It'll create the .wav files in the same folder as the .vgm files.


Using this method instead of in-vgm lets you stick to completely command-line, making it possible to do completely through a script.

*edit- Apparently you can just create a playlist file and load the playlist to act as a .bat for converting as well.

-------------------

Now, once you've got the .wav files

http://normalize.nongnu.org/
Use that program for normalization.

Code Select Expand

normalize.exe -a -18dBFS [filename].wav

Does an in-place -18dB RMS normalization of the wav files.

If after playtesting, the audio is still too loud, you can use:

Code Select Expand

normalize.exe -a -21dBFS [filename].wav
On the already -18dB normalized file, you don't have to re-convert the wav's before doing the -21dB normalization.

-------------------

Now that the .wav files are normalized, use wav2pcm to convert the .wav files to looped MSU-1 compatible PCM audio.

*Edit- A bit of checking shows that other MSU-1 mods for MMX needed to be -21 dB, so you should normalize to there.
October 14, 2017, 02:45:30 AM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
https://mega.nz/#!ncpA2IaQ!ee5NcfLbK-oZ5CXqSSXxX8NXYmpcMEa4XGVtygsLewc

Your Genesis PCM pack freshly converted and normalized to -21dB.

Named/numbered the way your script would make them, so not sure if those 3 tracks you mentioned are misnamed in this or not.

Please host them on your own servers, my upload on mega is limited (free account), and I have other things I'm hosting.

[Anapan]

Thank you!
I will fully work through this as soon as I have a chance.
My SD2SNES is the old model, and I think the noise floor from the "fix" wasn't good, but I will fully investigate.  Unfortunately, the hardware upgrade is beyond my skills - I have not had good luck with surface-mount desoldering...
Hopefully I can change this so that the gain on the PCM files is correct to the ingame pcm samples without any clipping or soft-saturation.
I will also simply link to a set of mirrors with files for the "wrong" old SD2SNES stuff, and otherwise omit it from the romhacking.net submission.

_{I went through so much effort to make all the MSU1 hacks work perfectly with my SD2SNES...}

[edale]

Thank you!
I will fully work through this as soon as I have a chance.
My SD2SNES is the old model, and I think the noise floor from the "fix" wasn't good, but I will fully investigate.  Unfortunately, the hardware upgrade is beyond my skills - I have not had good luck with surface-mount desoldering...
Hopefully I can change this so that the gain on the PCM files is correct to the ingame pcm samples without any clipping or soft-saturation.
I will also simply link to a set of mirrors with files for the "wrong" old SD2SNES stuff, and otherwise omit it from the romhacking.net submission.

_{I went through so much effort to make all the MSU1 hacks work perfectly with my SD2SNES...}

Soldering? Hardware upgrade? All you need to do is upgrade your firmware, no soldering involved...

to quote qwertymodo:

SD2SNES users with hardware revisions older than rev H need to update their firmware to 1.7b or later in order to enable the MSU-1 audio boost.

You can get the Firmware here: https://sd2snes.de/blog/

Oh, and your work didn't go to waste. All your loops and such are preserved (honestly, I didn't even really check them to make sure they looped properly, if they don't the problem is probably the loop points set in your script). The only thing I did was apply the normalization before converting to PCM.

[edale]

It's been almost a month.... Have you hosted that pack on your own servers yet? I'd like to delete it off my mega...