History MediaNotes / GamingAudio

With the move from [=CDs=] to [=DVDs=] (and later, digital downloads), game developers could no longer use Red Book audio for their games. Additionally, the one drawback of CD audio meant that transparently looping music is impossible. So they turned to another technique - compressed audio files. Essentially, audio files used in modern games today are like standard [=MP3s=], except with a different compression algorithm and metadata regarding loop points. Such files have all the advantages of Red Book audio with several more, such as better looping. Today, most games seem to use proprietary audio formats, with indie games tending to use consumer formats such as [=MP3=] and [=OGG=]. And by then, processors are not only leap and bounds faster, but had also went multi-core. Coupled with the fact that games are now often better optimized than before, the earlier issues that plagued software-driven wavetable synthesis no longer applies.

With the move from [=CDs=] to [=DVDs=], game developers could no longer use Red Book audio for their games. So they turned to another technique - compressed audio files. Essentially, audio files used in modern games today are like standard [=MP3s=], except with a different compression algorithm and metadata regarding loop points. Such files have all the advantages of Red Book audio with several more, such as better looping. Today, most games seem to use proprietary audio formats, with indie games tending to use consumer formats such as [=MP3=] and [=OGG=]. And by then, processors are not only leap and bounds faster, but had also went multi-core. Coupled with the fact that games are now often better optimized than before, the earlier issues that plagued software-driven wavetable synthesis no longer applies.

With the move from [=CDs=] to [=DVDs=], game developers could no longer use Red Book audio for their games. So they turned to another technique - compressed audio files. Essentially, audio files used in modern games today are like standard [=MP3s=], except with a different compression algorithm and metadata regarding loop points. Such files have all the advantages of Red Book audio with several more, such as better looping. Today, most games seem to use proprietary audio formats, with indie games tending to use consumer formats such as [=MP3=] and [=OGG.=]

----

Once games started to ship on CDs, Red Book audio for game soundtracks became common. The audio could be played from the CD just like music on a music CD, while the game data lived in memory. This technology was actually developed in tandem with PCM sample playback and competed with PCM synthesis, and is sometimes used together with the former (for example, in the PC port of VideoGame/WipeOut and VideoGame/QuakeII, where the music is played from the music CD partition of the disc while the sound effects are played through PCM sample playback). A nice side-effect of this would be that the game CD is its own soundtrack CD and the soundtrack can be enjoyed on any regular CD player, and it also adds an extra layer of complexity for [[CopyProtection copy protection]] in that multi-partition game discs are difficult to duplicate reliably. Additionally, the music often sounds bettter than PCM sampled music, since real instruments could be played and recorded. On the downside, however, looping music tends to be difficult if not impossible to implement- as evident in SonicCD on the UsefulNotes/SegaCD, where the music had a short fade-out and fade-in section when repeating.

With the move from CDs to DVDs, game developers could no longer use Red Book audio for their games. So they turned to another technique - compressed audio files. Essentially, audio files used in modern games today are like standard MP3s, except with a different compression algorithm and metadata regarding loop points. Such files have all the advantages of Red Book audio with several more, such as better looping. Today, most games seem to use proprietary audio formats, with indie games tending to use consumer formats such as MP3 and OGG.

On early machines, there either wasn't any sound hardware, or the sound hardware was extremely simple, being able to click a speaker or play simple tones. This was also the default sound system on IBM PC compatibles for many years, as well as on early Apple computers like the [[UsefulNotes/AppleII Apple II, IIe and IIc]] (The Apple IIGS had PCM sample playback capabilities courtesy of an Esoniq PCM Codec).

One step up from simple beeps and clicks was the ''programmable sound generator'' (PSG), a set of oscillators on a chip that could be programmed in real time. The simplest ones, like the Texas Instruments 76496 and GI/Microchip 8910, had 3 square-wave channels and 1 white noise channel, all with independent volume controls. At the other end of the spectrum was the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}'s SID, a full 3-channel hybrid analog synthesizer with sine, square and triangle wave oscillators, filters and white noise. The UsefulNotes/{{Atari ST}} and UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} also used a PSG audio chip, though later versions of the Atari ST also included a PCM audio codec for rudimentary speech and sound effects support. The UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers used a POKEY chip, which is also a PSG. Also, most sound cards released for the Apple II were PSG-based. Many [=PSGs=] could be fooled into playing back sampled audio by feeding PCM values into the volume control registers thousands of times a second, as heard on some Game Gear games by "Say-Gah!", and have even been used to do CPU-driven speech synthesis on several accounts. It's safe to say that from the late 70s to the early 80s, PSG chips were technically the backbone of gaming audio. Still not convinced? Creative Lab's first sound card for the PC before the widely-successful [=SoundBlaster=] was the CMS (''Crative Music System'', later rebranded ''Game Blaster''), which was PSG-based as well.

The next step up would be FM synthesizers. FM synthesizers work by combining tones of various frequencies together in real time, with up to 4 oscillators working together to make a note. The technique works best for woodwind and key instruments like the piano, and early iterations have problems with percussion (sounds "flat", especially with first and second generation synthesizers, but still a problem with third generation synths), and string instruments (sounds "plasticky" and "toyish"), but most of the problems were ironed out with later generation synthesizers.

The first popular gaming platforms to use a PCM Synthesis chipset were the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, UsefulNotes/{{SNES}}, and believe it or not, {{Pinball}} systems, mainly those that used Creator/{{Midway}}'s DCS PCM Synthesis board (which also saw use in VideoGame/MortalKombat and VideoGame/RevolutionX cabinets, since it not only reproduces instruments more faithfully, but one of the many tricks PCM synthesis could do was transparently loop fully-voiced music tracks, which is an important feature of the latter game). The UsefulNotes/{{NES}} and UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis both had rudimentary PCM support, but this was mainly used for pre-recorded voices, sound effects, and drums, (and in actuality worked by manipulating the PSG in the case of the NES. The modified [=OPL2=] chip (called an [=OPN2=]) used by the Genesis has a PCM codec mode, but the Genesis can also resort to manipulating the PSG to play back PCM sounds if needed- notable as it's how the Sonic 3 Launch Base zone BGM managed to have a percussion track and still have the "Go!" voice samples). Pretty much every system introduced since uses PCM.

!Red-Book CD audio

Finally, once games started to ship on optical media, prerecorded audio became common. The audio could be played from the CD just like any other song, while the game data lived in memory. This technology actually developed in tandem with PCM Sample playback and competed with PCM Synthesis, and is sometimes used together with the former (for example, in the PC port of VideoGame/WipeOut and VideoGame/QuakeII, where the music is played from the music CD partition of the disc while the sound effects are played through PCM sample playback). A nice side-effect of this would be that the game CD is its own soundtrack CD and the soundtrack can be enjoyed on any regular CD player, and it also adds an extra layer of complexity for CopyProtection in that multi-partition game discs are difficult to duplicate reliably. Additionally, the music sounds just as good as PCM sampled music. On the downside, however, looping music tends to be difficult if not impossible to implement- as evident in SonicCD on the UsefulNotes/SegaCD, where the music had a short fade-out and fade-in section when repeating.

The one biggest drawback with FM synthesis is that it cannot reproduce PCM audio at all, meaning to some people, this is taking one step backwards instead. This resulted in the influx of "hybrid" cards mentioned below, in which many cards couple a FM synthesizer (usually a OPL-2, later OPL-3) with a PCM codec for speech and sound effects.

One step up from simple beeps and clicks was the ''programmable sound generator'' (PSG), a set of oscillators on a chip that could be programmed in real time. The simplest ones, like the Texas Instruments 76496 and GI/Microchip 8910, had 3 square-wave channels and 1 white noise channel, all with independent volume controls. At the other end of the spectrum was the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}'s SID, a full 3-channel hybrid analog synthesizer with sine, square and triangle wave oscillators, filters and white noise. The UsefulNotes/{{Atari ST}} and UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} also used a PSG audio chip, though later versions of the Atari ST also included a PCM audio codec for rudimentary speech and sound effects support. The UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers used a POKEY chip, which is also a PSG. Also, most sound cards released for the Apple II were PSG-based. Many [=PSGs=] could be fooled into playing back sampled audio by feeding PCM values into the volume control registers thousands of times a second, as heard on some Game Gear games by "Say-Gah!", and have even been used to do CPU-driven speech synthesis on several accounts. It's safe to say that from the late 70s to the early 80s, PSG chips were technically the backbone of gaming audio (still not convinced? Creative Lab's first sound card for the PC before the widely-successful [=SoundBlaster=] was the CMS (''Crative Music System'', later rebranded ''Game Blaster''), which was PSG-based as well).

One step up from simple beeps and clicks was the ''programmable sound generator'' (PSG), a set of oscillators on a chip that could be programmed in real time. The simplest ones, like the Texas Instruments 76496 and GI/Microchip 8910, had 3 square-wave channels and 1 white noise channel, all with independent volume controls. At the other end of the spectrum was the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}'s SID, a full 3-channel hybrid analog synthesizer with sine, square and triangle wave oscillators, filters and white noise. The UsefulNotes/{{Atari ST}} and UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} also used a PSG audio chip, though later versions of the Atari ST also included a PCM audio codec for rudimentary speech and sound effects support. The UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers used a POKEY chip, which is also a PSG. Also, most sound cards released for the Apple II were PSG-based. Many [=PSGs=] could be fooled into playing back sampled audio by feeding PCM values into the volume control registers thousands of times a second, as heard on some Game Gear games by "Say-Gah!", and have even been used to do CPU-driven speech synthesis on several accounts. It's safe to say that from the late 70s to the early 80s, PSG chips were technically the backbone of gaming audio (still not convinced? Creative Lab's first sound card for the PC before the widely-successful [=SoundBlaster=] was the ''Game Blaster'', which was PSG-based as well).

One step up from simple beeps and clicks was the ''programmable sound generator'' (PSG), a set of oscillators on a chip that could be programmed in real time. The simplest ones, like the Texas Instruments 76496 and GI/Microchip 8910, had 3 square-wave channels and 1 white noise channel, all with independent volume controls. At the other end of the spectrum was the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}'s SID, a full 3-channel hybrid analog synthesizer with sine, square and triangle wave oscillators, filters and white noise. The UsefulNotes/{{Atari ST}} and UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} also used a PSG audio chip, though later versions of the Atari ST also included a PCM audio codec for rudimentary speech and sound effects support. The UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers used a POKEY chip, which is also a PSG. Also, most sound cards released for the Apple II were PSG-based. Many [=PSGs=] could be fooled into playing back sampled audio by feeding PCM values into the volume control registers thousands of times a second, as heard on some Game Gear games by "Say-Gah!", and have even been used to do CPU-driven speech synthesis on several accounts. It's safe to say that from the late 70s to the early 80s, PSG chips were technically the backbone of gaming audio (not convinced? Creative Lab's first sound card for the PC before the widely-successful [=SoundBlaster=] was the ''Game Blaster'', which was PSG-based as well.

As CPU power increased, especially after the Pentium and [=PowerPC=] processors became popular (around 1995), PC games began using software PCM engines to play instruments and sound effects. However, it wasn't until the early 2000s that wavetable sound cards became a niche and [=PCs=] switched fully to software-driven PCM engines. Much of the delay could be attributed to sloppy code and poor optimization, however, as the Mac had no problems with software-driven synthesis, while [=PCs=] saw bad CPU spikes when playing music using software-driven synthesis until at least the Pentium III era. As of 2014, no consumer cards have a hardware wavetable chip anymore and cards with such circuits are now only found in the realm of professionals.

As CPU power increased, especially after the Pentium and [=PowerPC=] processors became popular (around 1995), PC games began using software PCM engines to play instruments and sound effects. However, it wasn't until the early 2000s that wavetable sound cards became a niche and PCs switched fully to software-driven PCM engines. Much of the delay could be attributed to sloppy code and poor optimization, however, as the Mac had no problems with software-driven synthesis, while PCs saw bad CPU spikes when playing music using software-driven synthesis until at least the Pentium III era. As of 2014, no consumer cards have a hardware wavetable chip anymore and cards with such circuits are now only found in the realm of professionals.

As CPU power increased, especially after the Pentium and [=PowerPC=] processors became popular (around 1995), PC games began using software PCM engines to play instruments and sound effects. However, software PCM Synthesis was still unfeasible on many PCs at the time, as all but the highest end Pentium CPUs struggled with it (although this could be attributed to poorly written software as the Mac had no problems with software-driven synthesis). It wasn't until the early 2000s that PCs caught up and hardware wavetable sound cards became a niche. As of 2014, no consumer cards have a hardware wavetable chip anymore and cards with such circuits are now only found in the realm of professionals.

As CPU power increased, especially after the Pentium and [=PowerPC=] processors became popular (around 1995), PC games began using software PCM engines to play instruments and sound effects, and hardware wavetable sound cards became a niche. As of 2014, no consumer cards have a hardware wavetable chip anymore and cards with such circuits are now only found in the realm of professionals.

One step up from simple beeps and clicks was the ''programmable sound generator'' (PSG), a set of oscillators on a chip that could be programmed in real time. The simplest ones, like the Texas Instruments 76496 and GI/Microchip 8910, had 3 square-wave channels and 1 white noise channel, all with independent volume controls. At the other end of the spectrum was the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}'s SID, a full 3-channel hybrid analog synthesizer with sine, square and triangle wave oscillators, filters and white noise. The UsefulNotes/{{Atari ST}} and UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} also used a PSG audio chip, though later versions of the Atari ST also included a PCM audio codec for rudimentary speech and sound effects support. The Atari8BitComputers used a POKEY chip, which is also a PSG. Also, most sound cards released for the Apple II were PSG-based. Many [=PSGs=] could be fooled into playing back sampled audio by feeding PCM values into the volume control registers thousands of times a second, as heard on some Game Gear games by "Say-Gah!", and have even been used to do CPU-driven speech synthesis on several accounts. It's safe to say that from the late 70s to the early 80s, PSG chips were technically the backbone of gaming audio (not convinced? Creative Lab's first sound card for the PC before the widely-successful [=SoundBlaster=] was the ''Game Blaster'', which was PSG-based as well.

One step up from simple beeps and clicks was the ''programmable sound generator'' (PSG), a set of oscillators on a chip that could be programmed in real time. The simplest ones, like the Texas Instruments 76496 and GI/Microchip 8910, had 3 square-wave channels and 1 white noise channel, all with independent volume controls. At the other end of the spectrum was the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}'s SID, a full 3-channel hybrid analog synthesizer with sine, square and triangle wave oscillators, filters and white noise. The UsefulNotes/{{Atari ST}} and UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} also used a PSG audio chip, though later versions of the Atari ST also included a PCM audio codec for rudimentary speech and sound effects support. The Atari8BitComputers used a POKEY chip, which is also a PSG. Also, most sound cards released for the Apple II were PSG-based. Many [=PSGs=] could be fooled into playing back sampled audio by feeding PCM values into the volume control registers thousands of times a second, as heard on some Game Gear games by "Say-Gah!", and have even been used to do CPU-driven speech synthesis on several accounts. It's safe to say that from the late 70s to the early 80s, PSG chips were technically the backbone of gaming audio (not convinced? Creative Lab's first sound card before the widely-successor [=SoundBlaster=] was the ''Game Blaster'', which is PSG-based as well.

One step up from simple beeps and clicks was the ''programmable sound generator'' (PSG), a set of oscillators on a chip that could be programmed in real time. The simplest ones, like the Texas Instruments 76496 and GI/Microchip 8910, had 3 square-wave channels and 1 white noise channel, all with independent volume controls. At the other end of the spectrum was the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}'s SID, a full 3-channel hybrid analog synthesizer with sine, square and triangle wave oscillators, filters and white noise. The UsefulNotes/{{Atari ST}} and UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} also used a PSG audio chip, though later versions of the Atari ST also included a PCM audio codec for rudimentary speech and sound effects support. Also, most sound cards released for the Apple II were PSG-based. Many [=PSGs=] could be fooled into playing back sampled audio by feeding PCM values into the volume control registers thousands of times a second, as heard on some Game Gear games by "Say-Gah!".

The next step up would be FM synthesizers. FM synthesizers work by combining tones of various frequencies together in real time, with up to 4 oscillators working together to make a note. The technique works best for woodwind and key instruments like the piano, and early iterations have problems with percussion (sounds "flat", especially with first and second generation synthesizers), and string instruments (sounds "plasticky" and "toyish"), but most of the problems were ironed out with later generation synthesizers.

The next step up would be FM synthesizers. FM synthesizers work by combining tones of various frequencies together in real time, with up to 4 oscillators working together to make a note. The technique works best for woodwind and certain other instruments like xylophones, but percussion comes out feeling "flat" and string instruments sound "toyish", and tends to sound "plasticky" or "metallic" if asked to recreate a whole orchestra. It's excellent for making strange noises and sound effects.

The next step up would be FM synthesizers. FM synthesizers work by combining tones of various frequencies together in real time, with up to 4 oscillators working together to make a note. The technique works best for woodwind and string instruments, but percussion comes out feeling "flat" and "toyish", and tends to sound "plasticky" or "metallic" if asked to recreate a whole orchestra. It's excellent for making strange noises and sound effects.

The next step up would be FM synthesizers. FM synthesizers work by combining tones of various frequencies together in real time, with up to 4 oscillators working together to make a note. The technique works best for percussion and woodwind instruments, and tends to sound "plasticky" or "metallic" if asked to recreate a whole orchestra. It's excellent for making strange noises and sound effects.

One step up from simple beeps and clicks was the ''programmable sound generator'' (PSG), a set of oscillators on a chip that could be programmed in real time. The simplest ones, like the Texas Instruments 76496 and GI/Microchip 8910, had 3 square-wave channels and 1 white noise channel, all with independent volume controls. At the other end of the spectrum was the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}'s SID, a full 3-channel hybrid analog synthesizer with sine, square and triangle wave oscillators, filters and white noise. The UsefulNotes/{{Atari ST}} also used a PSG audio chip, though later versions also included a PCM audio codec for rudimentary speech and sound effects support. Also, sound cards released for the Apple II were PSG-based. Many [=PSGs=] could be fooled into playing back sampled audio by feeding PCM values into the volume control registers thousands of times a second, as heard on some Game Gear games by "Say-Gah!".

Additionally, the Yamaha OPL chips were also found on the [=MoonSound=], [=MSX Music=] and [=MSX Sound=] expansion cards for the MSX, and the popular [=AdLib=] sound card for [=PCs=] (and became the defacto standard until usurped by the [=SoundBlaster=] in the early 90s), as well as in most [=SoundBlaster=] PC sound cards and clones to provide [=AdLib=] compatibility. There was even a FM Synthesis module for the UsefulNiotes/{{Commodore 64}} in case the user needs even better quality music than the SID can provide.

Additionally, the Yamaha OPL chips were also found on the [=MoonSound=], [=MSX Music=] and [=MSX Sound=] expansion cards for the MSX, and the popular [=AdLib=] sound card for [=PCs=] (and became the defacto standard until usurped by the [=SoundBlaster=] in the early 90s), as well as in most [=SoundBlaster=] PC sound cards and clones to provide [=AdLib=] compatibility.

On early machines, there either wasn't any sound hardware, or the sound hardware was extremely simple, being able to click a speaker or play simple tones. This was also the default sound system on IBM PC compatibles for many years, as well as on early Apple computers like the [[AppleII Apple II, IIe and IIc]] (The Apple IIGS had PCM sample playback capabilities courtesy of an Esoniq PCM Codec).

On early machines, there either wasn't any sound hardware, or the sound hardware was extremely simple, being able to click a speaker or play simple tones. This was also the default sound system on IBM PC compatibles for many years, as well as on early Apple computers like the [[Apple2 Apple II, IIe and IIc]] (The Apple IIGS had PCM sample playback capabilities courtesy of an Esoniq PCM Codec).

On early machines, there either wasn't any sound hardware, or the sound hardware was extremely simple, being able to click a speaker or play simple tones. This was also the default sound system on IBM PC compatibles for many years, as well as on early Apple computers like the Apple [=II=], [=IIe=] and [=IIc=] (The Apple IIGS had PCM sample playback capabilities courtesy of an Esoniq PCM Codec).

The first popular gaming platforms to use a PCM Synthesis chipset were the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, UsefulNotes/{{SNES}}, and believe it or not, {{Pinball}} systems, mainly those that used Creator/{{Midway}}'s DCS PCM Synthesis board (which also saw use in VideoGame/MortalKombat and VideoGame/RevolutionX cabinets, since it not only reproduces instruments more faithfully, but one of the many tricks PCM synthesis could do was transparently loop fully-voiced music tracks, which is an important feature of the latter game). The UsefulNotes/{{NES}} and UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis both had rudimentary PCM support, but this was mainly used for pre-recorded voices, sound effects, and drums, (and in actuality worked by manipulating the PSG in the case of the NES. The modified [=OPL2=] chip (called an [=OPN2=]) used by the Genesis has a PCM codec mode, but the Genesis can also resort to manipulating the PSG to play back PCM sounds if needed- notable as it's how the Sonic 3 Launch Base zone BGM managed to have a percussion and still have the "Go!" voice samples). Pretty much every system introduced since uses PCM.

The first popular gaming platforms to use a PCM Synthesis chipset were the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}}, UsefulNotes/{{SNES}}, and believe it or not, {{Pinball}} systems, mainly those that used Creator/{{Midway}}'s DCS PCM Synthesis board (which also saw use in VideoGame/MortalKombat and VideoGame/RevolutionX cabinets, since it not only reproduces instruments more faithfully, but one of the many tricks PCM synthesis could do was transparently loop fully-voiced music tracks, which is an important feature of the latter game). The UsefulNotes/{{NES}} and UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis both had rudimentary PCM support, but this was mainly used for pre-recorded voices, sound effects, and drums, (and in actuality worked by manipulating the PSG in the case of the NES. The modified [=OPL2=] chip (called an [=OPN2=]) used by the Genesis has a PCM codec mode, but the Genesis can also resort to manipulating the PSG to play back PCM sounds if needed). Pretty much every system introduced since uses PCM.