Yamaha OPL vs OPL2 vs OPL3 comparison
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- a2m: goo.gl/1ggPTJ
Music: my yet untitled song on the adlib tracker ][.
Hardware: Yamaha YMF744 DS-XG with the genuine OPL3 built in (compatible with older OPLs).
YM3526 OPL: 9 voices, 2 ops. mono, sine wave. Used in the MSX-AUDIO and the C64 Sound Expander.
YM3812 OPL2: 9 voices, 2 ops, mono, 4 different waveshapes. Used in the famous Adlib Music Synthesizer Card and some arcade machines.
YMF262 OPL3: 18 voices (2op mode) or 6 4op + 6 2op voices (4op mode), stereo, 8 different waveshapes. Used in many PC PCI/ISA cards.
YMF289 OPL3: low-power version of above.
YMF278 OPL4 (not shown): basically a package of the OPL3 and a 24-voices sampler, which is unrelated to the FM synthesis.
OPL1: the OG 8-bit game
OPL2: the failed 16-bit remaster
OPL3: the decent 32-bit remaster
The OPL version makes me think of an arcade game from the mid 80s like Bubble Bobble and the like and the OPL3 version is giving off a lot of Sega Genesis vibes. I love it!
because that chip is kind of similar, but it's used as an opl2 with 18 channels...
OPL3 is when cheap FM synthesis actually started to sound good, and it's SUCH a shame that practically nothing ever used it as anything but an OPL2 emulator.
I never get to know the difference between OPL2 and OPL3, mostly because I find Dosbox' OPL atrocious sounding :(
What are good examples of soundtracks for me to compare OPL2 vs OPL3 in terms of sounds and capabilities? Is Xcom UFO Defense opl2 or 3?
any examples of songs actually composed for OPL3 so we can hear what it's capable of?
@@FeelingShred I don't know of that many. There are OPL3 demo tunes that I've heard on YT that are pretty impressive.
In terms of games, back in the day, there weren't many that actually used the OPL3. Of the few that did, some of them just used it as a stereo OPL2. Most of them targeted a whole range of music synths, from a PC speaker to AdLib to Roland Sound Canvas, and the OPL2 was toward the bottom in capability. Priority was usually given to making MIDI patches that didn't use too many voices rather than trying to sound nice specifically on that chip.
Two that stand out as the only two I can even remember that actually bothered to leave OPL2 compatibility mode were Wacky Wheels and Hocus Pocus. I thought both sounded a cut above everything else just for having used interesting patches. Hocus Pocus also uses dual OPL2 cards like the Pro Audio Spectrum, which also sounds really nice.
@@nickwallette6201 Yeah Wacky Wheels sounded amazing. So I'm starting to understand a bit how it works: OPL sounding good or not will depend on using custom instrument patches, not merely relying on the stock ones. Got it.
@@FeelingShred There aren’t really any stock ones. You had to program the chip to make sounds, and there were ways to either combine resources for more expressive sounds, or have more simultaneous notes playing but with simpler sounds. Most music engines chose simpler patches with higher polyphony. Enabling drums took a few voices away from melodic sounds as well.
I had an OPL3 MIDI driver for Windows 3.1 called SuperSAPI that used nicer sounds, but the polyphony was so dreadfully limited that just about any song you played was riddled with note-stealing. It sounded snazzy, but broken.
So, because of both backward compatibility concerns (to OPL2) and the limited polyphony with drum sounds and 4-operator sounds enabled, not many people composed music specifically tuned to the OPL3.
Thanks for this, it's great to hear them all playing the same tune! I love the showcasing of OPL3's stereo capability, it really is a game changer.
That saxophone-like bass on the OPL1 and OPL2 is just 10/10
absolutely man
I love this untitled song.
0:00(Android Version of TH-cam Only: 0:01) OPL
0:39 OPL2
1:19 OPL3
It has a nice Sonic/Genesis vibe to it. For some reason I like the OPL better than the OPL2. The OPL2 sounds a bit off but the OPL3 really shines here running in native mode.
The Genesis used the OPN2, a related chip to the OPL family
The Genesis had a Yamaha FM chip in it, but it was a different model than the famous OPL2 and OPL3 for DOS gaming.
@@pip5528 it used OPN family not OPL. OPL: 2 operators, OPN: 4 operators + SSEG
@@boiii3productions945
Don't forget it had the PSG based sound chip from the Master System. Something most remixes claiming to imitate Genesis sound seem to omit. The system used a combination of PSG and FM Synth not FM Synth on its own.
@@xXRenaxChanXx that is the absolute worse... a bunch of youtube channels releasing these videos supposed to demonstrate how games looked or sounded originally, and you notice they don't know shit... worse than that, they give people a wrong representation of what it sounded like on real hardware in a real TV connected with composite cables
The music is amazing! I really want to get one of the synths with these cards in there and circuit bent. Re-contextualize the sounds in a sludge rock context. I think it'd really tug some heart strings, it would for me personally.
You should add in OPL4 to the mix. Great demo of OPL1-3!
Great! I've just installed adtrack with a yamaha 724 which seems to have an opl3 but OPL1 sounds fantastic too. Might get one as well!
There's no OPL1 for PC compatible computers, but OPL2 is fully compatible with it. OPL3 is compatible enough for... basically everything, as the only feature absent in the newer chip (composite sine modelling or CSM) was not used in PC games, so you're good to go with your 724. It's a great chip.
This is really cool! I had an old SoundBlaster 16 Pro when I was a kid.
I kind of wish I could get these songs as MIDI sequences instead of A2M modules, but oh well. Still fun to listen to this comparison.
This song is so cool, I hope you'll get back to these Yamaha chips one day ;)
This song is very vibey 🔥
Very nostalgic, at first I though it was an old laptop screen you were filming, a TFT.
i love using OPL3 for OG DOOM midi.
0:06 0:45 1:25 if you want to go back and forth on the same notes
Great demo, thank you,.
I like opl2 sound. It's sound is full and soft and of fantasy.
That music gets me rly f##cking hyped
Me god that shold me called hyped
Awe32 is opl3 with wavetable
so now I know why selecting AWE32 for most my games make them sound awful LOL
@@FeelingShred depends on what wavetable you have flashed into the card, modern ones are far better, also those cards need ram in literal sockets
love this song
hard to compare when opl3 has double the channels and 4op instruments thrown in. OPL1 def sounds better than opl2 though.
This tracks totally is bonkers. Did you ever released it? Would love to try it out with my soundcards
One interesting problem with emulation is the OPL2'ish guys all use NTSC mhz / 72 = 49,716 Hz. Which is approximate but way far from "correct" for a 48,000 KHz (normal PC) sound card to emulate. (Though there are actually "better OPL" emulation projects for DOSBOX forks which would likely upsample/multi-sample to remove aliasing)
OPL3 is also "off by 2 hz" from OPL2 due to different timing. Which could be an issue for low frequencies?
So did this tune ever make it into a Sonic game? It'd be perfect 🙂 (Probably best for one of the Racing games)
Great song!
Wow, that's a really nice song! How can one learn to squeeze such sound out of OPL2/3 chips?
yeah the opl-3 kicks ass :)
duuude! this track sounds awesome, did you ever finish it?
I like OPL2 sound. It's Fat and Saturated. Its more lively.
Beautiful song! Will you make a full version of it? By the way, it sounds very japanese to me, like anime music :-)
Also surprisingly the OPL1 version sounds the best, it has the sharpest sound, if it's the right word.
this!
OPL1 sounds best of all. What software do you use here? Is that for DOS?
Adlib Tracker 2, the Windows version can emulate a OPL, the DOS version is native but does support things like 1024 resolutions.
I thought FM on YM2413 was the original OPL1 but I guess it was labeled as OPLL. So confusing!
After a bit of research: MSX-Audio or Y8950 had built-in OPL1 (YM3526), released in 1986.
MSX-Music (YM2413) was OPLL a cutdown version of OPL2 (YM3812), released in 1987.
MSX-OPL3 was YMF262/YMF289, released in 1990.
MSX-OPL4 was YMF278B, released in 1994.
The Powerpuff Girls' alternative theme on YM3526 (OPL1), YM3812 (OPL2), and YMF262/YMF289 (OPL3).
OPL1 and OPL2 sound great! Can I use this in my "25 Years of Windows 95!" and "35 years of Windows!" videos?
God, I miss the 90s
Hello, good video, so a Yamaha YMF 744 card can play all the old OPL1, OPL2 and OPL3 exactly identical to how a Soundblaster 16 does, do you think the OPL2, OPL3 of the Yamaha YMF744 sound the same as the classic YMF262 or even better?
Does YMF744 have a lot of difference with the original YMF262 or can they sound identical?
EDIT: OPL2 Version recorded off of an AdLib card. File available below.
Link: pixeldra.in/u/n1vWFz
Mirror: tekfm.5v.pl/res/opl2-a2m-v2.wav
Garrett Potvin A recording from the true Adlib MSC? Always. If you can, drop a link.
Sure thing. I just need to record it. I'll upload in a bit.
cyberholix I've uploaded the file here. OPL2.A2M straight out of the AdLib output. It's raw 48k PCM so feel free to do what you want with it. pixeldra.in/u/n1vWFz
Let me know if there's anything else you'd like me to record on the OPL2.
Fantastic. Thanks.
cyberholix That website deletes stuff after a while of nobody accessing the file, so please give it a more permanent home if you can. I can edit the comment with your new link as a mirror in case the original file does get deleted. You have my permission to upload it to whatever platform you share your music on.
Can you give us a download of the VGM file or something similar? Your song sounds really nice!
Link's in the description, open it with the Adlib Tracker II.
Thanks!
I like OPL3
And one last question, apart from the old OPLs, do you know if this Yamaha YMF744 can also reproduce the General Midi of the OPL4 just like the YMF704 did, or does the YMF744 not reproduce OPL4?
In any case, if this YMF744 can reproduce the old OPL so well and also Yamaha XG sound from Final Fantasy 7, it already makes it an incredible card, even very compatible with pure MS-DOS.
Thanks for your video, I would need to know if this one can also play OPL4 or not?
does the track have a name by now? it's really nice
DO OPN NEXT
Do you compose this on a staff and then transcribe it the tracker? how is your composition process?
Nice, dude!? 🎧♩
This song rips!
grate song mate kep it up
Is the song completed? Anywhere I can hear it in full?
OPL3 sounds like a Sega Genesis on steroids
Wygląda to jakbyś miał zrobić ten sam utwór trzy razy i puścić go przez Mega Drive'a :) Szacun ;)
A dzięki, dzięki. Chodzi o to, że OPL3 to potężny chip, zresztą poprzednie odsłony też niczego sobie, ale przez to jak je traktowano w dużej części gier (konwersje plików MIDI z domyślnymi syfiastymi brzmieniami) u wielu osób słowa "OPL" oraz "MegaDrive" stoją bardzo daleko siebie. Adlib Tracker potrafi ingerować bezpośrednio w rejestry OPL i wycisnąć z niego dużo więcej soku, a że synteza jest ta sama co w konsoli Segi (FM), brzmienie może mieć podobny charakter. Pozdro!
Mastersystem (OPL1) vs Adlib (OPL2) vs Sound Blaster 16 (OPL3)
Correction: The Master System used OPLL. A budget chip based off the OPL2. OPL1 is used in the C64 sound expansion card.
How does the Roland MT-32 compare to any of these?
Basically it's an entirely different type of synthesizer. While OPL uses the FM synthesis, the MT32 uses something called linear arithmetic synthesis that works by mixing together 2 to 4 digital sounds (often one for an attack/transient sound, one for a "body" of the sound). LA synthesis uses digital premade waveforms, whereas FM synthesis creates sound from scratch modulating signal from sinewave (or in case of OPL2&3 additional waveforms) generators. There are lots and lots of technical differences, anyway OPL and MT32 are totally different synths. But the OPL series was made with thought of being cheap, whilst the MT32 is not that far away from the full Roland D50 synth, so even the MT32 was expensive and very capable at launch and is even today. So, the MT32, while it can't replace or imitate the OPL, has more potential and more natural, lifelike sounds.
The sad, sad, so sad thing is that people use OPL as a cheapo MIDI synth, when it is capable of so much more when programmed directly. Could you imagine if SID was controlled via MIDI? What? Only 3 voices?
Comparing OPL to Roland and a bunch is completely missing the point.
+Tomasz Sterna - Thanks for your input.
And ironically OPL's legacy comes directly from Yamaha DX line of synths... which themselves forced Roland to come up with D50 to compete - which in turn got us MT32
opl chips don`t generate waveforms from scratch, they store samples in on-chip rom.
Question. Isnt the YMF292 a glorified OPL3 chip?
welp, no, it's way more complicated
OPL2 es perfecto, no tan lo-fi como OPL y no tan estridente como el 3
opl3 clears
not really a good test of how the OPL3 sounded, here is an exampled from my tracker th-cam.com/video/6aYYNp7zVqU/w-d-xo.html