AMAZING how much more rich the FM sound is, The Master System was an amazing system. Sega actually made amazing hardware but sadly the mismanagement of that hardware led to their downfall with all their hardware and add ons :(
SDFcommander The Master system failed because Nintendo of America was a bunch of dirty dicks throwing every dirty trick out of the hat to make sure it wouldn't compete
Nintendo did cause some problems for SEGA in North America, but SEGA of Japan made several major errors with the SMS: only two buttons on their blocky controller, lack of support for sports games, a lot of peripherals that only supported a few games, lack of FM sound chip, and poor artwork/graphics. By the mid-90s, we saw these problems get solved, and the SMS games looked and sounded as good as the 1989 16-bit games.
I never understood why sega just didn’t use the fm sound when they first brought out the sms especially after hearing the nes amazing sound chip. It would’ve made the sms hands down have a better chance of winning more fans and customers and may have changed the 8bit race a little in the U.S. Damnit Sega!
The master system was ahead of its time, looked better than nes, with the FM chip sounded better than nes, and was more powerfull than nes, it's really a shame that everyone developed for nes otherwise we could very well have had sega stay around longer
0:05 Standard Sound Sega Master System = Texas Instrument SN76489, Gameboy Advance = DAC(DirectSound A & B) + Gameboy Sounds. 0:46 FM Sound Sega Master System = YM2413 OPLL, Gameboy Advance = YMF262 OPL3.
It all depends. Compile's games like Power Strike, R-Type and Golvellius sound much better with native PSG sound, Double Dragon and Alex Kidd sound really weak on the PSG sound chip, and much better with FM sound.
4:45 Double Dragon comparisons. Remember the Double Dragon arcade board used Yamaha FM synth. So the FM version on SMS sounds closer by far. It's vibrant, rich.
This is a brilliant device. I came here after being sent a link for this video from a site selling a Megadrive/Genesis cart that works like a Power Base converter, but plays Master System games with FM sound. It's not clear if the sound is generated on the cart or by the Megadrive/Genesis itself, but if it's the latter is the case, I would love to see a SNES version to take advantage of the Sony DSP soundchip.
Joey Schmidt Audio Productions the sound is generated on the cart, if you're referring to the DB electronics Power Base FM, he puts a repro YM2413 chip in there
I think it had a lot to do with The Master systems lack of third-party support in North America. But if they did release this internally before the NES, then this would’ve blew the NES out of the water.
I had a SMS as a kid and at the time felt it was a wise choice against the competition (in Australia anyway). But in retrospect, I find the music on the system to be a big turn off. I don’t find it charming like I do with the graphics. The FM sound fixes that issue for many of these games. In particular with Wonder Boy III the Dragon’s Trap (not shown here) which you could be playing for hours in one sitting.
Yeah the sound had always been what drew me away from the SMS. Some games have acceptable music but part of the problem is the weak PSG chip. It limited severly the possibilities to create a deep sound since it couldnt go in low pitches and you couldnt change the duty cycle, meaning there was only one timber available. The NES sound on the other hand has character.
Can this feature be download on the net somewhere? They've never told us Non Jap customers about this. I got some Master System roms that can play this sound
This FM sound is great. That could probably sound most PC music if not these overpriced MIDI devices (most vintage PC sound cards used YM3812 OPL2 sound chip which uses the same operators as YM2413). Also many PC sound cards also could play PCM sound and together with FM sound it could sound great. Problem was that composers were too lazy to get advantage of FM sound, especially with YMF262 OPL3, it could play FM sound with 4-operator per channel mode and different type of sound waves (like sine, square and triangle waves).
Instead of bringing out the Master System Plus which was just a more expensive Master System with a shitty light gun that never got used more than twice they should have brought out the Master System Plus with the enhanced sound chip instead. I would have gladly paid an extra £20 or £30 for the better sound. One day I'm gonna get me a Japanese Master System.
I dont like the FM chip it sounds too tinny and the melody is lost in the fuzzy bass and awful over digitised sound, i loved the sound of the original master system. But then in England we never had the FM chip so was brought up with the original :D
Does this work on select games or is it all games? I would love to get one for my copy of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, if it works for all games. Someone let me know please, dying to try it out if so
@@k4rec4 Yes, Brazilian Pal-M is a kind of NTSC mod, with 60Hz and a diferente subcarrier. Ancient consoles are relatively easy to convert to NTSC, usally a crystal replacement and remove the transcoder part do the trick.
This is a total shame, Sega is unforgivable. They do not respect their customers, Non-Japanese being considered here as inferior ones with a cheap version of the Master System. If it's not discrimination, I don't know how to tell it...
I didn't grow up with Sega Master system, but I also think the original sound is wayyyyyy better. FM sucks why on earth would anyone choose FM over PSG?!
PSG of the Master System is awful. FM sounds much nicer overall. Phantasy Star, for example, is borderline unlistenable on PSG. Wrong tones, overly shrill notes, noise channel drowns everything out, etc
Alex Kidds agonising "AAAAAAAAAGH!" is always hilarious.
😂💀🤣😭 ikr
god damn it sounds like an arcade machine, crazy
also that sound alex makes when he gets hit is a summarization of my entire life
lol
16bit sound on an 8bit system, now that's definitely _
_master_ ... system!
MASTER SYSTEM!
Games almost look and sound 16 bit!
This blew my mind completely. Absolutely stunning.
AMAZING how much more rich the FM sound is, The Master System was an amazing system. Sega actually made amazing hardware but sadly the mismanagement of that hardware led to their downfall with all their hardware and add ons :(
SDFcommander The Master system failed because Nintendo of America was a bunch of dirty dicks throwing every dirty trick out of the hat to make sure it wouldn't compete
Nintendo did cause some problems for SEGA in North America, but SEGA of Japan made several major errors with the SMS: only two buttons on their blocky controller, lack of support for sports games, a lot of peripherals that only supported a few games, lack of FM sound chip, and poor artwork/graphics. By the mid-90s, we saw these problems get solved, and the SMS games looked and sounded as good as the 1989 16-bit games.
Here in Brazil the Master System was very well received, and I think throughout South America.
I never understood why sega just didn’t use the fm sound when they first brought out the sms especially after hearing the nes amazing sound chip. It would’ve made the sms hands down have a better chance of winning more fans and customers and may have changed the 8bit race a little in the U.S. Damnit Sega!
Interesting. The FM made the music on Double Dragon sound immensely better. But the sound effects were actually worse and more high pitched.
The master system was ahead of its time, looked better than nes, with the FM chip sounded better than nes, and was more powerfull than nes, it's really a shame that everyone developed for nes otherwise we could very well have had sega stay around longer
0:05 Standard Sound
Sega Master System = Texas Instrument SN76489,
Gameboy Advance = DAC(DirectSound A & B) + Gameboy Sounds.
0:46 FM Sound
Sega Master System = YM2413 OPLL,
Gameboy Advance = YMF262 OPL3.
Sega n Nintendo 8 bit had it's own unique sound we always will remember and prefer. No enhancements needed
really as if many games didn't use a sound chip in the cartridge
It all depends. Compile's games like Power Strike, R-Type and Golvellius sound much better with native PSG sound, Double Dragon and Alex Kidd sound really weak on the PSG sound chip, and much better with FM sound.
double dragon sounds very close to the arcade with the FM
it sounds "better" but the feeling of listening to the original poor sound is unbeatable .. the nostalgia
4:45 Double Dragon comparisons. Remember the Double Dragon arcade board used Yamaha FM synth. So the FM version on SMS sounds closer by far. It's vibrant, rich.
The FM synth used sounds similar to a lot of PC games using the Adlib card.
This is a brilliant device. I came here after being sent a link for this video from a site selling a Megadrive/Genesis cart that works like a Power Base converter, but plays Master System games with FM sound. It's not clear if the sound is generated on the cart or by the Megadrive/Genesis itself, but if it's the latter is the case, I would love to see a SNES version to take advantage of the Sony DSP soundchip.
Joey Schmidt Audio Productions the sound is generated on the cart, if you're referring to the DB electronics Power Base FM, he puts a repro YM2413 chip in there
Rampage also had an FM version, but I never understood that since it wasn't developed in Japan nor was it released there.
Fun Fact: Sega's Master System 2 redesign was intended to integrate the Japanese FM chip, but Sega of America cheaped-out on it.
holy shit fm synth did both 8-bit and 16-bit.
Stop swearing
I'll never get over how slow everything sounds in PAL.
The Master System was never converted to 50Hz in PAL territories.
Spellcaster aka Kujaku-Oh is also awesome with FM Sound. Have you ever tried Megumi Rescue ? It's only released in Japan.
damn I wish my SMS sounded this good back in the day!
9:23 I had this game when I was a kid. Unfortunately, I got the one with the "Standard" version of the soundtrack.
Vigilante is perhaps the least known PSG/FM SMS game.
Holy crap, what a difference. o_O suddenly, bass!
Depending on the game, FM sound isn't always the best choice.
How did they use the voice sample on the SMS at 0:15?
The FM sound almost sounds like an Adlib Sound Card
This is awesome. I guess the FM board was expensive? Why else not put in in all of the Master Systems?
I think it had a lot to do with The Master systems lack of third-party support in North America. But if they did release this internally before the NES, then this would’ve blew the NES out of the water.
0:22 i kinda like the music here, PAL or NTSC.
Fantasy Zone II: The Tears Of Opa Opa Also Used FM Sound
Double Dragon on US ran at 1.25x speed. That slowish version is european only.
that's what I thought when I saw this
I had a SMS as a kid and at the time felt it was a wise choice against the competition (in Australia anyway). But in retrospect, I find the music on the system to be a big turn off. I don’t find it charming like I do with the graphics. The FM sound fixes that issue for many of these games. In particular with Wonder Boy III the Dragon’s Trap (not shown here) which you could be playing for hours in one sitting.
Yeah the sound had always been what drew me away from the SMS. Some games have acceptable music but part of the problem is the weak PSG chip. It limited severly the possibilities to create a deep sound since it couldnt go in low pitches and you couldnt change the duty cycle, meaning there was only one timber available. The NES sound on the other hand has character.
@@kharelftg6331 And yet, some games used the PSG well. Wonder Boy for instance sounded almost the same as the arcade.
Can this feature be download on the net somewhere? They've never told us Non Jap customers about this. I got some Master System roms that can play this sound
There's no way that's a real SMS FM chip. It's too clean, and sounds exactly like the Genesis.
No coincidence, similar spec of Yamaha chip.
Most games sound really good with the FM sound with a few exceptions.
Can you do a part 2, with Ghostbusters as one of them please?
This FM sound is great. That could probably sound most PC music if not these overpriced MIDI devices (most vintage PC sound cards used YM3812 OPL2 sound chip which uses the same operators as YM2413). Also many PC sound cards also could play PCM sound and together with FM sound it could sound great. Problem was that composers were too lazy to get advantage of FM sound, especially with YMF262 OPL3, it could play FM sound with 4-operator per channel mode and different type of sound waves (like sine, square and triangle waves).
Instead of bringing out the Master System Plus which was just a more expensive Master System with a shitty light gun that never got used more than twice they should have brought out the Master System Plus with the enhanced sound chip instead. I would have gladly paid an extra £20 or £30 for the better sound. One day I'm gonna get me a Japanese Master System.
I dont like the FM chip it sounds too tinny and the melody is lost in the fuzzy bass and awful over digitised sound, i loved the sound of the original master system. But then in England we never had the FM chip so was brought up with the original :D
Disagree back then we wanted arcade quality audio that the FM chip provided the European SMS audio was adequate though cheers
My post or original post
Dramatic improvement
0:16 What the heck that sound is loud?!
EIN THE MIRACLE BALL
Double Dragon is 40 fps I'm guessing
Please help me, where can I find roms with PSG sound? I hate FM
+MaximumPayne12 PSG is best, cause that is the MASTER SYSTEM Sound I grew up with. Distinctive crispy cherpy, it doesn't try to be something it isn't.
stringanime Yes exactly!
+MaximumPayne12 All FM games have both sound versions, you just need to turn the FM off in the emulator options.
CarozQH Ty, I didn't know that :) Looks like I downloaded an emulator without that option cause I just can't find it lol
MaximumPayne12
Try kega fusion ;)
0:36 Aaaoo Scream
Does this work on select games or is it all games? I would love to get one for my copy of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, if it works for all games. Someone let me know please, dying to try it out if so
Only on select games, and often only on the japanese version.
I can tell this is a Pal Master System from either Europe or Brazil.
Europe, probably. Brazilian PAL-M runs at 60Hz.
@@k4rec4 Yes, Brazilian Pal-M is a kind of NTSC mod, with 60Hz and a diferente subcarrier. Ancient consoles are relatively easy to convert to NTSC, usally a crystal replacement and remove the transcoder part do the trick.
@@eriksilveira9356 Nope. PAL-M is a modified PAL, not NTSC based.
FM BGM is great! Too bad FM SFX are not.
FM similar 16bit sound! Sega USA is ****
I Think The American and European Sega Master System doesn't use FM Synth, Only Sega Mark III and Japanese Sega Master System
0:36
アッー！
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars, either way, sounds like elevator music.
Ugh, can't stand 50Hz speed music.
Put the speed of the video to 1.25 for 60-ish Hz music.
*It's slow!*
This is a total shame, Sega is unforgivable. They do not respect their customers, Non-Japanese being considered here as inferior ones with a cheap version of the Master System. If it's not discrimination, I don't know how to tell it...
I didn't grow up with Sega Master system, but I also think the original sound is wayyyyyy better. FM sucks why on earth would anyone choose FM over PSG?!
Because we prefer nicer and less harsh audio
Take a listen to the soundtracks of Galaxy Force and Ys. It's almost like they were made with FM in mind.
Because that 16-bit, 80s retrowave synth is sexy while the chirpy 8 bit PSG is not lol
The sound on the SMS always was atrocious, and there we see it can actually sound good.
PSG of the Master System is awful.
FM sounds much nicer overall.
Phantasy Star, for example, is borderline unlistenable on PSG. Wrong tones, overly shrill notes, noise channel drowns everything out, etc
I hate this new sound!!