Looking for audio recording from real NEOGEO hardware

[Dr.Venom]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for someone who can make a good quality audio recording of Metal Slug 3 level 1 and 2 playthrough on real Neo Geo hardware.

The reason I'm asking is that I think that the audio emulation for Neo Geo in MAME is imperfect, or at least the default balance between FM and PSG being wrong, and I'd like to provide some (convincing) evidence of this to mamedevs to further improve emulation.

Not having access to the real hardware myself, hopefully there's someone here that can create this recording?

[Dr.Venom]

A little bump.

A good quality audio recording from a single level playthrough from any of the other mslug titles as an alternative would be great too.  The playthrough is needed, as it's mainly the soundeffects that I'd like to compare up-closer to MAME.

I have a hunch there's an issue with either the audio balance between PSG and FM on MAME it's neo geo audio emulation (most notably PSG sound effects are being played too loud relative to FM), or possibly missing more elements. If we could provide some evidence of this it may provide a good case for mamedevs to further improve the emulation.

As such, if anyone has access to this on real AES or MVS hardware, and could take a little bit of time for doing a good quality audio recording, it would be greatly appreciated!

[vicosku]

You might want to try contacting stellarola.  Given the videos they've posted comparing GM ASIO to real hardware, I think they'd be interested.

[Dr.Venom]

You might want to try contacting stellarola.  Given the videos they've posted comparing GM ASIO to real hardware, I think they'd be interested.

Yes I remember. I sent him a pm, let's see!

[stellarola]

You might want to try contacting stellarola.  Given the videos they've posted comparing GM ASIO to real hardware, I think they'd be interested.

Yes I remember. I sent him a pm, let's see!

Heya,

No problemo. I sent you a message.

[Dr.Venom]

I'm reviving this thread, as unfortunately I haven't heard from Stellarola anymore, apart from that his cab monitor broke down.

Is there anyone that can provide a good quality recording of the metal slug 3 level 1 and 2 playthrough from real AES or MVS hardware?

Please see my thread about it on mess emu board. It's a real pity that we still haven't been able to verify whether or not the audio emulation for neo geo is correct or not.

If you have access to real mslug 3 aes or mvs, please help out!

   

[Malenko]

sadly I have both an AES and an MVS but no MS3 cart for either :/

[ufoufo512]

I have MVS with Metal Slug X. I'll try to arrange recording this weekend.

[Dr.Venom]

I have MVS with Metal Slug X. I'll try to arrange recording this weekend.

That's great!

The helicopter with the bombs dropping is also in there in the first level, so when recording the level playthrough, if you could make it drop the bombs while just evading them for say 10 seconds it would create a comparable sound sample.

If you have the time and could record a complete level 1 and 2 playthrough that would be the best thing. The more material there is to compare the better!

sadly I have both an AES and an MVS but no MS3 cart for either :/

That's too bad indeed :/. If there's any chance that you do have access to mslug 1, then that would be much appreciated also. Together with the metal slug X recording by ufoufo512, we would have all the material to do proper comparisons, and get the emulation audio quality verified once and for all.

[ufoufo512]

Here https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/30899371/metal%20slug%20x%20level%201.flac  is Metal Slug X level 1 recording. Recorded from 2-slot MVS board's headphone jack. Hope it helps.

[Dr.Venom]

Here https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/30899371/metal%20slug%20x%20level%201.flac  is Metal Slug X level 1 recording. Recorded from 2-slot MVS board's headphone jack. Hope it helps.

Awesome. Great quality recording, it will definitely be of help.

Many thanks for taking the effort!

[Dr.Venom]

Here https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/30899371/metal%20slug%20x%20level%201.flac  is Metal Slug X level 1 recording. Recorded from 2-slot MVS board's headphone jack. Hope it helps.

Thanks again for doing the recording. It confirms that in current MAME there's and issue with the volume balance of the YM2610 SSG (Simple Sound Generator) versus the FM & ADPCM sound generation parts.

There seems to be a simple fix for this, but I just need one extra recording to properly verify this. I'll send you a PM with the details.

[ufoufo512]

Here is the recording from the beginning with the attract mode demos: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/30899371/metal_slug_x_demos.flac

[Dr.Venom]

I also got your PM, thanks! It's very clear now where the issue is.

I need a little bit of time to make a proper analysis and test some adjusted values for the sound generation parts. I'll get back when done.

[Dr.Venom]

I have a hunch there's an issue with either the audio balance between PSG and FM on MAME it's neo geo audio emulation (most notably PSG sound effects are being played too loud relative to FM), or possibly missing more elements. If we could provide some evidence of this it may provide a good case for mamedevs to further improve the emulation.

OK guys, thanks to the recordings done by ufoufo512, we have been able to confrm that the neo geo driver in mame had indeed a wrong volume balance between SSG and FM & ADPCM.

The difference can be heard for all SSG generated sounds, but for those interested here is one sample comparison that zooms in on the bonus pickup sounds. The first 8 seconds are from the real MVS and the next 8 seconds from MAME. As can be heard the SSG volume is way too loud. This also causes clipping (distortion) of the soundfx in some cases.

Metal Slug X real vs MAME comparison sample

The positive news is that the adjustment has been committed to MAME git, so the issue will be fixed in the upcoming 0.166 release.   

[Paradroid]

The positive news is that the adjustment has been committed to MAME git, so the issue will be fixed in the upcoming 0.166 release.

Excellent outcome! Well done on looking into this.

[vicosku]

Great news!  Thank you very much for catching this, and all that helped to verify.

[ufoufo512]

Great work! Looking forward testing GroovyMame 166.