Watching some of the CPC demos here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlO2A5EdQ7w&list=PL-dVFOauqco6SMow4DjkUAQ-5lABwYGiR
I was wondering are CPC music coders just better than some other paltforms with similar sound chips (MSX? Atari 8Bit? Atari ST even)... Seems the CPC even with it's AY has really pure clean sound and a lot of variety in sounds.
CPC AY clock is slow - 1MHz so has more bass.
Quote from: zhulien on 19:09, 10 September 24I was wondering are CPC music coders just better than some other paltforms with similar sound chips (MSX? Atari 8Bit? Atari ST even)... Seems the CPC even with it's AY has really pure clean sound and a lot of variety in sounds.
- IMHO the ZX Spectrum had/has very great AY sounders.
- on the MSX people are in love with other sound hardware like SCC, OPLL even more than with the PSG, I guess that's a reason why you don't have tons of excellent PSG-examples here.
- Atari 8bit don't have an AY but the Pokey chip, which can produce fantastic PSG-like music as well (IMHO it is a little bit better than the AY)
Very valid comments about the bass in AY3 and SCC in MSX.
But in my opinion, first of all, there is much more interesting music on the demoscene on each platform than in games, so comparing music from the demo scene on one platform with what we heard in games on another, the games will come out worse. The demoscene was created mainly in Europe and some platforms were never popular here like MSX or Apple2. More demos were created on 4 million CPCs than on 20 million MSXs.
IMHO Pokey is a sound system for fetishists and masochists, no normal person feels pleasure from listening to something so out of tune and farting. ;)
I'd argue with you about the Pokey ;D
It's precisely that imperfections that gives it its distinctive sound and character.
Of course, you may like it or not, but I found more stressing usually listening tunes on the SID chip from the Commodore because of the abuse of certain patterns that I find almost irritating.
But that's just me I guess... ;)
To me, Pokey sounds a bit like AY but without much envelop control - not sure if that is a software issue or a hardware limitation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR03KjnCDCE
vs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF6LC-4xeZI
and an impressive Pokey demo music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wb3rKKCjAw
Quote from: zhulien on 23:44, 12 September 24To me, Pokey sounds a bit like AY but without much envelop control - not sure if that is a software issue or a hardware limitation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR03KjnCDCE
vs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF6LC-4xeZI
Warhawk on the Atari has a special place in my heart as it was one of the four games I got with my 800XL when I was nine. The other three being Donkey Kong, Zone X and Winter Wally.
I was blown away by Rob Hubbard's theme on the Atari, and I think it's the best version :D
Being slowlier, the CPC often have good deep basses, else its stereo is quite interesting compaired to some other AY machines.
PLUS machine can go for some DMA tricks. Esle some plAY-ctY card add 2x extra AY for 9 channels.
AY is quite a basic soundchip but the nostalgia factor can hit hard, and some creators really manage well with this well known chip that was used on many machines.
MSX, Speccy128, CPC, PCW (option card), Atari ST, Oric/ ATMOS... and others... Vectrex ? Many arcade games from early 80s used it actually.
Some other chips were quite similar too, Sega Master system's basic chip wasn't very far from the AY in term of capabilities or sound.