VGMPlay for MSX 1.2 released

At the Nijmegen 2016 MSX meeting today, Laurens Holst released VGMPlay for MSX version 1.2!

VGMPlay can play back VGM music recordings of games for many different platforms, such as the IBM PC, Sharp X1 Turbo and X68000, Sega Master System, ZX Spectrum, Colecovision, many many arcade machines, and of course the MSX itself. The supported sound chips can be played back on the various common and less common sound expansions for MSX, such as the PSG, MoonSound and Yamaha SFG.

Changes in this version:

VGZ file loading support
K052539 SCC+ music playback support
Dual chip support for AY-3-8910 PSG and SN76489 DCSG
YMF278B OPL4 ROM data playback support (preliminary)
High-resolution timing (300 Hz) on MSX2/2+ and MSX1 with V9938 VDP
Showing which sound module is used for playback
Improved Y8950 MSX-AUDIO sample loading speed
No longer force-enable the R800 on turboR
No longer auto-switch to 60 Hz, removed /5 and /6 options
New /o option to work around 1chipMSX / Zemmix Neo timing bug

Get the latest version from the project page. Post your comments, suggestions and feedback in the forum thread. And find your favourite VGM music on vgmrips.net. Like Sorcerian, Psycho Soldier, Hexion, Zeliard and Dragon Spirit!

Relevant link: VGMPlay for MSX

Comments (38)

By -Neo-

Champion (396)

24-01-2016, 00:24

Great job! Thanks Grauw.

By meits

Scribe (6502)

24-01-2016, 02:29

Thanks for fixing the timing on my MSX audio with its own clock crystal

By giuseve

Paladin (751)

24-01-2016, 08:48

Cool,

let me ask you: is there a way to download with one click all music playable with VGMPLAY from vgmrips.net?
The website is very good, but you can only download tune-by-tune and from a system at time
..considering that VGM PLAY can play music from many chips and that there are many tracks for each chip it could be a very long job !!
Once upon a time you send me a good answer to this, but the mega-pack you liked contained so many tracks not playable by VGMPLAY
Last but not the least ... Thanks for your great work !!

PS: what about the option to brwse the tracks to choose from ? :-)

By Pippo

Hero (521)

24-01-2016, 09:24

Hi Grauw,
I still haven't tried it.
But, surely, it'll be wonderful!
Thank you, very nice expert!

By gdx

Enlighted (5510)

24-01-2016, 09:46

Great player.

By o.geerdink

Hero (585)

24-01-2016, 11:11

Sounded very Nice.

By meits

Scribe (6502)

24-01-2016, 12:26

giuseve wrote:

but the mega-pack you liked contained so many tracks not playable by VGMPLAY
Last but not the least ... Thanks for your great work !!

PS: what about the option to brwse the tracks to choose from ? :-)

I ran into but a few tunes that didn't play. Did you check which soundchip the track supports and do you have that very chip inserted?

You could use multi mente as menu.

By maxis

Champion (512)

24-01-2016, 13:20

Cool!

Kudos for implementing X68K tracker!

Now I can listen to VGM files like on a real X68000!

By Grauw

Ascended (10581)

03-03-2020, 22:06

giuseve wrote:

let me ask you: is there a way to download with one click all music playable with VGMPLAY from vgmrips.net? The website is very good, but you can only download tune-by-tune and from a system at time

You can download entire packs at once using the download button on the right of a pack page.

Additionally, I previously made some compilations:
vgmrips.net compilation
SMSPower compilation
Xak pack.

giuseve wrote:

Once upon a time you send me a good answer to this, but the mega-pack you liked contained so many tracks not playable by VGMPLAY

You need an MSX sound module which can play back the chip, e.g. for the OPLL you need an FM-PAC, for the OPL3 you need a MoonSound and for the OPM you need a Yamaha SFG. Which sound module plays what chip is listed on the project page and in the README.

So if you have only an FM-PAC and the built-in PSG, download YM2413 OPLL and AY-3-8910 PSG packs.

giuseve wrote:

PS: what about the option to brwse the tracks to choose from ? :-)

A nice UI with file browsing and queueing support will come in the future. For now, use a program like Multi Mente to select multiple tracks to play in sequence, or create a batch file with a playlist.

By iamweasel2

Paladin (705)

24-01-2016, 23:14

Great news ! I'll check it out now.

A (possible) dumb question: so the only way to hear x68000 music with VGMPlay is to have a Yamaha SFG-01 (05) ?

By Grauw

Ascended (10581)

24-01-2016, 23:37

Yep. They fit in the side slot of most Yamaha MSX-es, to fit them in a normal MSX cartridge slot you need an adapter. I am using Yamaha’s official UCN-01 adapter cable, but it’s also possible to build your own fairly easily. Be careful not to insert it the wrong way around though.

(I think if someone made a few dozen of these, preferably with some mechanism so they won’t fit the wrong way, they’d be sold in days, hint hint ;p. Regular slot extension cables too.)

The OPM can not be played back on e.g. the OPL4 because even though they’re both 4-op FM sound chips, that’s about where the similarities end. The OPL series developed in quite a different direction and for example the FM algorithms are different, so I can’t “translate” the music from the one to the other.

By -Neo-

Champion (396)

25-01-2016, 17:35

Yes, I subscribe for such an adapter.

By Retrofan

Paragon (1264)

25-01-2016, 19:14

Well done Grauw! Any chance to add MIDI file support as well? Maybe it's easier now as you already have support for the MIDI wavetable ROM YRW-801. Tons of music in this format as well!

By Grauw

Ascended (10581)

25-01-2016, 19:25

@Retrofan That’d have to be a separate project… Not something I’m planning to do though. Maybe I’ll try to make one for the SFG-01/05 at some point, because I don’t think a MIDI player exists for that yet (and then might as well include other MIDI interfaces), but otherwise there are plenty of MIDI players for MSX already (see that Japanese page, as well as a bunch of European software).

By Retrofan

Paragon (1264)

25-01-2016, 19:42

Another great (PC) Tracker for OPL3 (which we could use for creating tunes for OPL4 for fun!) http://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=37849 (Click on YouTube Song Demo)

This program might be the only one that uses pure OP4 instruments for OPL3 (Unlike many other who use OP2 instruments with added OPL3 waveforms).

...and maybe playback them with Grauw his player on MSX or with a stand-alone player for own creations. Or with another player to be made...

FM sounds so great and retro :)

By Retrofan

Paragon (1264)

25-01-2016, 19:45

@ Grauw: thanks, yes, I know of all those Japanese players, but I like the idea to use the OPL4 for that and we have one single player which can handle all... Not all people have MIDI-interfaces and modules installed, but most of them have OPL4 (MoonSound x 200? DalSoRi x 40 and FM Blaster x 40?)

By Grauw

Ascended (10581)

25-01-2016, 23:40

Because creating a tracker for MSX is a lot of work, I think using PC trackers for AdLib OPL3 is probably a good way to make FM music for the MoonSound . With VGMPlay you can then easily play them back on MSX. The only downside is the memory requirement, but this is an issue (let’s say in a game) probably the PC tracker’s format can also be converted to MSX relatively easily for a more compact representation.

On the topic of MIDI playback on the MoonSound, isn’t there a MIDI player for OPL4 already? Probably Meridian can do it, but I thought I also recall a standalone player. Anyone knows?

By Retrofan

Paragon (1264)

26-01-2016, 07:42

@Grauw and others: let's try to make some noise using this PC tracker and playback them on MSX About memoy requirement: we have Playsoniq, Musical Memory Mapper and MegaFlashROM SCC+ SD 512kB.

About MIDI players for OPL4: no not really. Meridian - although a nice program - is very slow with playback and not standalone. There was MID2OPL4 (standalone) which also requires NMS-1205 MIDI interface, but it's unfinished and not supporting all MIDI commands. That's why I think a specific MIDI player for only OPL4 would be nice using it's own soundbank. No need for MIDI interfaces and a lot of people already have an OPL4 these days.

By l_oliveira

Hero (533)

27-01-2016, 15:42

If the problem is about cross compiling/authoring, how about follow the approach of Famitracker?

Famitracker is a tracker for PC which targets the Famicom (Family Computer, aka NES) making it easy for tracking music for the Famicom. It can play the music natively by emulating only the sound chips involved while using a native format for the music data. A real playback engine for the 6502/Famicom can replay the data generated by the program which are output as asm includes for programming.

Very VERY handy for game making.

Something similar could be made for the AY-3-8910 and all MSX sound chips. Would sure make MSX musicians life a lot easier...

By anonymous

incognito ergo sum (116)

27-01-2016, 16:25

l_oliveira wrote:

Something similar could be made for the AY-3-8910 and all MSX sound chips. Would sure make MSX musicians life a lot easier...

For just the AY-3-8910 there already existed Vortex Tracker II, which is nearly perfect for that purpose. Further on Windows, there is now also WYZTracker and Arkos Tracker.
For PSG plus SCC or FM, we (trilobyte-MSX) tried to make an application for Windows, but it wasn't that easy to realize as it may sound. That's the reason why TriloTracker runs natively on MSX (emulation).

By Parn

Paladin (784)

29-01-2016, 12:50

TriloTracker is indeed awesome, but we are out of luck if we want to use all three chips simultaneously and don't have enough time to muck around ancient MML compilers and decipher japanese documentation from the last century. I'm with @l_oliveira on this, a FamiTracker-like approach would be ideal, but with a few differences: removing NES-only features, adding VGM export (no need to create a MSX player for KSS export, for example) and checkbox-like sound chip selection (currently FamiTracker is limited to 2A03 and just another sound extension, but MSX is much more flexible).

I think a MSXTracker would be great for the chiptune community, despite the relative obscurity of MSX outside our own little community. I don't think there's another platform that even comes close with hardware support for so many sound chips. My current setup, for example, has two PSGs and I'm a bit miffed that I currently can't make music that uses both due to lack of software support.

There's another possibility: DefleMask. You can already use it to make music for YM2151 and SN76489 (not both at the same time, though) and play it on a real MSX via Grauw's VGMPlay.

By anonymous

incognito ergo sum (116)

29-01-2016, 20:28

Parn wrote:

My current setup, for example, has two PSGs and I'm a bit miffed that I currently can't make music that uses both due to lack of software support.

Create music for two PSGs simultaneously? Vortex Tracker II can already do that. TriloTracker in the future. Ofcourse, a replayer for the MSX would be needed (for only one PSG exists but not for two).

By Grauw

Ascended (10581)

29-01-2016, 20:41

JohnHassink wrote:

Ofcourse, a replayer for the MSX would be needed (for only one PSG exists but not for two).

VGM supports dual PSG and VGMPlay can play it back on MSX with MegaFlashROM PSG .

By Parn

Paladin (784)

31-01-2016, 03:20

JohnHassink wrote:

That's what I meant by lack of software support. As Grauw pointed out, VGMPlay already does that. But I have no idea how to use Vortex Tracker II to create a dual PSG VGM track, and VT2 isn't exactly easy to use. Anyway, I'm not in a hurry. I can wait for dual-PSG TriloTracker.

By anonymous

incognito ergo sum (116)

31-01-2016, 16:37

Parn wrote:

But I have no idea how to use Vortex Tracker II to create a dual PSG VGM track

It's not hard. Would you like me to explain? Or do you not plan on using VT II anyway?
EDIT: I misread over the "VGM" part. That I do not know either.

By Retrofan

Paragon (1264)

06-02-2016, 19:06

Grauw wrote:

Because creating a tracker for MSX is a lot of work, I think using PC trackers for AdLib OPL3 is probably a good way to make FM music for the MoonSound :). With VGMPlay you can then easily play them back on MSX. The only downside is the memory requirement, but this is an issue (let’s say in a game) probably the PC tracker’s format can also be converted to MSX relatively easily for a more compact representation.

Okay, support for the A2M fileformat please ;) Just search for Adlib tracker on YouTube. Fun stuff to playback on MSX with MoonSound compatible devices! example 1 example 2

By hit9918

Prophet (2923)

09-02-2016, 20:37

the OPL could need a trick to run software ADSR.
when I watched the mentioned "A2M" link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2vjiDSjs_M
good things done on a big OPL, still notoriously it could not have the punch of the original.
The AY version has more keys of the original:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jXIGAuZc04
Well it's an Amiga, but could be an AY.
If the OPLs had ADSR, they could sound like this Amiga stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gbQz1CAraE

By Grauw

Ascended (10581)

09-02-2016, 22:06

When you want to record an Adlib Tracker II tune to VGM, you need to play it back in a PC emulator which can record audio I/O (either built-in, scripted or with a special modified version). In the case of DOSBOX, I think it supports recording audio as DRO which you can convert to VGM. Or use a tool to convert A2M to VGM directly, though I don’t think one exists already.

By the way, writing a converter tool is a doable project for a beginner level programmer, as long as you have sufficient documentation on the file format and the sound chip. You just need to read the one format, then output the simple VGM format, and you can use any programming language you want. The people over at the vgmrips.net forum are always very happy to help with any programming questions.

p.s. If you’re interested in PC demoscene OPL2/3 music, check out Wafflenet OPL Archive. For example, Encore - What is Love.

@hit9918: OPL has a hardware ADSR, I don’t see the reason for a software one? Either way, it’s possible.

By mesiasmsx

Prophet (3414)

06-11-2016, 09:54

@Grauw: Thank you very much!!! I'm enjoy hear musics from arcade machines (Hippodorome) and others plattforms , not only MSX but in my MSX .

Best wishes!

By giangiacomo.zaffini

Champion (267)

06-11-2016, 11:46

ToughkidCST Kim is working for a patch for vgmplay to support PCM of SEGAPCM chip via Moonsound/DalSoRi/OPL4 Shockwave etc.
He just posted a video of working alpha.
Look at this YT video.
It seems quite interesting.
With this software MSX can further expand over Delfemask territories of chip music w/YM2151 and PCM on OKI chips or SEGAPCM chip.

By syn

Prophet (2096)

06-11-2016, 12:30

Nice!

By Manuel

Ascended (18794)

06-11-2016, 13:13

Segapcm is used for the drums?

By giangiacomo.zaffini

Champion (267)

08-11-2016, 13:49

@ Manuel
Lately I noticed toughkidCST is a MSX.org's registered user (he had posted 10 messages on forum), it is better to ask him about SEGAPCM usage.

By Latok

msx guru (3867)

15-04-2019, 16:51

@Nijmegen fair I heard about VGM play 1.3. When will this be released? Haven't read anything about it on MRC yet......

By ToriHino

Paladin (767)

15-04-2019, 18:15

Latok wrote:

@Nijmegen fair I heard about VGM play 1.3. When will this be released? Haven't read anything about it on MRC yet......

In the regular VGMPlay thread the 1.3 version is discussed and some release candidates are mentioned (somewhere around page 39 i think).

By Grauw

Ascended (10581)

15-04-2019, 20:14

Sorry, it was delayed a bit because a couple of issues were found at the fair with hardware that I don't own myself. I need to jump back on that (asking others to test for me) before I can make a proper release... Due to a holiday and being slightly burnt out from the push to release, I didn't get around to it yet.

By Latok

msx guru (3867)

15-04-2019, 21:40

Take your time, Grauw!

By alexito

Paladin (752)

16-04-2019, 00:30

Great news as always. I will test with my Zemmix Neo BR Recently flashed with KdL Firmware Ver 3.7

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