Masahiro Sakurai once again delves into his video game knowledge with videotapes all about the intricacies of NES and Famicom audio.
Starting with an introduction to the console’s different audio processing channels (pulse, triangle, noise, and DPCM), this quickly becomes a history lesson on how sound production evolved for the platform as ROM capabilities increased.
Naturally, Sakurai moves on to the differences between the Famicom and NES’s audio capabilities, explaining how the Famicom’s built-in audio expansion chip achieved higher sound quality and how the Disk System add-on introduced an additional Wave Memory audio channel.
With the Famicom Disk System not being released overseas and the NES design ditching the cartridge-based audio jack, the difference in sound quality is actually quite noticeable—as Sakurai demonstrates through various comparisons. Even if all that audio tech blather means nothing to you, it’s worth watching this video to hear these regional differences.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the NES, mind you. Sakurai wraps things up by explaining how things progressed for the console using the DPCM channel, and we even get to hear some stories from Tim Follin. throb Silver Surfer score as evidence
All in all, another rewarding trip through console history. What will we do when Sakurai’s channel ends?
