DMG / CGB Gameboy sound on Nintendo DS - how it works ?

Discussion of programming and development for the original Game Boy and Game Boy Color.
tepples
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Re: DMG / CGB Gameboy sound on Nintendo DS - how it works ?

Post by tepples »

Dr.Wily wrote:My purpose is to know how DS produces Gameboy sound, if this machine is reliable for compose music with orriginal Gameboy feeling.
All Gameboy models handle sound differently (especialy channel 3). I need to know if the orriginal tone generator circuitery in the Gameboy is the same as one present (or not) in DS.
Shonumi wrote:Unless you're into chip tunes (in which case, almost every Game Boy model produces slightly different quality sound)
That appears to be exactly Dr.Wily's concern.
Shonumi
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Re: DMG / CGB Gameboy sound on Nintendo DS - how it works ?

Post by Shonumi »

If that's the case, NDS in GBA mode should sound exactly like a real GBA (actually better if you account for stereo support without the need for headphones). Outside of GBA mode, using the native PSG channels of the NDS, you could reproduce sounds that mimic the old Game Boy PSG channels. I don't think it'd be a 100% match (a seasoned chiptune artist would probably be able to tell?) but it would definitely be close enough to sound "Game Boy"-like.

However, consider that the NDS actually packs quite a bit of processing power for homebrew. If you really wanted, you could make your own software mixer and pump out PCM samples to get whatever sound you wanted, then you could reproduce DMG sounds yourself to whatever desired degree of accuracy.
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