My thoughts, after scanning through the music lobby to find tunes and test how the switching noise sounds when sounds are being made:
Keep it. At 6 channels and any sound, I don't even notice the noise. And if 7/8-channel N163 sucks this much, then I'll avoid using it. Sure, maybe have the old emulation available as an option with a note that it's less accurate. But the central feature of FT in my mind is the NSF button and the idea that whatever I write could play on a Famicom. And I'd like the tracker to reflect what will come out.
On the other hand, if we're anticipating (less-accurate) NSF players that don't have the hiss, having an option to turn the hiss off is nice. I'll agree with rainwarrior here; having the option to forgo accuracy for a better experience is one of the awesome things about emulators. On the other hand, having the accuracy in the first place is really the purpose of the emulator. So keep the hiss, but maybe have the option to turn it off.
EDIT: Right, active topic means people post before I can see them. I'm revising my viewpoint to clarify that I understand the want of the less accurate emulation, but should it come to a vote, I'll abstain/vote no. The chip just sucks at 7/8 channels, and I'm accepting that.
I'm actually in favor of trying to emulate the N163 with its flaws (not trolling); it be interesting to see how well a person can actually take advantage of the flaw when composing their music (if they can take advantage of it, that is).
And yes; this beta's actually more stable on my system compared to the previous version.
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Technology: the one thing that's hated & cursed at by all engineers, technologists, scientists & technicians!
I'm actually in favor of trying to emulate the N163 with its flaws (not trolling); it be interesting to see how well a person can actually take advantage of the flaw when composing their music (if they can take advantage of it, that is).
And yes; this beta's actually more stable on my system compared to the previous version.
I'm actually in favor of trying to emulate the N163 with its flaws (not trolling); it be interesting to see how well a person can actually take advantage of the flaw when composing their music (if they can take advantage of it, that is).
And yes; this beta's actually more stable on my system compared to the previous version.
in what world can a headache-inducing tone be used to your advantage in your music? I'll believe it when I hear it.
in what world can a headache-inducing tone be used to your advantage in your music? I'll believe it when I hear it.
I honestly don't notice the noise at 6 channels (just as icesoldier said). 8 channels isn't as noticeable to me as others have mentioned up here & I'm wearing headphones. Considering that most people who compose for the N163 still use the noise channel for percussion, it's honestly not that bad (plus the fact that, on a TV, you'll always hear a hiss from the TV's own audio circuitry anyways, even when no sound is playing). This said, to each their own (I'm also going deaf at a slow rate, so this could contribute to my not noticing this as much).
And again, it's not necessarily to do with the music itself (perhaps someone can take advantage of this & use it as more of an added noise effect). If by using more or less channels you increase the hiss' intensity, then it's entirely possible (hell; with 8 channels to work with, theoretically, you could try to simulate the human voice in some horrid, 8-bit, digitized way). Sure, it won't be Action 52 quality, but it's still something to consider.
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Technology: the one thing that's hated & cursed at by all engineers, technologists, scientists & technicians!
Originally, I was going to immediately side with jrlepage and say that there definitely needs to be an option of letting the user choose between the hiss or not; not doing so would lead to unintentionally having people try to use all eight channels and subjected to the hiss, which I can only guess has been the cause of my tinnitus acting up the past couple of days.
However, reading through the thread and taking in all of the considerations, I would have to say I would agree more with leaving the hiss there, if the option to remove it is too large of an obstacle to implement. Like gyms, I've written two songs already that are now tarnished by the inculsion of the hiss, and while in the back of my mind I knew that something like this was going to occur from the comments mentioned by people who had the 4th beta before it was released, I had no idea it was going to be of this magnitude. I'm torn right now between ElHuesudoII's stance of never using the N106/163 at all, and the general opinion of just using less than the maximum channels, though I get the feeling I'll probably utilize it when warranted, if/when those opportunities arise in the future.
I, too, write my music under the guise that it would be playable on an actual console, so if push comes to shove and there is only one option, I would say leave the hiss in, since we are discovering that it is indeed accurate to the Famicom. While NSF players may not reflect the hiss, that doesn't mean that FamiTracker should not strive to be as accurate for their sake.
Although I agree that there should be switch for the users that want to utilize all of the channels, if only to protect peoples' hearing from the hiss. Musician's hearing is precious yo; can't be ruining it over a sound chip. But again, if it's not possible for both, then leave it in.
in what world can a headache-inducing tone be used to your advantage in your music? I'll believe it when I hear it.
I experimented with using the 15khz noise to augment noise hats and cymbals by throwing the lowest A at volume 1 on the attack of a hat and the sizzle part of a crash. 15khz is part of a frequency band that gets boosted sometimes when mixing drums to boost presence and airiness of the cymbals.
It worked decently enough, it made things sound a bit more sparkly and live but was still a tad harsh, even when turned down to 1.
I tried the same with 7 channels, but the new noise frequency was lowered enough that it was completely useless for this effect; down to like 9khz or something.
Because, I was talking about if you were to play your Famitracker-exported NSF files, it would sound similar.
jrlepage wrote:
No
The powerpak drivers are updated periodically, and we expect/hope for N163 support in the future.
but there is already n163 support isn't there? i'm pretty sure i wasn't imagining the n163 parts of light's ultimate solution, although they were very quiet with the resistor used.
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