The PC-98's awesome stereo FM soundboard: PC-9801-86 (PC-98 Paradise) - '90s chiptunes from Japan!

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This is a short PC-98 Paradise special where I look at the PC-98's stereo FM soundboard.
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00:00 intro
02:53 packaging
03:48 the board itself
05:07 installation
06:14 game and music samples!
08:02 PCM capabilities
10:9 built-in rhythm channels
10:47 background noise
11:16 wrap-up

Игры

Опубликовано:

24 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 109

@mousebetr 6 месяцев назад

You boys are never going to be quiet down there with this sound hardware.

@JimPanzeeEsq 6 месяцев назад

How do I upvote more than once?

@mousebetr 6 месяцев назад

@@JimPanzeeEsq unpossible!

@elgatofelix8917 6 месяцев назад

Good.

@Dawwwg 6 месяцев назад

I am in this comment and I like it !

@fmsyntheses 6 месяцев назад

The idea of upgrading a computer without having to open the case and deal with whatever random, insane form factor the case manufacturer dreamed up would have brought tears to my eyes in 1993.

@borrellipatrick 6 месяцев назад

Always impressed when you show off things that come in their boxes and have all of their inserts most of the time. So cool that people took care of their pc parts and games over the years

@Big_Dai 6 месяцев назад

Gotta start preserving stuff for future generations!

@g7gatsu 5 месяцев назад

That's simple Japanese culture. Most of the old stuff that's on second hand market over there is in mint condition, tells a lot about how they handle their stuff

@ericlueck5359 6 месяцев назад

Making PC-98 tunes myself, still practicing, but it's rewarding, but hard to track down the MML files in English-speaking parts of the web. So I make do with converting Genesis OPM and modifying it.

@Ryusennin 6 месяцев назад

The YM2608 was in a class of its own. The favourite FM chip of Yuzo Koshiro and Ryu Umemoto (RIP).

@rudidellama3718 6 месяцев назад

Ryu Umemoto work on YU-NO easily is among my favorites games OSTs, very sad that he passed away right when he was back at composing again

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Oh yeah, crap. I forgot to add a YU-NO clip to this video. I captured it from the soundboard and everything.

@PhoenixNoKiseki 6 месяцев назад

That Policenauts screen is possibly the most 80’s thing ever created.

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Even though it's from the '90s.

@zeliardforty-two4692 6 месяцев назад

I’m so familiar with sound cards for DOS in North America. So it’s pretty cool to hear about what Japanese Sound cards were like 👍

@SkyCE9A 6 месяцев назад

Never had an NEC. Growing up we had a number of IBMs in the 80s and 90s, and my dad had quite a number of keyboards and synths he would play and record music on. This sound is so comforting and nostalgic to me. It not only reminds me of the games I played as a kid, but the memories of sitting outside of my dad's room or his downstairs studio and listening to music. When the music from Rusty started playing it gave me a chill. Such a magical, carefree time. Thank you for sharing this. I really enjoy the technical videos just as much as the game focused videos.

@nobuyukinyuu 6 месяцев назад

FM synthesis, specifically for japanese home micros, has occupied my mind rent-free for a very long time. The 4-op OPM/OPN based chips made the games sound so much better than what we got for PC with the OPL series. To retain Adlib-compatiblity though, most soundtracks only ever used 2 operators per instrument and so they just never quite sounded as good. You can even tell the difference in tools available to artists at the time on Megadrive -- western artists, almost entirely regardless of sound driver tended to have much less interesting music and I'm sure it was the fact FM on the PC was practically synonymous with 2-op Adlib sound.

@spoonybard13 6 месяцев назад

Never knew before today why most PC-98 games didn't use ADPCM samples, but now it makes a lot of sense. Thanks, Mr. Jakes!

@ethereal_worlds 6 месяцев назад

Super interesting video! I love the sound of all the old home computers before multimedia compliant IBM compatibles took over. I think the Amiga will always have my favourite computer music, but the FM boards of the Japanese computers have such a nostalgic, ethereal quality to them.

@philippebarbie3829 Месяц назад

Love the PC98 Music, so thank you very much for this video about the hardware behind the tunes.

@KeiNova 6 месяцев назад

Your channel is a constant source of entertainment and inspiration for me and my videos. I mean, I don't copy it - but its just nice hearing someone else talk about strangely specific gaming related things.

@ristar9340 6 месяцев назад

Harlem Blade thumbnail and Legend of Heroes III music is great taste!

@Plazoblock12 6 месяцев назад

I hope you do a video of Harlem Blade, about time I see a jrpg about New York

@gwalla 6 месяцев назад

The OPNA is so cool. I've been playing around with designing a 16-bit-era console* and most of my designs for the sound subsystem have centered around the YM2608 because it covers all the bases: FM synthesis, PSG square waves & pulse noise, a percussion ROMpler, and ADPCM sample playback. I pair it with a CEM chip to allow for some C64-ish analog synth tricks. *with no real intention of actually building one. It's more a thought experiment for exploring and learning about the hardware of the time.

@ryanmoore8003 6 месяцев назад

such a lovely little channel, thanks for this little window into history ^_^

@GadgetUK164 6 месяцев назад

Really interesting to look at that and hear how great it sounds =D

@lucaspam 6 месяцев назад

Thanks for this video, it's finally a great source of knowledge about the PC-98 sound cards. I hope I get one of these on the future, somehow. My 9821V12 is made to be a windows machine. I am using now a clone of the 86 that is built with a compatible chip from Yamaha that finally makes the DOS games run as expected - I had to comment that your copy of kotzujin is way prettier than nine's. Maybe I will get one of those real boards. They sound beautiful, although expensive 😢

@raziyatheseeker 6 месяцев назад

12:10 Goodness. Yes, yes exactly. I am 100% biased because I grew up with MIDI music, long before I ever properly got my hands on copies video game music. But regardless, I often like the FM tracks on these classic Japanese computer games. It's a rare thing to feel nostalgia for something you'd never grown up with, but it's always a happy thing when it happens. I think the last time I recall that happening was in my teens, playing Earthbound for the first time. Either way. Thanks for chatting about this. It feels a shame that the soundboards keep getting more and more scarce over time. I too hope you're able to find a good home for the one you have.

@SwannyTheMike 6 месяцев назад

Just wanted to say that your videos have gotten me into retro Japanese PC games big time! To the point that I now have a Project EGG account with multiple Falcom games already purchased (I've love to have the real hardware, but I don't have either the space or disposable income quite yet). Finally, I have a legit version of Popful Mail! I never would have even wound up looking into the NEC PC versions if not for all the PC-88 and PC-98 videos I've been binging.

@ZeroWalker26 6 месяцев назад

As always your videos are awesome. Some day before I turn 45 I hope to get my hands on a PC-98 but with shipping costs being in the hundreds of euro it might take until I can go to japan my self.

@apollolux 5 месяцев назад

Even though my all-time favorite Yamaha FM chip is the YM2612 found in the Sega Genesis (literally what got me into audio emulation programming and the first Sonic game's soundtrack sold me on the Genesis) and one of my major college projects focused on building an Arduino-controlled synthesizer with a physical YM2151, I fully respect an FM chip like the YM2608, what it was capable of, and what a system like the PC-98 was able to do with it.

@GranMaese 6 месяцев назад

This was a great video, as always! More hardware videos would be cool.

@astrades2601 6 месяцев назад

Hardware episode from time to time od nice variety from your usual games videos :)

@JaredSchmidt 6 месяцев назад

Fantastic work! Me, and my ears, thank you for this video. ^_^

@TechnicolorMammoth 6 месяцев назад

Just learned BUFFALO has been in the biz for a while, seeing its name on the back of the NEC PC-9621 Xa. Makes sense. I love their USB SNES controller as my go to game pad. Just pure plug n play, with amazing controller feel and response. It genuinely feels like a stock Nintendo controller. Got it in the JP/PAL color scheme, since as an American, I always hated the lavender/purple buttons. I say “as an American”, because that’s the only thing we got! I’m so happy we get more choices now. Anyways, I do love the colors purple and lavender, but when I saw what Japan had many decades ago, I was jealous. But, to the point. It’s an extremely amazing 3rd party controller and I love it so much!!! Thank you, BUFFALO for being high quality and helping me put ghosts of the past to bed. Thank you, creator, for this content, btw. You bridge so many things, I hope you understand how much y’all are a treasure to us all. Much love!

@AndrewAmbrose 6 месяцев назад

It's a shame most developers couldn't take advantage of the YM2608's ADPCM on the PC-98 like they could on the PC-88, but we still got great music nonetheless.

@ctrlaltrees 6 месяцев назад

This sounds incredible for the early 90s - especially the ADPCM samples. Very cool! Seems my PC-9821Cu13 has one of these built in too (in the form of the YMF288) so I'm looking forward to trying it out and seeing how it compares.

@EpsilDelta197 6 месяцев назад

Thanks for the spotlight! I have a chibi-oto, but I'm still working up the courage to install it myself, haha. I'm also one of the fortunate ones that has a fully original and working 86, but I have the cap set, just in case I need to repair it some day.

@retroasobi 6 месяцев назад

Nice to see a detailed video about the soundboard! Was interested in buying a PC-98 some time ago, and it's intriguing the loophole you get into. First, you think that all models has the FM onboard, and then you find that some few has, and when you go and look the price of the board itself, it's shocking lol

@eightbitminiboss 6 месяцев назад

Would it be beneficial to ground the chassis with the ground terminal on the case to reduce the background noise on the onboard line out? Or maybe a ground loop noise isolator?

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Nice suggestion. It is actually really difficult to get ground with most Japanese electrical outlets. (I leave my PC-88 and PC-98 unplugged whenever I'm not using them for this and many other reasons.) Now I'm about to go find a cable I can string between my gaming desk and the washing machine...

@MimiWhiskers 6 месяцев назад

I always love the sound from the Sega genesis, hearing music coming from that ym2608 remind me of it so much. so much great software on these old pc machines from Japan. Too bad a lot of it never got ported.

@tallmoron3158 6 месяцев назад

I love your PC88//98 Videos. I own a lot of 8 bit homecomputers, but the only Japanese system I own is an MSX2. I often use emulation to try things out, but PC88/98 stuff was alway a bit complicated for me. Thank you so much for some insight into this machines. I would love to see some X68000 or FM Towns videos on your channel.

@gerhalt5663 6 месяцев назад

Imo Falcom games sound the best of the bunch. There's an absolutely awesome tune in Popful Mail that plays in mines overworld map section, and this very tune simply shows exactly why OPNA sound is far superior 👍

@xnamkcor 6 месяцев назад

I was kinda second-guessing myself on if that modem looking jack was ethernet, then I saw the Buffalo logo. It's cool that such an old PC got an ethernet addon card.

@supermegagrafx64 6 месяцев назад

Great video. Love this. I never had the computer but this makes me wish I did

@Nemo2342 6 месяцев назад

I honestly am kind of nostalgic for having to buy a dedicated sound card to get really good PC hardware.

@Elrinth 6 месяцев назад

I just realized Harlem Blade sounds alot like Neon Genesis Evangelion opening haha :D

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Yep. I've always thought that as well.

@riggel8804 6 месяцев назад

Hot dang that Streets of Rage jam in slappin. I'm gonna track that one down. I found a couple of youtube channels that post pc-88 and pc-98 ost. JPC music and alzao2. Anyone else follow any RU-vid channels with pc-98 ost?

@Dawwwg 6 месяцев назад

Aren't there tons of new aftermarket soundchips for the PC-98 the last few years ? I know that for the MSX scene they started (re-)producing tons of older audio-cards, but also new ones that were never supported in the past (the YM2612 OPN2 from the Sega Genesis/MegaDrive for example) recently...

@superdeadite 6 месяцев назад

PC98 dev is rather quiet as its mostly a Japan thing. MSX has a much larger international scene, and its quite simple to shove anything in an MSX cart, hence it's become the king of soundchips.

@RutabagaSwe 6 месяцев назад

There's something magical about well used FM synth. Sounds great :)

@MadsonOnTheWeb 6 месяцев назад

I was always curious about these. The FM sound on PC-98 is great. Edit: Rust OP always warms my heart. Harlem Blade's OP reminds of Evangelion for some reason.

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

I too have always thought that Harlem Blade's opening sounds heavily expired by the Evangelion song.

@darktetsuya 6 месяцев назад

I know I've heard about some of these watching your videos! (like I know I asked about why more games didn't support the one in a previous video) it gives quite the upgrade to the music, for sure!

@Izquierda 6 месяцев назад

There's someone in China who designed and sells a repro 86 board, probably sounds the same as the original but would be neat to see/hear some comparisons.

@Megatog615 6 месяцев назад

there are SO MANY polymer electrolytics on that board holy crap

@ctomfaith 6 месяцев назад

Wait a sec this isn't LGR. I'm so confused.😉

@Zeithri 6 месяцев назад

Thank you for the video \o/ It was interesting. Linked the video to my rl friend whose a musician too

@NightFlyStudio 6 месяцев назад

Man, all that Legend of Heroes 4 music in the vid brought me back to a simpler time. Such a beautiful soundtrack.

@AshtonCoolman 6 месяцев назад

I have two PC-9821s and two of these 9801-86 cards. One of them doesn't output audio at audible levels so it needs some repairing. It's detected by the PC and the drivers load so it's not a complete loss. Fingers crossed I can get it working again this year (it has dozens of capacitors)

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Good luck with the repairs! I shed a tear every time a 9801-86 dies.

@Awsomeisimo 6 месяцев назад

Another 86 to add to the collection of 86 stuff

@Arehexes 6 месяцев назад

Waiting for that Did You Know Gaking Starting Mr Jakes.

@superdeadite 6 месяцев назад

Considering the Harlem Blade thumb, do you play any of Giga's recent works? Currently I'm in love with 閃鋼のクラリアス.

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

I can't say that I have. Guess I will have to take a look at 閃鋼のクラリアス.

@belstar1128 6 месяцев назад

again i asked a similar silly question on another video you made but did some people in 1993 think the PC-9801-86 was from 1986 and outdated .since it seems like this technology was at last possible in 1986.

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

That's a fair question. I even said myself in the video that a basically superior board was already available in 1987 on the PC-88, so you're absolutely right. I think the YM2608 kind of got grandfathered in on this 1993 board in a way. For one thing it is completely backward compatible with the older monaural soundboard that PC-98 had already been using since the '80s, which is a major reason they went with this sound chip. And also, when the first stereo FM soundboards for PC-98 got released in 1991 they also used the YM2608, I think so that developers could use the same music they were using in the PC-88 versions of the same game. Then when 1993 came around they wanted to just make a cheaper version of the 1991 boards. But in the end it's a big win for those who just love the sound of FM synth. Even in 1993 there were still people who just loved the medium. But yeah, even me in 1993 was had already associating FM sound with "old". Luckily I came around in the 2000's and started to love the sound for mostly nostalgic reasons. I'm glad it happened this way.

@ggbetz 6 месяцев назад

Great Video! Lots I didnt know. A nice break from games, I bet theres a ton of peripherals for the 88/98 computers!

@thepirategamerboy12 6 месяцев назад

It's pretty silly how expensive these are imo, PC-98 models with built in -86 are substantially cheaper than the card on its own. They seem to pop up fairly often on Yahoo too so they can't be that rare, right?

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Yeah, it is usually cheaper to just get a model that has it built-in rather than a separate board. The board is quite desirable since it not only adds clean 86 audio to any model PC-98, but also a joystick port that works flawlessly with DOS/floppy games. That's even more valuable than the FM sound since so many models are lacking a joystick port that just works. And yes, the board is not THAT rare, but I definitely remember decades ago when they were much cheaper, and practically all of them were still working.

@jasonblalock4429 6 месяцев назад

Hey, someone's probably told you about this already, but just in case: Did you know that EGG has started publishing emulated PC-88 games on Switch, in the *western* eShop? I'm kind of amazed it's happening, given how few English-speakers have even heard of the PC-88. But if someone really wants to play Hydlide on their Switch, now they can. (Or Silpheed, which is still a great shmup.)

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Yep. Seems so far they are limiting it to games that don't have any Japanese text in them.

@jasonblalock4429 6 месяцев назад

@@BasementBrothers Yeah, not much Japanese text anyway. Because they aren't translating anything in-game, aside from existing English text. Xanadu is the only one I've seen so far where the Japanese text is an issue, but that's maybe the least of its issues. Most of the games they've emulated have simple gamepad-friendly controls, but trying to use a virtual keyboard for Xanadu is SO clunky and makes it even less fun to play. OTOH Relics actually benefits from emulation because it's so much nicer to play at 2X speed.

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Xanadu doesn't have any Japanese text either... other than the ending which I'm sure they just left as-is.

@zed-xr4353 6 месяцев назад

That expansion card system is awesome. I'll never understand why that type of thing seems to mostly gain adoption in server/enterprise systems and not consumer PC hardware. 😢

@yousefslimani99 6 месяцев назад

Funny question: is NEC corporation still in business?!

@menhirmike 6 месяцев назад

There are open source third party recreations of PC Sound Cards because they use mostly off-the-shelf parts (e.g., the Snark Barker or the RadLib). Would be cool if someone would create an Open Source clone of the Soundboard and other hard to find cards. Not sure how hard the Yamaha OPNA is to find (in a non-counterfeit, non-defective variant), but I guess an FPGA could be used (for $$$). Anyway, just thinking out loud. I LOVE how the PC-98 uses an edge connector that can be inserted from the back of the case for expansion though, it makes western PCs with their need to actually unscrew the case, put in the card, screw it in, and screw the case closed again look outright idiotic and barbaric.

@EpsilDelta197 6 месяцев назад

There have been some doujin boards to replicate the 86, but I think sourcing the 2608 has been an issue. Currently functioning real 86 boards go for several hundred, so I hope it becomes more accessible for people in the near future.

@funknotik 6 месяцев назад

Does anyone know if the pc98 has the equivalent of a tracker like the amiga? Something like octamed or renoise? Maybe even a DAW? I love the sound of it but, not sure how I would compose for it.

@EpsilDelta197 6 месяцев назад

BambooTracker is a modern tracker that lets you create music emulating the 98. It's really fun to use! Unfortunately, if you want on hardware, then I haven't been able to find a good tracker. I've been sticking with writing MML for writing music on hardware.

@funknotik 6 месяцев назад

Nice Ill check it out thanks@@EpsilDelta197

@inklingex4433 6 месяцев назад

A: Gotta love me some retro Japanese PC goodies, just so you know I've watched one of the games from PC-88/98 every now and then. And B: Are there any chances for you to make a video about PC-88/98 accessories in the near future?

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

What sort of accessories are you interested in?

@inklingex4433 6 месяцев назад

Oh I was just saying about any kind of accessories for PC-88/98 such as controllers and PC parts from third parties like you mentioned. Either official or unofficial. Though personally, I'm quite interested about controller accessories for either of those systems.

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

I don't think I've even seen any controllers advertised specifically as "for use with PC-98" or 88. It was always "For MSX/FM7/X1/PC-88" or something to that extent. It would be cool to show a controller that says "PC-98" on the channel, but I don't think there are any.

@yousefslimani99 6 месяцев назад

How many CPU clock speed you are using on your PC 98 hardware?

@ciscornBIG 6 месяцев назад

Dat some harem blade in the thumbnail?!?!

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Yep!

@ciscornBIG 6 месяцев назад

@@BasementBrothers very nice 😎

@MrAlan1828 4 месяца назад

Do a review on the homebrew Soundboard NA

@BasementBrothers 4 месяца назад

The what now?

@TechnicolorMammoth 6 месяцев назад

Noooo, use that 86 board for your audio! Don’t waste what you have! When it fails, recap it (I promise this in of itself pays for itself in the grand scheme of things), and keep using it! No one is documenting its history like you are! Remember this! You are giving it is best life!!!

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

I'm pretty happy with the onboard audio, man. It's the same soundchip, and I can still hear it loud and clear over all that background noise. I would love to see someone else putting the board to good use on a PC-98 that doesn't already have a YM2608 built in. :)

@ArcadiaGosh 6 месяцев назад

@@BasementBrothersthanks for the video, as always! I own a pc-9801da without 86. I would gladly buy yours!

@superdeadite 6 месяцев назад

While I love the YM2608, NEC's board revisions are stupidly annoying. PC88 and PC98 run the chip at different speeds, changing the tone. Also SSG volume is different for each board revision... This is why I choose MSX as my OPNA listening device these days.

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

You're the one who I learned that from (in a post on NFG forums, I believe). I can always rely on your insights. Personally, I still love both the Soundboard II and the 86.

@superdeadite 6 месяцев назад

@@BasementBrothers Btw, it's rather easy to add the missing 256kb ADPCM memory to most boards, just search for "新ちびおとＲ"

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Yeah, I added a footnote in the video about Chibi-oto. What I'd be interested to see is a list of PC-98 games that actually use it.

@superdeadite 6 месяцев назад

@@BasementBrothers Probably not so many games, but lots of doujin music does. Also, PC98 boards aren't supported yet, but you can use MAmidiMEmo to connect PC88 to modern windows over USB for real chip VGM playback.

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Yeah, that's what I figured. Not many games (if any at all). I know that Rusty mentions the Speak Board specifically on the box, but the music seems to sound the same with either the Speak Board or the 86. Whoah, I didn't know about MAmidiMEmo. That sounds pretty cool. As you could probably guess, I'm more interested in playing games than just listening to music, but that does sound cool nonetheless. One thing I have done is take some modern Mucom88 files and put them on disk images so I can play them on the real PC-88.

@sunderark 6 месяцев назад

I absolutely did not know that the ones with internal sound boards can use the controller through the mouse port. I bought an 86 for nothing haha. I'm one of those filthy Canbe owners. Maybe that's the reason why.

@BasementBrothers 6 месяцев назад

Not sure it will work with CanBe. You could try this adapter. page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/v1120413972