Fixing all of the too-loud audio packs for good

Just started working on BS-Zelda, and all 12 audio tracks are *exactly* identical in both maps, but the video files are different.  Is this how it's supposed to be?  Seems rather wasteful to download the full 2.2GB pack twice when 80% of that is duplicated...

Yes, I told this before that you only need to convert one map. I decided to make it that way so people won't have to rename the files; believe me some people are not capable doing this. Also the tutorial is less complex with this solution.
We live in 2017, not 1985, downloading and hosting 2 GB of data is not much of a problem anymore.

Ok, I must have missed that conversation. The other thing I was wondering about is, what are track 10a and 10b for? Are they alternate versions or something? 10a and 10b aren't supported track numbers, unless you're using a manifest to override the filenames, which would only be supported in higan.

In any case, BS-Zelda is uploading now, I'll post links tomorrow. I managed to get the file size down to 1.6GB with 7-zip on ultra, so that was nice.

I remember mentioned this somewhere but you also figured yourself
10: bad end, fanfare with Daniels Ganon performance
10a: bad end, same as good end
10b: mute only.

You know, there are people wanting originality at any cost, so people that prefer a different ending, simply can rename the files.
The same is for ast as well, we have cathedral with Daniel, and a version to rename without Daniel

Sorry for the late response, I thought you'd notify when the map1/2 links are available so I waited - now I wanted to ask whether you had time and saw the updated links in the first post

So, I already updated the map1/2 hack and uploaded the new pcm files to my clouds

Only f-zero/smw missing on my side. As for the other stuff (smw+ and DKC2) I do not know, I have no sd2snes016 patch that automatically sets them to FF and I do not like to fix unasked the work of others.

Sorry, I didn't think to post an update here when I uploaded those.  Re: DKC2, according to this disassembly of the patch, it's using $FF (ctrl+F "STA $2006"), so I think we're fine there. I'll confirm with my ROM as soon as I can find where I put it...

Let's see, checking my cloud:

F-Zero:
sd2snes016 patch (for FF setting) and 3 music packs available (peeWee, Kurrono and FZeroX):
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B68bmgtrAXQASlZDT0dYaGdwTW8
your action on all 3 music packs required

SMW-native:
sd2snes016 patch (for FF setting) available.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B68bmgtrAXQAakxjVUUxUG01QXc
your action on this music pack required

DKC2:
The patch is already set to FF standard, I checked (a9 FF 8d 06 20)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B68bmgtrAXQATTZvUmhtN0d4aE0
No action required

SMW plus:
This one is tricky, as Colines inserted many files...
in the asm it is

!BSNES= $40
!SD2SNES = $FF
if !Emulator
!MSUVolume = !BSNES
else
!MSUVolume = !SD2SNES
endif

Then he offers some compiled bps files
in the sa1-order the smw_msu1.bps is a9 40 8d 06 20 in the other order "Super Mario World_msu1" there are 2 files. In the smw_msu1_sd2snes.bps I find a9 FF 8d 06 20, but a similar line with a9 40 8d 06 20, I cannot find in the smw_msu1.bps.
Patch:
Patch: http://www.romhacking.net/download/hacks/2472/
Mirror: http://bszelda.zeldalegends.net/stuff/Con/smw_msu1+.zip
this mirror is my server

PCM:
Download pcm:s:
tracks 1-41:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtMUCmAL6x14hifFzGeaRGckK0Lw
additional tracks:
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AGdMU4%5Fyu49KRcc&id=781DEB0B600A14D3%21753&cid=781DEB0B600A14D3

Mirror (all tracks):
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B68bmgtrAXQAYS1lcWJDQWNEeWc
this mirror is my cloud
Your action required would be contacting Colines and update his files to FF standard. I have only access to my mirror patch and pcm files
-> maybe it's good to leave this one at 40, though sd2snes FF value setting is outdated. Dunno, ask Collines

Chrono Trigger FLAC version is uploaded, OP updated.

Excellent initiative, thank you very much qwertymodo.
Now using a SD2SNES rev.H, I need to udpate all my MSU packs because indeed the MSU volume has become way high versus spc/sound effects.

Since I always used the SD2SNES version of the patches, I believe I already have "FF" set in the roms, so I only need to replace the pcm files, is this right?

I see Conn has already linked the "F-Zero peeWee" source pack, can't wait for this one (it's the official jazz arangement I submitted long ago).
There is another notable missing conversion I can think of: Super Metroid MSU-1 hack by DarkShock (here is the pack as linked from the readme)

I'll be sure to report if I encounter any bug with the new packs, this is definitely a major time-saver!

edit: qwerty, why did you "only" reduce MMX3 vol by -18dB instead of -21?
It still seems too loud versus the sound effects (real hardware).
Even the pcms themselves on PC, if you compare for exemple alttp_msu-9.pcm (zelda reorchestrated) versus mmx3_msu1-1.pcm..?

I'll take another look at MMX3, but I do remember trying both -21 and -18 before ultimately deciding on -18.

Edit: Yeah, definitely standing by my decision against -21. Some of the .pcm's are actually too quiet as-is (Zero's theme in the opening stage, for one). Try a direct side-by-side with 2 copies of higan open (needs to be >v100 for this to work). The opening stage might sound just a hair too loud on the MSU-1 track at some points, but that's due to the different instrumentation and greater dynamic range. Play until you switch to Zero and I promise you'll hear very clearly that the MSU-1 track isn't too loud. I'll try and play through some of the other stages too and get a few more comparisons, but for now, I stand by my decision at -18.

Thanks for checking this fast.
And yes exactly, I was mislead by the sound effects which are a bit low during the opening stage. Indeed when I reached Zero, balance is spot-on. I'm on real hardware.

ps, just to make sure, the patch type you use for the rom is the sd2snes variant, correct? (ie, the one that sets FF volume)

Yes, FF volume. If you pick the wrong one, it would be too quiet, it should never be too loud.

qwertymodo wrote:Yes, FF volume.  If you pick the wrong one, it would be too quiet, it should never be too loud.

Roger that

@Conn, may I suggest that you update the Zelda MSU patch here:
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2483 to the newest revision?
It seems to be an old version with lower volume, ie not FF volume (and the sd2snes 1.6 patch is just broken, doesn't play MSU at all)
I found the one you posted on this forum, and it seems to be with FF:
http://bszelda.zeldalegends.net/stuff/Con/zelda3_msu.zip

Oh, totally forgotten about this. I resubmitted the new patch file to romhacking

Thanks for the renormalization / deboosting.

TMNT Turtles in Time next please. Much needed.

Thanks again!

F-Zero Music Pack updated:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtMUCmAL6x14hQ27EbkbRa8bkN45

F-Zero tracks all updated with lossless audio files and volume balanced to match the $FF value at $2006 register.

Also changed a few tracks to suit better the overall music pack concept, now getting much more of a heavy metal feeling ;-)

F-Zero by PeeWee and Michiko Hill is right next, since it was already done from a lossless source, only reducing the volume will be needed. Though building the regular music pack kinda made my ears tired, so not at my best, things get worst since I had to use regular equipment (shitty earphones), not even sure if the music is too silent or out loud.

Let me know if the songs somehow are not in pair with the SFX, my head at least think they are a bit loud, but since I couldn't trust my earphones, maybe it's best to let people judge that ;D

As long as I get used to them, gonna have a better notion of the best setting for the volume, and then mimic it to PeeWee and Michiko Hill tracks =)

For the kurrono music pack... As said by the OP, they are beyond repair. =/

Since the pack is made of songs from youtube rips, and unknown sources, all files are damaged, clipping, compressed to an absurd lossy ratio and what not.

I may work on it but just to reduce the volume, so it can be playable without blowing up people's cell brains. Distortion and poor audio quality are still gonna be present.

Colines, this is great!
Are you also somewhere in between the -18 & -21dBFS sweet spot that qwerty experienced when normalizing?

TheShadowRunner wrote:Are you also somewhere in between the -18 & -21dBFS sweet spot that qwerty experienced when normalizing?

I struggled pretty harsh between them, to the point I was getting paranoid, despite having a good trained ear, not really in the best environment to do such hearing task. =(

But finally, I sticked to -18. But now that my ears are recovering from exhaustion, I suppose the songs could be a little bit quiet, close to -21.

Great Colines
However, I am not sure about replacing the F-Zero files I host:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B68bmgtrAXQASlZDT0dYaGdwTW8

Shall I replace them with the files of your links and set the patch volume to FF?

Also what is about SMW, are you going to renew your patch?
http://bszelda.zeldalegends.net/stuff/Con/smw_msu1+.zip

Then I have two packages of SMW hosted, my native and your plus:
SMW Plus pcm base:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B68bmgtrAXQAYS1lcWJDQWNEeWc

SMW native pcm base:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B68bmgtrAXQAT1VOZUI4M0V4OUE

Let me know if I shall set my patches (F-Zero, SMW native) to FF and replace the pcm files, and if I shall replace your SMW Plus patch as well as the pcm:s.

Here we go, PeeWee and Michiko Hill remastered!
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtMUCmAL6x14hhO7EbkbRa8bkN45

Sorry, when listening to them to adjust the volume level, I couldn't resist, put on play the whole freakin' album.

By doing this, I kinda noted how lazy I was when looping the tracks the first time, I left too many of the music out, specifically the tracks which fade out instead of ending cold.

So went on to another hi-fi journey and carefully grabbed the same lossless audio files and reworked all tracks, and this time I made sure to include at least 97% of the samples from each song.

Boy, that was gratifying. Enjoy the ultimate F-Zero music packs ;D

Conn wrote:Shall I replace them with the files of your links and set the patch volume to FF?

Yes sir, please ;D
As far as the MSU-1 scene is now concerned, byuu and ikari finally could reach a compromise (at least for the volume issues    )

All patches from now on should specify $FF as the default for the MSU-1 volume register, since higan now fully mixes his audio cores correctly and ikari offers the boost option as workaround for the faulty hardware design.

Conn wrote:Also what is about SMW, are you going to renew your patch?

This one is going to take a while, since a new version of the SA-1 enabling chip patch, Lunar Magic and a very few other patches SMW+ depends on all came out, I need to adjust much of the code to comply the new functionalities provided.

Also, I'm still stucked in adjusting the volume levels of the tracks, so far I wasn't able to fulfill the whole soundtrack list with lossless tracks, and while I've found very cool songs, they are lossy sound formats =(

I wanted to get a full tracklist before getting started on it, but it's time to content myself to what I've got.

SMW+ is close to a new release, as soon as I finish all the clean up, gonna remaster the whole package and provide one for you ;D (although the plus pack will be missing in the time being, the Mario&Luigi voice sample packages I had were lost, gonna search for them again to build up the sound voices again) x|

ok, before I upload it and renew my patch:
- I got the f-zero music patch with 16 tracks +5 optional
- peewee with 16 tracks
(that's in accordance with my cloud records)

so about kurrono: I read that they are bad quality and nothing to do. Shall I delete them?

As soon I know more I prepare the files

Conn wrote:so about kurrono: I read that they are bad quality and nothing to do. Shall I delete them?

At the time being, yes. =(

I will keep a copy of his pack on my cloud to anyone willing to rebuild it by using as reference, for looping and such.
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtMUCmAL6x14hQ27EbkbRa8bkN45

Thanks Colines for fixing the PeeWee pack, I just tried it and find the new music volume pretty low..
If you check tracks Big Blue or Silence, the music level versus sound effects level is not balanced (sound effects louder).
I thought I had patched badly maybe so restarted from scratch, applied the emu patch, then the sd2snes16 patch over it, giving me a rom with MD5 : 15EF4C1CBE9BAC8013AF65C091C1DE2B

I checked again in-game (on real hardware SD2SNES revH), and indeed the sound effects are too loud (or the music too low), at least the balance isn't optimal for sure.

Did you level against on emu? real hardware?
Conn if you've tested, what do you think?

Has anyone else tested the megamanx3 pack? The audio sounds like its actually TOO quiet now. Just play the opening stage. I could barely hear the music. Just thought I should mention it

seam, I tested MMX3 yesterday, volume isn't low by any means.
Are you using the correct patch, the "ff" volume one; ie sd2snes16 patch, that's the one you should be using with the new normalized packs.