Final Fantasy IV Surround Sound

[Hiyodori]

I only have the Japanese Super Famicon cart of Final Fantasy IV and checked to see in the options if it supported surround sound, it only had "Mono" or "Stereo". I read on a website that Final Fantasy IV does support surround sound and am curious to the accuracy of this statement. If it does, is it a selectable option in the menu options or does it happen naturally via a proper surround sound setup receiver. If anyone happens to have an American cartridge version and knows the answer to this very specific question, that would be awesome.

[DragonGrafx-16]

Surround sound is not possible on the SFC/SNES. You can emulate it with specially processed sounds and some games were marketed this way but it's still just a stereo output.

[Tanooki]

It's likely considering how I remember the music they emulated it as DG there says, but in hardware most definitely just standard stereo.  SNES had the ability to play audio from one channel or another or make it sound in stereo if it was on one side or the other and raise/lower the volume to give the effect of chasing the sound across one to the other speaker.  GIven that you can fake it, and FF2 does have some sounds to it that would fit such a thing, so maybe it's a bad mistranslation.

[The Mr. Video]

2 hours ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

Surround sound is not possible on the SFC/SNES. You can emulate it with specially processed sounds and some games were marketed this way but it's still just a stereo output.

You actually can get surround sound from the SNES, but it requires an audio amplifier that supports Dolby Surround. The amp reroutes out of phase audio from the stereo soundtrack to the rear speaker channel. I actually tried it myself a few days ago. It's not anything too amazing, but if you have the equipment, I'd say give it a try.

[DragonGrafx-16]

22 hours ago, The Mr. Video said:

You actually can get surround sound from the SNES, but it requires an audio amplifier that supports Dolby Surround. The amp reroutes out of phase audio from the stereo soundtrack to the rear speaker channel. I actually tried it myself a few days ago. It's not anything too amazing, but if you have the equipment, I'd say give it a try.

Most likely modern home theater systems won't support such an old standard.

[Hiyodori]

Sorry for the late reply. Here is the article I read to which made me believe that the American version of Final Fantasy 4 might have surround sound (albeit with either Dolby Surround or Dolby Pro Logic 1 which I believe functions by using stereo RCA left and right cables). https://absolutegamer.net/gaming-and-sound-retro-stereo-and-surround-setups/ It seems to suggest that some SNES titles even paid royalties to place the Dolby Surround logo on their product, while others forgo the logo and implemented surround sound (stereo version I believe, but not sure bc I am not too familiar with pre-5.1 Dolby Digital surround setups through RCA cables i.e Dolby Surround, Dolby Pro Logic 1, Dolby Pro Logic 2). One of the games that I have and checked is called "Tactics Ogre" for the Super Famicon. It does not have an official Dolby logo on the cartridge; however, in the options of the games, the audio selections are "Mono", "Stereo", and "Wide". I am assuming since the SNES/Famicon doesn't have a digital cable natively, that when paired with a receiver that supports Dolby Surround/Dolby Pro Logic 1, this option would function properly. If anyone could verify this, that would be awesome.

 

On 4/1/2022 at 1:57 AM, DragonGrafx-16 said:

Surround sound is not possible on the SFC/SNES. You can emulate it with specially processed sounds and some games were marketed this way but it's still just a stereo output.

The article I read also supports your argument. When you say "just stereo input", would that be Dolby Surround, Dolby Pro Logic 1 & 2 then? Are these formats just "messing around" with stereo sound?

 

On 4/1/2022 at 2:37 AM, Tanooki said:

It's likely considering how I remember the music they emulated it as DG there says, but in hardware most definitely just standard stereo.  SNES had the ability to play audio from one channel or another or make it sound in stereo if it was on one side or the other and raise/lower the volume to give the effect of chasing the sound across one to the other speaker.  GIven that you can fake it, and FF2 does have some sounds to it that would fit such a thing, so maybe it's a bad mistranslation.

I see. Even if it is a cheezy version of stereo surround sound, it would be nice for the receiver to detect it as such and play it through the rear speakers. I am still curious if anyone has an American cartridge of Final Fantasy 4 (2 in the states) that could confirm if the menu options at least give more than "Mono" and "Stereo" in the audio options. If not, I would question why the writer of this article put FF4 as it is quite an early title for the SNES.

 

On 4/1/2022 at 5:01 AM, The Mr. Video said:

You actually can get surround sound from the SNES, but it requires an audio amplifier that supports Dolby Surround. The amp reroutes out of phase audio from the stereo soundtrack to the rear speaker channel. I actually tried it myself a few days ago. It's not anything too amazing, but if you have the equipment, I'd say give it a try.

I just purchased a CRT and am looking to buy a receiver. The model I am interested is similar to a setup I had in the early 2000's and the model is Onkyo TX-DS 696. https://www.hifi-wiki.de/index.php/Onkyo_TX-DS_696 (there should be an English translation button on the page if needed) It supports 5 channels and Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic 2, DTS. Dolby Pro Logic 2 is backwards compatible with Dolby Surround and Pro Logic 1 I believe (not 100%, if anyone can confirm this, that would helpful). When you say you got Dolby Surround from SNES titles, were they ones on the list in the article I pinned at the top of this comment? If, so that's awesome! I know it's a primitive "cheat" version of surround, but cool nonetheless. As for the mod to the Super Famicon, that's something that sounds like a possible future project. First, I would love to see if the "Wide" sound option for Tactics Ogre works, that would be extremely cool.

 

On 4/2/2022 at 3:42 AM, DragonGrafx-16 said:

Most likely modern home theater systems won't support such an old standard.

You are probably correct. However I am looking at getting an older receiver. My previous quote reply has the model number.

[Tanooki]

@Hiyodori I just loaded up my FF2US cart, STEREO+MONO that's it.  Unless they had some v1.1 that added it as I got the game back when it came out.

[+Black_Tiger]

Super Turrican was fanous bitd for featuring surround sound.

 

Here are sone more:

 

https://www.theavalancherebels.com/2015/04/12/top-5-uses-of-surround-sound-on-super-nintendo/

[Hiyodori]

15 hours ago, Tanooki said:

@Hiyodori I just loaded up my FF2US cart, STEREO+MONO that's it.  Unless they had some v1.1 that added it as I got the game back when it came out.

Tanooki, you are awesome. I appreciate the confirmation. I was curious how it got on the previous article that I had posted. Either way, thanks for checking!

6 hours ago, Black_Tiger said:

Super Turrican was fanous bitd for featuring surround sound.

 

Here are sone more:

 

https://www.theavalancherebels.com/2015/04/12/top-5-uses-of-surround-sound-on-super-nintendo/

That is an amazing article, thanks for linking Black_Tiger. That Star Ocean games seems pretty interesting. I will try and get my hands on a copy.