DOOM + DOOM II (2024). Sound Options Explanation.

[zinger_ghretzel]

Is there a source where I can get a full explanation about the sound options (FM synth, original, DMX, MIDI synth, etc)?

Anyone who understands these options well?

Greetings and thanks.

By the way… The remix version sounds truly spectacular !!!

[Space Detective]

So to make a long story short, DOOM's original music is MIDI-based, and MIDIs are very subjective and could sound very different depending on the hardware you had. While we have a "canonical" example of how the music should sound (it was composed on a Roland SC-55mk2), some people have their own preferences, which the options cater to.
Original by default uses the, well, original MIDIs as played back by the original hardware they were composed on, while Remix is a new set of modern remixes of the OST by composer Andrew Hulshult.

As for the other options (which are available as fallbacks if there's no SC-55mk2 recording or remix available), FM synth is an emulation of the Sound Blaster card's OPL-based music capability, which was by a huge margin the most common option people had for music playback in DOOM. Original FM synth is a standard reproduction of how DOOM drove the OPL chip, while DMX enables OPL3 emulation for stereo playback and leverages some customization of the "instruments" and emulator to make the music sound better.
And MIDI synth more or less makes the music sound just like it would in Windows' default MIDI playback capability; what most people are used to MIDIs sounding like in the modern day.

[AWMonopolyMan]

All I can really do is explain the basics of each. Remix is Andrew Hulshult‘s IDKFA album in game remixs, Original is the SC-55 playing the tunes basically directly off of it, FM Synth Original is the OPL 2 soundcard style, FM Synth DMX is basically OPL 3 soundcard style and MIDI Synth is more or less MIDI soundfont.

[AWMonopolyMan]

Originally posted by I <3 SAO:

So to make a long story short, DOOM's original music is MIDI-based, and MIDIs are very subjective and could sound very different depending on the hardware you had. While we have a "canonical" example of how the music should sound (it was composed on a Roland SC-55mk2), some people have their own preferences, which the options cater to.
Original by default uses the, well, original MIDIs as played back by the original hardware they were composed on, while Remix is a new set of modern remixes of the OST by composer Andrew Hulshult.

As for the other options (which are available as fallbacks if there's no SC-55mk2 recording or remix available), FM synth is an emulation of the Sound Blaster card's OPL-based music capability, which was by a huge margin the most common option people had for music playback in DOOM. I'm not very sure of the distinction between "Original" and "DMX" however; I can tell DMX emulates OPL3 for stereo playback, but I don't know what else it does. And MIDI synth more or less makes the music sound just like it would in Windows' default MIDI playback capability; what most people are used to MIDIs sounding like in the modern day.

I’d say Sigil 2 is a decent way to hear some differences with OPL2 vs OPL3

[Space Detective]

Originally posted by AWMonopolyMan:

I’d say Sigil 2 is a decent way to hear some differences with OPL2 vs OPL3

Oh yeah I know it makes a difference, I mean I don't know what exactly is done when you switch from Original to DMX besides the OPL3 thing.

[AWMonopolyMan]

Originally posted by I <3 SAO:

Originally posted by AWMonopolyMan:

I’d say Sigil 2 is a decent way to hear some differences with OPL2 vs OPL3

Oh yeah I know it makes a difference, I mean I don't know what exactly is done when you switch from Original to DMX besides the OPL3 thing.

Apparently, OPL3 has twice the number of channels (compared to OPL2 so 8 sound channels compared to 4), stereo (full pan L/R), among other random things, there’s info out there what each Yamaha OPL could do the previous couldn’t do, so research.

[AWMonopolyMan]

DMX is from what I understand a sound library made by Paul Radek of Digital Expressions, Inc., one of the notes being “ Support for General MIDI, Gravis wavetable, and Ad Lib-compatible OPL music playback, with a special option for OPL3”. So that is the best I can find up to this point on it. https://doomwiki.org/wiki/DMX

[Space Detective]

Originally posted by AWMonopolyMan:

DMX is from what I understand a sound library made by Paul Radek of Digital Expressions, Inc., one of the notes being “ Support for General MIDI, Gravis wavetable, and Ad Lib-compatible OPL music playback, with a special option for OPL3”. So that is the best I can find up to this point on it. https://doomwiki.org/wiki/DMX

Oh actually I deleted my earlier reply after taking a closer look at the wiki article I pulled up, the actual explanation turned out rather interesting.

Will edit the original post, but it sounds like DMX mode both uses a different set of "instruments" when playing back music that is supposed to sound more pleasant than DOOM's default handling of MIDI-through-FM synth, and a different OPL emulator (also seen in GZDoom apparently) that offers "improved timbre and dynamics" as the Doom Wiki puts it. Apparently these both use in some of Nightdive's other remasters as well, like Rise of the Triad's.
It goes a little over my head honestly, but I think I understand the gist of what the DMX option does now.

[⎛⎝ casedistorted™ ⎠⎞]

Originally posted by AWMonopolyMan:

All I can really do is explain the basics of each. Remix is Andrew Hulshult‘s IDKFA album in game remixs, Original is the SC-55 playing the tunes basically directly off of it, FM Synth Original is the OPL 2 soundcard style, FM Synth is basically OPL 3 soundcard style and MIDI Synth is more or less MIDI soundfont.

Assuming you meant the second FM Synth is DMX which is OPL3 Soundcard.

I was curious about this question too and came upon this. I saw a website offering a wad file that has the Roland SC-55 sound with a method to get it running in the new Doom1+2 2024 Kex Engine, but I don't understand the point since the Original sound option seems to emulate the Roland SC-55 MIDI sound almost perfectly. At least from what I can tell listening to different recordings of a Roland playing back the music on Doom in Youtube videos, comparing it to the actual gameplay.

The Midi Synth option is NOT the same as Original in this re-release, which is what I thought.
Though there is something wrong with the Midi Synth option because the snares/high hat or drums have some kind of awkward ear piercing echo in a few of the songs in Doom 1.

FM Synth is then a Sound Blaster card (what I would have had back in the day, had we owned a PC that was powerful enough to play Doom.. we did not), and FM Synth DMX is something rarer I never knew existed.

[Thermal Lance]

Funny enough, none of these options sounds like an actual soundblaster.

[Komarimaru]

Originally posted by Thermal Lance:

Funny enough, none of these options sounds like an actual soundblaster.

Which is a good thing.

[Thermal Lance]

Originally posted by Komarimaru:

Originally posted by Thermal Lance:

Funny enough, none of these options sounds like an actual soundblaster.

Which is a good thing.

I respectfully disagree. Say what you want about the soundblaster's sound, it should have still been there proper for nostalgia's sake. A huge missed opportunity here.

Alas, I can always boot up my old computer to get that sound going. Just a shame really.

[Komarimaru]

Originally posted by Thermal Lance:

Originally posted by Komarimaru:

Which is a good thing.

I respectfully disagree. Say what you want about the soundblaster's sound, it should have still been there proper for nostalgia's sake. A huge missed opportunity here.

Alas, I can always boot up my old computer to get that sound going. Just a shame really.

Well, I never liked any of the SB16 stuff. It was so bad, they had to start using roland chips.

Was it better than PC speaker? Ya, but anything was better than PC speaker.

[Thermal Lance]

Originally posted by Komarimaru:

Originally posted by Thermal Lance:

I respectfully disagree. Say what you want about the soundblaster's sound, it should have still been there proper for nostalgia's sake. A huge missed opportunity here.

Alas, I can always boot up my old computer to get that sound going. Just a shame really.

Well, I never liked any of the SB16 stuff. It was so bad, they had to start using roland chips.

Was it better than PC speaker? Ya, but anything was better than PC speaker.

The main problem is not that the SB16 was bad. But, most videogame music were not primarely done for it.

A few games made proper use of it and had a banging soundtrack on SB cause of it.

[XCT3]

Originally posted by Komarimaru:

Originally posted by Thermal Lance:

Was it better than PC speaker? Ya, but anything was better than PC speaker.

The intro to Dune II was better with a SoundBlaster, but the explosions were more varied on PC speaker. And Pinball Fantasies had excellent MOD music through the PC speaker, much better than MIDI.

[SovietBowl]

Originally posted by zinger_ghretzel:

Is there a source where I can get a full explanation about the sound options (FM synth, original, DMX, MIDI synth, etc)?

Anyone who understands these options well?

Greetings and thanks.

By the way… The remix version sounds truly spectacular !!!

"Original" uses tracks recorded on sc-55 hardware
"MIDI Synth" uses Timidity++ with a GUS patchset
FM Synth : original emulates the sound blaster opl2 chip
FM Synth : dmx uses the dmxopl patchset by sneakernets/ConSiGno


Additionally using 'fm synth' gives players the option to customize the number of fm operators ("fm chips" in-game) to a max of 8

Note that increasing "fm chips" may slightly reduce polyphony