This is MIDI?

[Dreakon13]

Just started playing... after hearing all the complaining about the music, I'm a little lost. I thought this game was using the original MIDI soundtrack from the PC port? This isn't MIDI, this sounds like an orchestra.

[HisShadowX]

Wait....Is it the music from the PC Version or the PSX Version?

[Dreakon13]

Originally posted by HisShadowX:

Wait....Is it the music from the PC Version or the PSX Version?

I haven't played the PSX version in years, so I don't know. This doesn't sound like MIDI though.

[Serious Cat]

It's neither. Could go into more details but there are a lot of other threads regarding this.
I still recommend to upgrade to the the PS1 soundtrack / qhimm soundmod for the best experience.

[Dreakon13]

Originally posted by Serious Cat:

It's neither. Could go into more details but there are a lot of other threads regarding this.

There are tons of threads complaining about it, and several more actually calling it MIDI. I don't think I've seen one intelligent discussion about it though.

I just compared some old PS1 footage to new 2012 re-release footage (as well as what I played). It's different, but it's not way off. I wouldn't even say it's worse than the original PS1 soundtrack based on the small sample size I listened to, just different. And it's definitely not MIDI. Pretty sure this is actually the music from the original PC port if you had a decent sound card.

I don't get why people are this upset...

[Aiko]

Originally posted by Dreakon:

Originally posted by Serious Cat:

It's neither. Could go into more details but there are a lot of other threads regarding this.

There are tons of threads complaining about it, and several more actually calling it MIDI. I don't think I've seen one intelligent discussion about it though.

I just compared some old PS1 footage to new 2012 re-release footage (as well as what I played). It's different, but it's not way off. And it's definitely not MIDI. I don't get why people are this upset...

It must be dependent on the individual sound cards, then. Before I changed the sound files, it sounded atrociously bad for me.

[Fox]

You have to change something in your audio drivers on windows, for midi. then the ingame music will turn into mp3 - it is included. I don't know exactly how to do it, here was a sticky about it but it's gone.

[Dreakon13]

Fast forward to about 5:15 in both and listen... it's not that different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD_GqlNtNjo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lRyMHkeMZI

[Dreakon13]

I'm not the only one noticing the lack of difference... am I?

[Ruta Barracuda]

It's just re-mastered. They did the same thing with the port of Chrono Trigger to PSX - remastered the sound.

[Dreakon13]

You do realize people are going off like it's legit 8-bit MIDI... I really don't get it.

[XE1R0]

This version uses the MIDI format that the original PC used, only slightly updated. The PS1 version used the MP3 versions of the songs.

http://ffextreme.com/ff7/music.html

You can tell a big difference, but it's not the end of the world like many people are making out to be...

[Dreakon13]

Originally posted by XE1R0:

This version uses the MIDI format that the original PC used, only slightly updated. The PS1 version used the MP3 versions of the songs.

Did you listen to the videos I posted? Go to 5:15, it's pretty much the same music.

There's a difference, but it's not "MIDI vs MP3" different. And I used to play the original PC one a lot, I know what the MIDI sounded like. This isn't it.

[Dukeinator]

Dreakon you are confused how MIDI works. It is a protocol of using musical sounds for synthesizers, sound cards, drum machines etc. Essentially, it is sheet music that is assigned to a particular sample and relies on your hardware. There is no "bits" involved with the MIDI standard itself.

In the case of the FF7 PC release, it will by default rely on the MIDI bank that your sound card has. Which unfortunately sounds pretty bad. Take a look at 5:50 in the second video you posted and pay close attention to how muddy the sound is -- in particular the synth pads and bell sample. Go to around the same time in the Playstation version. Can you really not tell the gigantic difference?

[psi onix]

i actually played the original PS1 ver (i still own it, black label ;) ) recently and i did notice when playing this steam version that it didn't quite sound as good, but it's not terrible. I don't really care.

Off topic but one thing i'll say is that I really like how clear the 3D character models are looking... Though in 1080 the 2d backgrounds look awful. I might try lowering the resolution because the 2d backgrounds looking good is kind of important to me. Art direction and all.

[Dreakon13]

Originally posted by phil1450:

In the case of the FF7 PC release, it will by default rely on the MIDI bank that your sound card has. Which unfortunately sounds pretty bad. Take a look at 5:50 in the second video you posted and pay close attention to how muddy the sound is -- in particular the synth pads and bell sample. Go to around the same time in the Playstation version. Can you really not tell the gigantic difference?

You know what, you're right. I definitely hear the huge difference listening to that point.

That said, I can hear those awful sounds in the PS1 version as well though, they just seem a lot lower in the mix. That remastering isn't really to my taste, but I wouldn't say they've ruined the game or this port is suddenly massively inferior because of it. Especially considering how easily they're replaced.