Master System Do You Prefer PSG Music or the FM Variants?

[Scotty Scotty]

The Sega Master System is an interesting piece of Sega's history. Originally released in Japan as the Sega Mark III back in 1985, it was made to compete against the Famicom, sported significant upgrades over the SG-1000 (More RAM and a new video display processor) and its technology served as a foundation for the Sega Mega Drive. The system also had an audio expansion port to enhance the sound for various games via the FM Sound Unit; but more on that later.

When it came time for the system to be marketed over on western shores, the console was redesigned and renamed the Sega Master System. What was once a white rectangular, futuristic looking system is instead that classic black and red system that we all know and love. Funnily enough, Japan would actually receive the redesigned Master System model in 1987. This particular iteration had a built-in FM Sound Unit, a built-in Rapid Fire Unit and a 3D glasses port.

Despite the system's technological advancements compared to Nintendo's Famicom, the Mark III failed in Japan and its redesigned Master System variant failed in North America. However, it did manage to find success in the European, Brazilian and South Korean markets. The console itself has also developed a bit of a cult following today amongst many gamers (including myself lol).

Now, let's go back a bit and focus on the system's audio capabilities. The Master System sports a Texas Instruments SN76489 PSG chip built into the system's video display processor. It has three square wave channels plus a noise channel. The Japanese Master System also integrated the Yamaha YM2413 FM chip which has 9 concurrent FM sound channels with two operators per channel. There was also a percussion mode where the last 3 channels would be turned into percussion channels to produce 5 percussion sounds.

As you can no doubt imagine, the FM Sound Unit greatly enhanced the audio for games which supported it. A famous example being the Master System port of the original "Ys" game:

PSG Sound​	FM Sound​

Nowadays, there's a debate between which soundtracks are better for each Master System game that supported the FM Sound Unit add-on. Some prefer the enhanced audio while others prefer the harsher PSG sound. As for me, it depends on the game. Some FM OSTs, particularly "Ys", "Phantasy Star 1", "Double Dragon" and "Wonder Boy in Monster Land" sound much better than the PSG audio. And then, there's "California Games" where the FM audio is... meh, but the PSG audio is actually quite good.

So, which team are you guys on -- PSG or FM?

 

[DayBreak_Illusion]

The PSG sounds clearer but the FM sounds nostalgic maybe cause I grew up with it that it feels so warm and nice. The PSG is what playing games on S-Video compared to composite back then. Night and Day difference. If i were to replay Master System games again, I'll try the PSG variants. Feels so right!

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

The last Master System game I played was RASTAN
I found it pretty interesting how they tried to cover this song. Neither chip really has the range to pull it off, but what they end up doing is kind of interesting. I think the PSG sounds nicer here.

 

[RageBurner]

Even if FM is more technically impressive, I always preferred PSG.

 

[Eduardo2010]

my browser started playing them both at once and it sounded amazing...

 

[PixelNostalgia]

FM all the way for me. The Space Harrier FM soundtrack on the Master System is one of my favorite examples. The PSG version sounds fine but the FM version has this warmth and depth that just makes the whole game feel different. Same with OutRun. It is interesting how the same console could sound so different depending on which sound chip was being used though.

 

[HikaruKitsune]

Strictly for Master System : PSG.

For anything else : FM.

 

[FrootyLoopsSamurai]

After playing around with both I think I prefer PSG for Master System games. I was considering modding my US Master System with FM sound, but after actually hearing the difference I bumped it down on my priority list. The PSG music tends to have a bit more charm and fits a bit better with most of the games I tried. I'm sure it was a bit more exciting and novel back when the Master System was fresh.

 

[Deleted member 913503]

FM all the way except for like 1 or 2 tracks. FM fits better with the rest of the series in my opinion.

 

[SpikeSlania]

PSG ftw. Sounds more classic