Gaming and Sound: Retro Stereo And Surround Setups

I’ve always felt that sound is an often overlooked aspect when it comes to video games. Most recent big budget titles all seem to have a proper 5.1 or 7.1 surround mix to make for an immersive experience. But what about retro games? Surround sound may not be the first thing that comes to mind.

Retro games with memorable soundtracks can really help to set the mood, and if you’ve been gaming long enough you can probably remember the music of most of your favorite games.

When I purchased my first surround sound system I was surprised to learn that some older games actually offer proper surround sound support. For early 2D games this may seem like more of a gimmick, but I find that certain 3D titles from the PS1 era and onward really benefit from surround sound since it can help determine where I am at or what direction an enemy is approaching from.

So for the focus of this article I wanted to delve into the oftentimes confusing realm of retro gaming and sound. I will also touch briefly on some newer gaming systems as well, as well as give a brief overview of the type of connections and hardware needed for proper retro surround sound. I will also follow it up with some various testing an a list if different consoles/surround enabled games.

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There are many different types of audio compression/encoding schemes and giving a long winded technical overview of every one of them is probably beyond the scope of this article. As such, the following list will focus on the most common types of audio compression technologies found in games from the early 90's and onward. These are mostly from the Dolby/ DTS companies as they tend to dominate the surround sound market, at least as far as consumer devices and gaming goes.

Dolby Surround

This is the original consumer level audio surround that was common in the VHS era. Dolby surround is basically a chopped down version of “Dolby stereo”, which was Dolby’s name for their professional active matrix (think quadraphonic sound) cinema technology, a 4 channel surround sound scheme that was commonly used in cinemas at the time.

The consumer grade version is a 3 channel scheme that drops the center channel into the left and right channels and outputs surround to a single back speaker. Not so impressive by today’s standards, but it was pretty decent for its time and can give some retro games a more immersive feel.

Dolby Pro Logic

Pro logic was introduced a few years after Dolby surround and is basically the same thing except it gives you 4 channels (left, center, right, rear) instead of 3. This is essentially a consumer grade version of Dolby stereo.

The important thing to remember here is that Dolby surround/pro logic are matrix encoding technologies, which come with limitations. Matrix encoding simply overlays / encodes different sounds inside a stereo source. That means you will get mostly undivided stereo sound in the LCR channels (with very little bass/treble) and mono surround in the rear due to the signals limited bandwidth.

Many older consoles like the SNES and PS1 have titles that support Dolby Digital.

Pro logic II

This is a greatly enhanced version of the original pro logic that can process a properly encoded stereo source into five (L,C,R, 2 Rear) separate audio channels. The channel separation is much better thanks to its auto balance feature that properly anchors voice dialogue to the center speaker.

The great thing about pro logic II is that all of the channels are in stereo and it has a mode specifically designed for video games.

The GameCube and Wii only have stereo outputs, but had many titles that were encoded in Pro Logic II.

Dolby Digital

This is an audio compression technology that is commonly found on DVDs. Dolby Digital games output true discrete surround sound. You will get six channels of sound at full 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz sample rates. Although it is still compressed, the difference between this and fully uncompressed audio will be nearly discernible to all but the most discriminating audiophiles.

In order to output Dolby Digital you will need to use an optical or digital coaxial connection. The original Xbox, PS2, and most current gen consoles can output digital audio. Some retro consoles like the SNES can be modified with a digital output for a cleaner signal, but don’t expect your SNES to start outputting Dolby Digital, as the hardware is limited to stereo only.

DTS

This is a competing technology that is preferred by many audiophiles, since it is less compressed than Dolby’s offerings. DTS is actually a codec that was not supported by hardware manufacturers. However this has since changed and most receivers are capable of decoding DTS audio. The standard DTS codec supports 5.1 discrete channels of sound.

QSound

QSound is a sound processing algorithm that can give stereo sounds a “3d” effect. Think wide stereo. While it may seem more like a gimmick, QSound can actually sound quite good when implemented correctly. Many Capcom arcade games make use of this technology.

Lossless Audio

Most 7^th gen or later consoles support lossless 7.1 audio such as Dolby True HD or DTS-HD. The WiiU only supports LPCM, mostly due to Nintendo not wanting to pay licensing costs to Dolby/DTS.

Some current gen consoles also support Dolby Atmos, which is a spatial audio technology that is beyond the scope of this article.

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Audio Outputs

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It is also crucial to ensure that your console has the correct audio output, as many encoding technologies are only compatible with certain connections.

The most common ports that carry audio for video game consoles are:

RF

Many consoles produced in the 80s and 90s came stock with an RF modulator. The problem with RF is that it only supports mono sound and is subject to a lot of interference and background noise.

Just as in the realm of video, if you’re looking for quality sound RF should be avoided at all costs. If you have an older console like the Atari that only outputs RF your best bet is to get your console modified to output stereo.

RCA (Line Level)

The famous red and white RCA connectors found on most video game consoles from the 90’s onward carry stereo and only stereo audio. 2 Channel stereo audio is bog standard and hooking your console up to some decent speakers will produce pretty realistic sound.

Stereo RCA connectors can also be used to output matrixed stereo sound in the form of Dolby Pro Logic, a common simulated surround scheme that many older Nintendo consoles support.

Some consoles also have a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is basically the same thing as RCA except the audio comes through a TRRS connector. It’s not uncommon for a console to emit a much higher quality stereo sound through their headphone port, so don’t be afraid to try different outputs if you have the requisite adapters/cables.

Optical & Digital Coaxial

SPDIF/Toslink are neat looking light based cables designed by Toshiba/Sony/Philips for transmission of 5.1 surround sound. The idea behind optical cabling is that it isn’t prone to background interference since it is light based.

Digital coaxial is basically the same thing but carried over an RCA wire. These 2 cables can carry full 5.1 surround sound. The original Xbox and PlayStation 2 both support optical connections.

Some older consoles like the SNES can be modified to output digital audio. This is ideal, because analog audio will always be prone to interference. This is especially true if you’re using a scart cable, since sometimes the video lines can cause interference to the audio output as everything is so close together inside the scart head.

HDMI

HDMI is a continually evolving standard and supports many newer 7.1 sound technologies in both lossy and lossless formats. Most newer consoles have ditched their analog inputs and only come with HDMI ports.

Receivers/Speakers

Obviously for surround sound you will need some sort of speaker/recover set up. A surround sound guide would probably be beyond the scope of this article, however here are a few pointers:

If you’re looking to do more than just stereo sound will probably want to purchase a good quality AV receiver. At the very least, be sure to opt for a receiver that at least has ProLogic II (Pro logic II is backwards compatible with the original PL) decoding.

Also, as is the trend with TVs and newer videogame consoles, many new receivers no longer have analog inputs and are instead fully digital. For this article I used a number of different receivers and sound setups for testing but my go to choice for receivers has always been the Marantz Slim line series, just because I like the smaller profile.

It is interesting to see folks in the retro gaming community spend all of this time, money, and effort searching for an amazing display and then finally happen upon that display, bring it home, and hook it up along with some $5 PC speakers. If you care about great sound, do yourself a favor and get some decent powered speakers and a receiver.

If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, I recommend the MICCA MB42X, which are great speakers for the price and have 4 1/2 star reviews on amazon.

*A word of caution: active speakers emit EMI that will cause interference and distortion on many CRT displays. Shielded speakers do exist, but it is much simpler to build your own shielding or place your speakers further apart so as not to interfere with your CRT gaming.

If you already have the proper equipment and are ready for some retro surround, read on to find my list and some test results.

Console Audio And Game Lists

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Below you will find a table with some of the more popular consoles as well as a list of games that are surround sound compatible. Keep in mind that I did not have the chance to test each and every one of these titles so you may want to do your own research.

This is a landmark JRPG that kicked off Namcos Tales franchise.  This game already has pretty decent sound, but the music sounds especially (for an SNES game) amazing in Dolby pro logic mode. There are rumors that the soundtrack was written specifically for surround, and to me this seems to be true since I can clearly hear separated sounds in different speakers during gameplay.

Rouge Squadron (N64)

This is a classic space simulation game from one of the most popular sci-fi franchises of all time. In this game you take control of Luke Skywalker and Pilot various ships from the Star Wars universe.

Surprisingly, this game has full Dolby Digital support. This is likely due to the fact that it was made by Lucas arts, a company with close ties to the movie industry.

Since the game is all about space combat and is fully 3-D, having a proper sound set up allows for a very immersive experience and it really helps with gameplay too since you can pinpoint enemies’ locations.

​Parasite Eve (PS1)

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Parasite eve is a unique game that Squaresoft (now Square-Enix) produced in an era when they were less risk adverse. It seems to support Dolby surround, and has a Dolby surround seal on the back of its Japanese cover. This seal is strangely absent from the US version, most likely due to licensing issues. The surround sound in this game is so-so since it is rather ambient game and a text based RPG to boot.

However it does have great Dolby Surround in its cinematic cut scenes, which was a common practice in most of Squares earlier RPGS. Square outsourced a lot of their cinematic work for this title to companies that worked on Hollywood movies, so that may explain why these cinematics support a more robust sound setup.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2)

Vice city is an 80s style GTA game that actually has built-in DTS 5.1 audio, due to a tie in promotion between Rockstar games and DTS.

The enhanced sound helps to make you feel like you’re surrounded by the city environment. Doing the whole auto theft and running from the cops thing certainly feels very movie-esque with full 5.1 sound effects going on around you.

Super Darius (PC Engine CD 2)

Darius is a popular shoot-em up series on the PC engine. This is a side scrolling 2-D space in game that is right at home on NEC’s classic console.

Since this is a CD-based port of an arcade game, the creators saw fit to enhance the audio and include a full Dolby surround mix. The audio is very well separated and certainly sounds great, but since this is 2-D game it’s more of an odd curiosity rather than something that adds to the experience.

Resident Evil 4 (GC)

Shinji Mikamis last project with Capcom is arguably one of the greatest games of all time and is easily the pinnacle of the Resident Evil series.

The full 5.1 Dolby Pro logic II simulated surround sound is impressive. Hand grenades and gunshots echo realistically around you as you traverse the games depressing and droll environments. The occasional sound of exploding heads and the dialogue of the villagers all play out of the proper channels and really make the game come alive.

In Closing..

Playing your old games in surround sound can be an entirely different experience if you have even a modest setup.

Do keep in mind however, that surround sound information is not well documented even on newer games, so if you curious about a certain game the only way to know for sure is to do your own testing.