Why did ATARI use such a weak Soundchip?

[Lord-Chaos]

in the ST?

 

I mean they could have used a POKEY which is better and couldn´t have been much more expensive , they used POKEYs in many ATARI arcade games.

I know that the ST wasn´t designed as a games machine, so something like the AMIGA´s PAULA would have made it more expensive, but a POKEY shouldn´t have been more expensive.

 

Because in many games, the ST sound is extremely weak.Compare International Karate ST vs ATARI 800 vs C64.

 

Later games often used digisounds and mod-players for better music.

 

You know, most games look exactly the same on AMIGA and ATARI ST - but compare the music of IK+ on both systems, it really sucks on the ST (but the F/X are digis on both systems).

 

Thimo

[Inky]

in the ST?

 

I mean they could have used a POKEY which is better and couldn´t have been much more expensive , they used POKEYs in many ATARI arcade games.

I know that the ST wasn´t designed as a games machine, so something like the AMIGA´s PAULA would have made it more expensive, but a POKEY shouldn´t have been more expensive.

 

Because in many games, the ST sound is extremely weak.Compare International Karate ST vs ATARI 800 vs C64.

 

Later games often used digisounds and mod-players for better music.

 

You know, most games look exactly the same on AMIGA and ATARI ST - but compare the music of IK+ on both systems, it really sucks on the ST (but the F/X are digis on both systems).

 

Thimo

 

I love my ST, but darn if the music coming out of the thing doesn't sound like a Chinese Restaurant!

[herr professor]

I suspect it was because the chip could be used for both sounds and as a controler chip... doesnt it also control the floppy or mouse or something?

[+Sauron]

The YM sound chip really isn't all that bad, and in many ways is more powerful than the POKEY. What helped, too, is that it had a 8Mhz 68000 to help with processing, so that may be a big reason why so much more was done with it. Still, it would have been nice if Atari had originally seen that digital sound was the way of the future and had included sound capabilities on par with the Amiga at that time. Atari did rectify the situation with the STE and beyond, but by then it was too little too late. Not enough game software was released that took advantage of the advanced hardware to make any difference.

[AEX]

Hi guys,

 

We uncovered some RBP (ST Codename "Rock Bottom Price!) Internal documents, and the ST was initially going to have the AMY chip, which was a revolutionary upgrade to the Pokey chip (seen in a few demo 65XEM's), but unfortunately it didn't happen and the ST was being built for the 1985 January CES, so the 6 month deadline to complete the system just didn't give engineers enough time to implement it.

 

Anyway, as most of the original AMY engineers had now left Atari, they were having a difficult enough time trying to understand the new chip, and although it could have been possible in the long term, Atari simply didn't have the luxury of time - I'm sure a few more wish-list items didn't make the final cut on the original ST design spec, but it was an amazing feat to build the ST in the time alloted - and yet a very capable system was born to the world.

 

The YM-2149 was ready and available, used in many computers and arcade machines, and could be mass produced on demand for the new Atari with the addition that this chip also drove the Atari ST Parallel port (in conjunction with the Multi Function Peripheral (MFP) 68901).

 

But, in its defence - there are some great sounds produced when used right!

 

Check out this article: http://www.atari-explorer.com/articles-ST-music.html

 

Karl

[mos6507]

I suspect it was because the chip could be used for both sounds and as a controler chip... doesnt it also control the floppy or mouse or something?

 

So did the sound chip in the Amiga. So did POKEY before it (the name comes from POTs and KEYboards) That isn't any reason for the chip to have bad sound.

[AEX]

The ST was always (and still is) slated for the choice of sound chip used.

 

Apart from the long list of possible financial and logistical reasons for Atari to decide on the Yamaha 2149, it wasn't the worst chip in the world, and in 1985, it was still miles more advanced than anything the PC had at the time :wink:

 

But, in its defence, if you take a look around the web these days, some of the sound still being produced on the ST is amazing compared to the standard plinks and plonks some software companies produced for it - but overall the sound chip wasn't the most important aspect of the entire system. The ST had "everything" in one box, and the sound chip was one part of this.

 

Granted, and without debate, the Amiga audio system was fantastic, and although it took another 4 years for Atari to address the sound system in the ST with the STE model, the Atari was still a capable machine and had the added benefit of having MIDI built in - Nobody knows exactly if this was made part of the ST to combat the poor sound system selected for the ST initially (ie, use MIDI equipment to hook up superior sound systems etc), or was it a clever hardware design to add the feature for commercial reasons - eitherway, it helped Atari and not Commodore to be known as the "musicians choice" - kinda ironic don't you think

 

Karl

[[ProToS]]

hey Lord-Chaos try this one

 

TEQUE YM of the demo BrainDamage made by AGRESSION, one of the best ste demo

 

you can download the demo from here, 2 *.msa disks ( they run under steem nicely )