Any way to convert MP3 to .bin?

Discussion in 'Discussion & Q&A' started by DarkexMW, Apr 18, 2021.

  1. DarkexMW

    DarkexMW werhog Member

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    Hi here DarkexSS again, in this thread I come to ask, is there a way to convert smps in mp3 to .bin? I have had several mp3s and I have not been able to do anything other than use them in sonic mania, I have not been able to use them in my rom hack (with the permission of the creators of course) is there a converter? Thank you for reading
     
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  2. Kurk

    Kurk Oh Yeah Member

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    No. The Sonic games use a format called SMPS. You can not convert .mp3 files to SMPS. If you want custom music, I recommend using a program called mid2smps to convert midis to SMPS format.
     
  3. DarkexMW

    DarkexMW werhog Member

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    i know the basics of smps but i dont have idea what i dont can convert mp3 to bin, ttecnically its possible converting the smps to midi and using mid2smps but the result sometimes are sh1t,
    thx for the answer
     
  4. ProjectFM

    ProjectFM Optimistic and self-dependent Member

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    I think you need to get a better understanding of what these sound formats mean. MP3 (or any average audio format) is pure audio data. The data directly corresponds to the sound wave that is played through your speakers/headphones. The thing about this type of data is that it takes an incredibly large amount of space if you want to use more than a couple seconds for a sample, which is why sound drivers and sound chips are there in the first place. A sound driver, such as SMPS, reads data that tells the sound chip to play an instrument of certain specifications and the perimeters such as volume and pitch. If you want your hack to play music that doesn't take up much space while sounding high quality, you have to put your music in the SMPS format. Converting MP3 to SMPS is impossible because MP3s don't contain pitch and instrument data, they just have the data from the resulting waveform and any programs which convert an MP3 to something closer to SMPS like MIDI will result in what sounds like piano mashing which is often used in meme videos because it sounds so bad.

    If you want to convert any song to SMPS, you'll have to either find or make a MIDI, which is similar to SMPS in that it contains note data. Then you can use Mid2SMPS to convert it SMPS. A tutorial on how you can do that while working within the Genesis' limits can be found here. Keep in mind just converting a MIDI to SMPS is an art form in itself in which you have to make choices such as how to arrange the MIDI within the 9 channels offered by the Genesis, deciding which channels use FM synth patches and which use PSG square waves, and which FM instruments sound best in which places. It may not sound right on your first try, but it's a skill you can work on and eventually achieve fantastic results.

    If you're not planning on getting too into the process of creating Genesis-capable music from MIDIs, you can also port music from other Genesis games. Lucky for you, Clownacy has just released some incredibly detailed videos that should help you do exactly that. While this series focuses on porting between the Genesis Sonic games, any game that uses the SMPS sound driver can have its music ported over. You can find out about those games with ValleyBell's SMPS Research Pack, which also includes almost every SMPS file in almost every game with the sound driver already extracted. Keep in mind that sound drivers vary a little bit, so you'll have to get acquainted with the differences so that you can solve errors that pop up. Finally, you can port any song from any Genesis game just with the vgm music file. VGM files hold note and instrument data like SMPS's, except they are more reflective of the output of the sound driver rather than the input, so porting it to SMPS is pretty messy. Ivan YO's vgm2smps program does that, but the results are fairly large SMPS files which are sometimes broken. You can get better results by using vgm2mid, cleaning up the resulting MIDI file, and using mid2smps, but that requires a bit of time and skill.
     
  5. Deactivated Account

    Deactivated Account Well-Known Member Exiled

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    Hmm no, only you can convert MP3 to raw, but I guess will not work, use MID2SMPS to make music.
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2021
  6. DarkexMW

    DarkexMW werhog Member

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    I already convert the mp3 to raw for Sonic Voice,and i try convert mp3 to midi but the mid sounds bad.
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2021
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  7. JerTH

    JerTH Newcomer Trialist

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    You sadly cannot convert MP3 to SMPS. Besides, the sound clip would take up a lot of cartridge space!
     
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  8. SomeUser214

    SomeUser214 Newcomer Trialist

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    If I remember correctly, You can convert the MP3 to PCM (like how you would do for sega sound PCM) and make a SMPS file that plays that PCM you just made/converted. An example of this is in Jester's Challenge.
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2021
  9. DeltaWooloo

    DeltaWooloo The noob next door Member

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    creeps out from the shadows

    Haven't you listened to what ProjectFM said? Converting an MP3 to MIDI would cause that to happen due to MIDI containing contain protocol data, and converting it from a .mp3 would synthesise the song rather than "converting" it. MIDIs define how music hardware can communicate with each other. MP3s are audio data that contain, well... audio data, which are a combination of digital values which make up a waveform of a sound system. As you know, the raw data is PCM (pulse code modulation). They both are two different sound types with various features hence why converting it would sound bad, but I won't go into full detail about it.

    If I was you, use MegaPCM as that has compatibility with PCM, precisely the 8-bit wave format (no, it wouldn't sound like something straight out of your favourite 80s console =V), so what you can do is convert your .mp3 file to a .wav file via Audacity, set it to mono and the quality to 27050hz and save it as an 8-bit .wav file. There is a tutorial as to how to install the driver and file here. However, it wouldn't sound great on real hardware, and that's due to DMA transfers, more info here. MegaPCM isn't the only DAC driver that plays PCM; there's Dual PCM, AMPS and MainMemory's Knuckles Emerald Hunt driver (if you're hacking Sonic 2). There is also mid2smps. If you want to convert MIDIs to SMPS, you need to find the instruments and loop the MIDI.

    Other than that, the answer is no. You cannot convert MP3 files to .bin. I hope you got a bit of understanding as to why it is hard to convert from mp3 (to MIDI) to SMPS.

    into the shadows I go~
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2021
  10. Joshwoakes

    Joshwoakes Active Sonic Hacker Member

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    While converting MP3s to PCM is possible and you can use PCM for music not just for sound effects but it's not really recommended in my opinion. After working on Sonic Visual Maze and including PCM music, I found it's not that easy to find MP3 music that is perfectly loopable and can still sound good when compressed unless you make your own. Plus it takes up alot of space.

    But yeah like what everyone else has been saying. you can not go from MP3 to MIDI to SMPS. That's not how it works.
     
  11. Deactivated Account

    Deactivated Account Well-Known Member Exiled

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    I already "converted MP3 to Raw for Sonic 1 Voice (Sega PCM)", also "I tried to convert MP3 to MIDI, but the MIDI sounds bad".
    Be sure to pronounce right the sentences, grammar exists for something, when you mean yourself, write with the capital letter the "I", and yes my friend, try to use those tools and listen to the suggestions :).
     
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  12. DarkexMW

    DarkexMW werhog Member

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    Google Translate and the grammar not is a very good mix...
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2021
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  13. DarkexMW

    DarkexMW werhog Member

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    I am modifying sonic 1, and yes, I use MegaPCM, at least for the voice of the blue hedgehog I was able to convert the mp3 files to raw files
     
  14. Deactivated Account

    Deactivated Account Well-Known Member Exiled

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    Is practice, you will improve with the time, and please don't double post, is not allowed, if you want to reply, do in the same post.
     
  15. TheInvisibleSun

    TheInvisibleSun Visible Member

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    One option that hasn't been mentioned, is to re-create the midi by ear in a capable program (like FL Studio). Sounds crazy, but you'll gain a great amount of flexibility and knowledge of how all of this works in the process. You might also find room for creativity as interesting deviations and/or liberties with the song may come up along the way.
     
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  16. StephenUK

    StephenUK Working on a Quackshot disassembly Member

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    Just a side note, but please don't resort to backseat moderating. Anyway, back to it.
     
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