If we’re honest, there aren’t a whole lot of accessories coming out for the MSX computer line this holiday period. There is, however, a new sound expansion cartridge for the diehard fans out there, thanks to [Ricardo Suzuki].
It’s called the Misato MSX, and it’s a cartridge you can build yourself to give your computer a grander set of sound capabilities than it ever had before. At the heart of the cartridge lies the Yamaha YMF288, an OPN3 chip that offered three Software Sound Generator (SSG) channels, six FM channels, and six rhythm channels. Paired with a decent DAC chip, it provides deliciously rich synthesized sound very characteristic of that 1980s/1990s FM synthesis era. The cart can be used for play of a wide variety of OPN music, or creating your own compositions with the right software tools. Audio output can be had either from the stereo line out jack on the cart itself, or mixed down to mono and passed to the MSX’s internal mixer.
If you’ve got an MSX that is a little weedy in its sound capabilities, this cart could be just the thing you’re looking for. We’ve looked at some fun MSX machines before, too. If you’re cooking up your own upgrades for retro machines, don’t hesitate to let us know on the tipsline!
Always nice to see people create new hardware for old systems. But its use will likely be limited as nothing in the software library support it? Or is this a clone from some older hardware expansion?
The OPN3 in MISATO is a smaller version of the OPNA in the MAKOTO cartridge released about 2 years ago.
A customized version VGMPlay is provided in the repository, and hopefully these new cartridges will stimulate new MSX software targeting the OPN-series FM chips.
Probably only vgmplay to play existing music. I don’t know if there’s any software that supports it. Maybe it’s compatible with moonsound? In that case there should be some software to make and play music.
“If you’re cooking up your own upgrades for retro machines, don’t hesitate to let us know on the tipsline!” – sure thing! Here you go: https://hackaday.io/project/206813-lambdaspeak-4-aka-lambdaspeak-ai
How does this compare to the standard MSX or MSX2 sound setup?
Standard in every MSX1 machines was the GI AY-3-8910 PSG.
During the MSX2 cyle, Yamaha OPL-series FM music was introduced as add-ons, then the MSX2+ machines included the cheaper OPLL as factory standard.
Only a couple years ago the MAKOTO, and now the MISATO cartridges finally introduced the Yamaha OPN-series FM chips to MSX machies.
3 channel squarewave on both computers by the AY-3-8910 and derivatives. There are expansion carts or games with other synth chips like FM-PAC (YM2413), SCC (Konami custom sound chip) etc.
This YMF288 is more capable, more oscillators and effects etc, more channels and 16 bit DAC. ADPCM feature is missing though so no sample playback.