Recording music directly from NES to MP3. Please help.

peces · Post by **peces** » Thu May 31, 2012 12:41 pm

Hi, I'm new around here. I am really hoping someone can offer me some advice. I have been trying to record NES music directly from my NES, using the AV jacks, into Audacity. I know about NSFs, but I really want high-quality MP3s with unemulated sound. My problem is that the audio jack of my NES buzzes like crazy no matter what I do. I've tried moving it away from other power sources, disconnecting the video cable, running it through a MobilePre USB preamp & audio interface, using different power supplies, etc. Still can't get rid of the damn buzz. I've looked at a few other posts relating to the same issue, but I know nothing about building audio circuits or modifying my NES, so they were a bit too technical for me. I've also tried using the Audacity noise removal feature, which helps a little bit, but not enough. Any comments or help would be appreciated.

Post by **tepples** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:05 pm

Even if you use the yellow and red A/V jacks, some of the video signal still leaks into the audio. You can minimize this by making the video signal as weak as possible. Have your music player turn the screen off and set the background color to $0D while recording.

Code: Select all

  ; turn off rendering
  ldx #$00
  stx $2001

  ; set background color
  lda #$3F
  sta $2006
  stx $2006
  lda #$0D
  sta $2007

  ; exit palette-setting mode
  stx $2006
  stx $2006

Teppic · Post by **Teppic** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:29 pm

Is this only a problem with certain NES's? I've done some recordings from a PAL NES and haven't heard any noteworthy noises.

Here's one I made for the Guardian Legend.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL010632A42BF94E5E

Bregalad · Post by **Bregalad** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:30 pm

high-quality MP3s

I just LOLed at this oxymoron.

More seriously, the distortion caused by MP3 compression, even at 320kbps, will be way more significant than the errors due to the emulated nature of analog filters.

I also can confirm what tepples says, the video polluting the audio signal is a real problem, I always get some 50Hz buzz if I put the sound loud enough on my consoles and I hate this - therefore I always make the sound quiet.

l_oliveira · Post by **l_oliveira** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:42 pm

Some of the "video like" humming sound you get on the audio are actually digital noise from the system interrupt and you will never be able to completely get rid of it, sadly.

Teppic · Post by **Teppic** » Thu May 31, 2012 1:49 pm

Would using the RF cable for video and the yellow a/v cable for audio make any difference?

l_oliveira · Post by **l_oliveira** » Thu May 31, 2012 2:23 pm

not at all.

rainwarrior · Post by **rainwarrior** » Thu May 31, 2012 10:17 pm

Well, using the RCA outputs of your NES does tap the audio signal at an earlier point; it would cut the whole RF modulation and demodulation process out of the circuit. It may indeed remove some noise. (If the question was using RF instead of RCA for just the video out; no there won't be a difference to the audio from the RCA out.) However, most of the unpleasant noises are already there by the time you get there, so it probably won't help much.

Honestly, good NSF players are very good at emulating the NES sound without any of the noise or hum that comes with a real NES. I would recommend you take another look at that way of doing it; you will get better quality sound.

cak · Post by **cak** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 4:57 am

Seems like a different NES might be worth a try, or buying the original NES power adapter. I myself ran into very hideous sound by using a universal adapter...increasing the voltage from 9 to 12 improved the situation immensely, though I dunno if 12 is good for the NES' electronic chain.

If you're gonna go to the trouble of recording an NES, I would suggest FLAC as a compressed audio format. Mp3 is fine only if you know what you're doing (i.e., the latest version of LAME is not the best version) and intend on keeping the original wav. Also, soundcard quality and recording level are immensely important...try to record at 24-bit if your system allows it.

Ratix · Post by **Ratix** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 7:18 am

cak wrote:Seems like a different NES might be worth a try, or buying the original NES power adapter. I myself ran into very hideous sound by using a universal adapter...increasing the voltage from 9 to 12 improved the situation immensely, though I dunno if 12 is good for the NES' electronic chain..

I had noticed this with the NES as well when it came to using the Powerpak. I switched it up and stopped using the retroplug for the NES and SNES and the humming stopped. I never had a problem with capturing music from the NES.

I would like to point out that the original nes power adapter is rated to output at AC9v 1.3A but on the nes itself the rating is AC9v 850mA.