Author: Peter Swimm

B00DaW reports:

Loopy has yet again created a monster.  Located here, people are now able to utilize Namco’s N106 8 additional freeform wave channels.  N106 is indeed the holy grail of any and all expansions for the Famicom — now available for the Nintendo hardware!

To explain why N106 is such a holy grail, we all know you Gameboy kiddies like to use your wave channel, right?  N106 is EIGHT of them.  So, suck it.  (This means sampling and synthesis of any wave one desires.)

Unfortunately, the only way to interface them at the moment would be to use PPMCK.  It’s not all that much of a limitation since you can use FamiTracker to create your envelopes and browse Japanese sites and old 2ch logs to find many open anon-posted .mml files which show you how to create N106 waveforms — not to mention FDS FM waveforms as well.

And to further put a nail in the coffin to support that “Daddy knows best” over his little boy (Gameboy), the audio out register $4011 is also known to be able to modulate 4 additional software mixed 7-bit PCM wave channels without any expansion — cited here.  Fortunately and unfortunately, the NSF file format would need to be updated to allow for modulated and synthesized PCM output to play this type of audio.  An example of this can be found by listening to Skate or Die 2’s intro screen on hardware versus a ripped NSF in its current format — but was hacked a while ago to include it too.  The format has already been drawn-up and brought under criticism.  It should work, but since there is no interface for this technology, nobody has made the format.  So, that innovation is between a rock and a hard place currently.  One last note…  Even though one could use 4 additional 7-bit PCM channels, obviously it doesn’t come without a price.  It uses a lot of resources, to put it lightly.  This means if you wanted to create visuals or something else, it may not work with 4 channels, but maybe 1 or 2 additional only.  As for NSF or pure sound, the sky just may be the limit. \o/

In summary, this makes the 8-bit Nintendo capable of 16 channels of audio — depending on the coding of the engine and tracking of the composer.

+2 Pulse
+1 Triangle
+1 Noise
-1 DPCM as sacrifice for 7-bit PCM
+4 7-bit PCM
+8 N106 freeform wave — documented here.
= 16 channels of 8-bit domination!

…BOW DOWN, FOOLS!

Hyperbole aside, this makes the powerpak a must buy.. oh man we can!