Mega/sega cd music picodrive - mp3/ogg support?

RetroArch General
#1

Hey guys,

Can someone please confirm what format they are using for Sega CD games to play background music correctly using Picodrive in Retroarch(Android)? ISO+MP3/ISO+CUE+MP3/CSO+MP3??

I can definitely confirm bin+cue works but I really dont want to have to use a 500mb game when I know it can be 30-40mb…

I have found numerous forum posts that advise ISO+MP3 works if you make sure the mp3s are 44khz, 128kbps and all named correctly - I have done this, even tried using ISO to CSO convertor, nothing seems to work.

I know these ISOs work as it plays fine in Kega Fusion and Picodrive on my Pandora…

Any ideas?

Cheers fellas

#2

I for one use cue+bin. I find the cue/bin/mp3 solution cranky and cheesy: MP3 is a lossy compressed format wich totally ruins audio tracks. The sooner it disappears from the Mega CD emulation scene, the better. I don’t see how 500MB can be a problem nowadays, when you get perfect audio tracks in return vs broken mp3 scum.

#3

Saving up to 10x the storage space is more important to me.

Anyone successfully using iso+cue+mp3s?

#4

Maybe it has to be build with support for MP3 decoding. I remember it asking for lame.exe in some platform…

#5

Yeah, I know my iso+mp3s work in other emus so not sure what the issue is.

#6

Other emus? or standalone picodrive?

#7

I know these ISOs work as it plays fine in Kega Fusion and Picodrive on my Pandora…

I’ve had these ISOs for years and never had an issue…

#8

Wait what?? it’s an iso+mp3 without a cue sheet?

#9

Ah sorry, yeah, I mean with a cue :smiley:

I’ve tried ISO+CUE+MP3, CSO+CUE+MP3. They are named correctly (ie “GAMENAME (MK-4401)(U)(00).cue”, “GAMENAME (MK-4401)(U)(00) 02.MP3”) and are at 44Khz and 128Kbps…

BIOS are all added to correct location (they wouldnt work at all without these)

Can you think of anything I’ve not done?

#10

TBH I don’t know if the picodrive core supports MP3.

The thread Squarepusher was referencing to in the Implementations subforum is here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=235&start=626

Forum was migrated, all the threads are there

#11

Thanks for the link.

Hmm, Snes80 doesnt specify if the version he got working was CUE+ISO+MP3 or just a CUE+BIN

“Loaded a different version of the same game with a .cue file in picodrive and it started straight up. Problem fixed. Picodrive seems to need to load the .cue file for Mega CD games.”

Is anyone able to test CUE+ISO+Mp3 on their system using Picodrive?

Cheers

EDIT - So after more searching, it looks like the build doesnt include ogg/mp3. Squarepusher mentioned he may include ogg support though that was back in August.

I dont know whats involved to include ogg/mp3 support but given the payoffs for space saved for ISO+mp3 against bin+cue, would it not be worth it? Others have had this issue too so it would definitely be appreciated for us Mega CD lovers :slight_smile:

Would be great if someone has time to add mp3/ogg to a future build

#12

Compiling mp3 decoder in is possible, but that would cause maintenance problems for Squarepusher. The decoder library would also need to be compatible with MAME license, and most of them are not.

One other solution would be that RetroArch itself provide audio decoding services, but that idea was rejected: https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/issues/296

So in short it can be done if Squarepusher is willing to take a dependency on some decoder library.

#13

Ok from what I can remember I am sure it was a .bin/.cue of silpheed (u). The .iso/.mp3 version would only load in genesisplusgx I think I am not 100% sure it’s been a while.

#14

Why would it have to be compatible with the MAME license?

#15

Bummer! I guess thats the end of that then :slight_smile:

At least I know what the issue is now…

Thanks for the replies guys!