Topic: About Symphony of the Night's soundtrack... (Request?)

[AxeLord]

Is there a complete, definitive version anywhere? I mean, a definitive version containing all Saturn tracks, all PS1 tracks (hidden bonus Dracula's Castle remix included), and any songs added in the PSP version (such as the I Am the Wind replacement)? If this doesn't exist, I'd love it if someone with the resources to do this made it happen. It'd be a pretty sweet resource for the community. ^.^

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Make sure you replace "Dracula's Castle" and "Wandering Ghosts" with the Saturn versions.  Probably "The Tragic Prince" too, but I can't confirm...

The Saturn versions have a tiny little extra bit just before the tune loops, something possible only with the Saturn's audio capabilities.  The PSX's XA Audio needed those bits cut in order to loop properly.

They're only tiny little difference, though.

But no, as far as I know, no one has compiled a definitive OST that combines all.  It'd be a neat project to do, however.

[Jeepy]

Here's the full SotN OST from my dusty VGM collection:

https://www.mediafire.com/?6tthl72wrh18g0z

Includes:

-Exclusive tracks from SS and PSP versions.
-Hidden Tracks.
-"Dracula's Castle", "Wandering Ghosts" and "Crystal Teardrops" have those extra bits from the Saturn version Jorge mentioned.
-"Blood Relations" / "Strange Bloodline" has an extra extention at 0:52 I made, 'cause I always felt like that part of the song was missing.

Enjoy!

[AxeLord]

Thank you! This is brilliant.

[Abnormal Freak]

-Exclusive tracks from SS and PSP versions.
-Hidden Tracks.
-"Dracula's Castle", "Wandering Ghosts" and "Crystal Teardrops" have those extra bits from the Saturn version Jorge mentioned.
-"Blood Relations" / "Strange Bloodline" has an extra extention at 0:52 I made, 'cause I always felt like that part of the song was missing.

Any possibility of getting these in 192kbps or higher? Kinda curious where the title "Alucard's Vengeance" comes from or if it's just a fan title. I've always just had it labeled "Dracula's Castle (Remix)", with both the English- and Japanese-voiced warnings/introductions.

Is that version of "Master Librarian" from the Saturn version? The PSX version is on the Akumajou Dracula Best Music Collections Box.

[Jeepy]

Any possibility of getting these in 192kbps or higher?

Iirc, I got the OST from Castle of Dracula; you can grab individual tracks in 192kbps from there.

Kinda curious where the title "Alucard's Vengeance" comes from or if it's just a fan title. I've always just had it labeled "Dracula's Castle (Remix)", with both the English- and Japanese-voiced warnings/introductions.

Sorry, I don't remember.

Is that version of "Master Librarian" from the Saturn version? The PSX version is on the Akumajou Dracula Best Music Collections Box.

Yes, I think it's the Saturn version of "Master Librarian".

[AxeLord]

Found some higher quality versions of the Saturn tracks on Mr. P's Castlevania Realm. I've also added some tracks that were missing from Necklace of J's compilation, such as the Japanese version of Nocturne. Fiddled with the titles of some songs, added trivial stuff like the year and genre. 51 tracks in total. As far as I know, this is as definitive as it's going to get. Even though it's a LoI song, I've added Admiration of a Clan because it was featured in the 360 port of SotN.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

It might be possible for me to grab the Saturn ones right out of my disc, but no promises.
That way they'd be the highest quality ones.

[AxeLord]

It might be possible for me to grab the Saturn ones right out of my disc, but no promises.

That'd be FANTASTIC. I've just gotta find a way to upload these files without losing the details.

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Okay, here's some information I was able to learn:

Yes, the Saturn version of the tracks is superior.  I used "Dracula's Castle" as an example:

PLAYSTATION RIP DATA:

Duration : 1:44.480 (3 949 344 samples)
Sample rate : 37800 Hz
Channels : 2
Bits per sample : 16
Bitrate : 1209600 kbps
Encoding : lossless

SEGA SATURN RIP DATA:

Duration : 1:46.069 (4 677 632 samples)
Sample rate : 44100 Hz
Channels : 2
Bits per sample : 16
Bitrate : 352 kbps
Codec : DVI-ADPCM
Encoding : lossy
OKI_LOOP_LENGTH: 3682304

Some values cannot be compared, like BitRate, since the XA Audio Format is handled differently than the ADPCM format.  PSX always has a crazy sample rate, as opposed to the better Sega Saturn rate.

When the formats get converted to WAV, however, you can see which one is better:

PSX
Bit Rate: 1209kbps
Sample size: 16bit
Channels: 2
Audio Sample Rate: 37kHz
Audio Format: PCM

Saturn:
Bit Rate: 1411kbps
Audio sample size: 16bit
Channels: 2
Audio sample rate: 44kHz
Audio format: PCM


On top of this, some of the Playstation version's XA files required a close duplicate, just so that it can handle pseudo-seamless looping.
Take "Dracula's Castle", again.  If you played the PSX XA File, in order for it to loop into the main melody and not into the version that has the introduction (the little part when it starts, with the Wind howling and the guitar), KCET made a second file.

So the game always plays the with-intro XA, then loads the second non-intro XA right before the loop (Michiru Yamane purposely added a rest in the music for this in most of her SotN tunes).  From then on, the game just loops the non-intro XA, until you leave the area and come back.

The Sega Saturn version, however, is able to loop properly back into the same file, just at a loop point, saving space in the disc, and having the benefit of a more seamless loop.  When the SS versions have a slightly different second loop, they still use the same file, too.  They just have the file play for longer, including the loop, and loop to the appropriate location.