OPINIONS ONLY! SNES audio vs GBA audio, which do you think sounds better?

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Comparing the SNES to GBA, some games exist on both systems, ported games from SNES to GBA like Super mario Series, Donkey Kong Country, Breath of fire one & two, street fighter and perhaps a few others i didn't list. I always some how thought of GBA as a portable snes for the very reason. This may not be easy to discuss cause Is probably a very uncommon discussion due to lack of interest but, what do you think?

Only catch is comparing games that have been on both systems, and it must be at least identical in soundtrack, so Since donkey kong country 3 have different compositions won't count here. You should least have played both versions of the game.

 

[the_randomizer]

GBA to me, sounds too weak, lacks proper bass and just sounds tinny with GBA to Snes ports.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

GBA to me, sounds too weak, lacks proper bass and just sounds tinny with GBA to Snes ports.

Don't you mean SNES to GBA ports? Cause snes was first.

But I suppose i mean the object of this to me in my opinion is how SNES has stereo, and GBA has mono, except some games had options for stereo if you use headphones like metroid zero mission.

Speaking of that i had a question about the GBA games on VC, since they do make them to play on systems with stereo sounds instead of mono, would it make sense to change the audio (for games that support the option like metroid zero mission) to the headphone setting for stereo, or should we just leave it on mono?

I dunno why this bugs me but i just thought it make sense in my head how logical it seems.

 

[raulpica]

SNES audio, the GBA was a bit on the weak side when compared to its bigger brother (or uncle?).

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

SNES audio, the GBA was a bit on the weak side when compared to its bigger brother (or uncle?).

Maybe just father? Goku and Gohan style.

I mean strictly comparing only the game ports excluding other games from both systems, Is not all bad sometimes, Final fantasy IV sounds okay. But street fighter 2 probably is awful. Donkey kong country has probably more instrumental composition to the GBA audio compared to the snes, i just guess perhaps is how they compose the audio and programmed the sound.

Is a shame though since GBA games were actually capiable of compressed audio files to some extent, since they do have video files in some games. Just with the 32MB limit and compression format at the time it went very unnoticed and not used until it got better with NDS and 3DS compression.

 

[tatumanu]

Definalty SNES sounds better comparing using a headset. GBA is just so tiny in comparison but still back when i first had a GBA i never thought that it sounded much worse ...

If you asked which is better a SNES or GBA i would have a headache ... they both are my favorite systems of all time!

 

[froggestspirit]

Going off of pure quality, the SNES was way better. It has more crisp and clear sounding audio, where as iirc, the GBA actually limited the quality with it's audio processors

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Definalty SNES sounds better comparing using a headset. GBA is just so tiny in comparison but still back when i first had a GBA i never thought that it sounded much worse ...

If you asked which is better a SNES or GBA i would have a headache ... they both are my favorite systems of all time!

Well i mean if we was comparing that, the SNES probably has better looking quality as we know all consoles have advantage over mobile. But the GBA game ports of snes games either fix problems the game had on SNES or add new content so i usually side with GBA adding that is also portable, but the small screen scaling is a very important role as it limits visability to things you need to adjust to.

Though i hope when people are comparing the sound between the two systems that they are only saying as opinion and not fact about the different specs.

 

[DiscostewSM]

If we're specifically talking SNES ports to GBA, then SNES most likely. However, excluding that the GBA uses 8-bit DACs, what it's capable of exceeds what the SNES could do, imo.

 

[tatumanu]

Well i mean if we was comparing that, the SNES probably has better looking quality as we know all consoles have advantage over mobile. But the GBA game ports of snes games either fix problems the game had on SNES or add new content so i usually side with GBA adding that is also portable, but the small screen scaling is a very important role as it limits visability to things you need to adjust to.

Though i hope when people are comparing the sound between the two systems that they are only saying as opinion and not fact about the different specs.

As far as sound goes the SNES sounds warmer to me but that does not mean i dont find the GBA's sound impressive , im not comparing specs at all, especially back in 2002 it blew my mind playing Link to the Past, Yoshi's Island etc on GBA. I could barely tell the diference in pixels and even sound considering the small speaker the OG GBA has.

But sure some people might like some GBA renditions of SNES games more than the original. That can be simply because of taste, nostalgia etc

 

[Daggot]

SNES hands down.

 

[Captain_N]

snes. the gba does not have its own sound dsp. it can lag this is heard while playing lufia - ruins of lore

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

So is everyone just saying GBA is a inferior snes console?

 

[Glyptofane]

So is everyone just saying GBA is a inferior snes console?

Basically, but GBA still rocks. Mmm, those Golden Sun soundtracks!

 

[hobbledehoy899]

The SNES' sample-based synthesis chip is inherently superior to the cluster-fuck that is the GBA's combination of dual 8-bit DACs and GB/C compatibility.

 

[CeeDee]

SNES, definitely. The GBA ports of SNES games sound like crap.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

SNES, definitely. The GBA ports of SNES games sound like crap.

Really? even the donkey kong country games?

 

[VinsCool]

Really? even the donkey kong country games?

All of them. Otherwise restauration patches wouldn't have been made.

 

[hobbledehoy899]

Really? even the donkey kong country games?

Even Sega Mega Drive ports sound bad.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

The SNES' sample-based synthesis chip is inherently superior to the cluster-fuck that is the GBA's combination of dual 8-bit DACs and GB/C compatibility.

I'm asking for opinions, not statistics or facts.