X68000

The Playstation SPU (Sound Processing Unit) was made by Sony and is used inside the Sony Playstation aswell as the Konami System 573 Arcade Hardware. The actual Soundchip is the CXD2922Q.

Top: Audio DRAM (IC310), Bottom Left: Soundchip (IC308), Bottom Right: Audio Amplifier (IC402)

Technical Specifications

• Channels: 24
• Channel 1-24: ADPCM Waveform Playback with a sample rate of up to 44.1 kHz
• Stereo: Yes
• Used to play sequenced and streamed Audio
• 512 KB Sample RAM
• Build-in support for Reverb and Echo

Used in

Videogame Consoles

• Sony Playstation (all models)
• Sony Playstation Sound Artist DTL-H700 (PSX Devkit for NuBus / Mac)
• Sony Playstation Sound Artist DTL-H800 (PSX Devkit for PCI / PC)

Arcade Systems

• Konami Bemani System 573 Digital
• Konami System 573
• Taito FX-1A
• Taito FX-1B

Final Fantasy 7 uses sequenced Audio from the Playstation's SPU

Music Creation (SDK)

• Developers commonly used the “Playstation Sound Artist” to create sequenced Audio.
• See also: PSX/PS2 VAB & VAG Files

Emulation / Ripping / File Formats

• Streamed Audio from the Sony Playstation (like CD-DA or XA) can be easily stored inside mp3/wav etc. files.
• PSX .SPU | .spu is an obsolete Format, that some emulators could log. This is no longer needed.
• PSX .PSF | PSF is a format for ripped and sequenced music from the Playstation. Soundbanks may be stored inside .psflib files, while the single songs would be inside .minipsf files then. PSF Files can be played via Highly Experimental, which is a Plugin available for Winamp 2/3/5, XMMS and Foobar.
• Arcade | The Arcade Games are emulated in MAME, but arent added to M1 yet. M1 is a music player which is based on MAME and thus supports a lot of Arcade Games. More about M1 can be found here.