X68000

The SCSP (Saturn Custom Sound Processor) was made by Yamaha and is used inside the Sega Saturn, where it is controlled by an Motorola 68EC000. It is also found inside the Sega ST-V and Sega Model 3 Arcade Boards and is connected to an Yamaha FH-1 DSP.

The Saturn Audio Chip

Technical Specifications

• Channels: 32
• Channels 1-32: PCM / ADPCM Waveform playback with a sample rate of up to 44.1 kHz.
• Channels 1-32: FM Synthesis, Channels can be hooked together to have more Operators. Inside Games, they usually used 4 Operators, which results in 8 Channels of FM Audio while a maximum of 32 FM Channels would be possible.
• Stereo: Yes
• Used to play FM, Sequenced and Streamed Audio
• Runs at 22.6 MHz
• 512 KB Sample RAM
• The FH-1 DSP provides 16 build-in effects: Reverb, Early Reflection, Delay, Pitch Shift, Chorus, Flanger, Symphonic, Surround, Voice Canceler, Auto Pan, Phaser, Distortion, Filter (HP, LP, BP), Dynamic Filter, Parametric EQ and Mixer.

Used in

Videogame Consoles

• Sega Saturn (all models)

Arcade Systems

• Sega ST-V
• Sega Model 2A / 2B / 2C
• Sega Model 3

Panzer Dragoon for the Sega Saturn

Special Applications

• Sega Model 3 | The Model 3 Hardware uses two SCSP’s at once, allowing a total of 64 (AD)PCM Channels or FM Channels. The FH-1 DSP is included 2 times aswell.

Emulation / Ripping

• Sega Saturn | Streamed Audio from the (like CD-DA) can be easily stored inside mp3/wav etc. files.
• Sega Saturn SSF | SSF is a format for ripped music from the Saturn, that was sequenced or made using FM. Soundbanks may be stored inside .ssflib files, while the single songs would be inside .minissf files then. SSF Files can be played via AOSSF, a plugin for Winamp, Foobar and KbMediaPlayer, or Audio Overload.
• Arcade | The Model 2 & 3 Games work fine in M1. 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. ST-V support has not been added to M1 yet, but there are SSF Rips around for ST-V Games aswell.

Music Creation

• Saturn Music School (サターンミュージックスクール)
  This commercial software runs on the Sega Saturn and allows you to make music with any standard Midi Controller, which you can connect to the Saturn using a special Midi Interface. There is also a Sequel to it, the Saturn Music School 2, and one for the Dreamcast.