X68000

The YM2203 was made by Yamaha and is found in lots of arcade games aswell as several japanese Homecomputers. It is also known as the OPN (FM Operator type – N).

It is also an enhanced version of the earlier YM2149 / AY-3-8910 Chips, to which it adds 3 FM Sound Channels. Otherwise the functionality is the same with even the software being compatible. It was later superseded by the YM2612 (OPN2).

The Name on the Chip is YM2203C.

Technical Specifications

• Channels: 6
• Channel 1-3: Squarewave & Noise synthesis
• Channels 4-6: FM Sound Synthesis with 4 Operators.
• Stereo: No
• DAC: External YM3014 DAC by Yamaha (8 Pins)
• Datasheet for the YM2203 is available here (PDF).

Used in

Homecomputers

• NEC PC-6001 – starting with the mk 2 SR Model
• NEC PC-6600 – starting with the SR Model
• NEC PC-8000 – starting with the mk 2 SR Model
• NEC PC-8800 – starting with the mk 2 SR Model
• NEC PC-98DO
• Fujitsu Micro 7 (FM-7) – starting with the 77AV Model
• Sharp MZ2500

Soundcards (for the NEC PC-98 Series)

• NEC PC-9801-26 (for PC-9801 with a 8086 CPU)
• NEC PC-9801-26K (for PC-98xx with a 80286 CPU)
• NEC PC-9801U-03 (for the PC-9801U Model)
• SNE Little Orchestra
• SNE Little Orchestra Fellow
• SNE Multimedia Orchestra
• SNE Sound Orchestra

Arcade Games

• 1943
• Blades of Steel
• Daikaiju no Gyakushu
• Darius
• Hang-On
• Space Harrier
• ..many many more

Special Applications (Arcade)

• Several Games use 2x YM2203. For example: Space Position (1986), Angel Kids (1988), Witch (1992) and many more..
• Ashita no Joe & Darius use it together with an OKI MSM5205 (ADPCM)
• Blades of Steel uses it together with an NEC uPD7759C (ADPCM)
• Daikaiju no Gyakushu uses it together with an AY-3-8910
• Hit the Ice uses it together with an OKI MSM6295 (ADPCM)
• Thundercade uses it together with an YM3812
• Witch uses it together with an ES8712 (ADPCM)

Special Applications (Soundcards)

• SNE Multimedia Orchestra | additionally had an YMF262 (OPL3) and a YMZ263

Variants

• YM2203C | The Name that is actually printed on the chip.
  

Emulation

• Arcade | The Music of the Arcade Games is emulated through 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
• Fujitsu Micro 7 | Emulated in Hoot
• NEC PC-8800 | Emulated in Hoot
• PC-9801-26K | Emulated in Hoot

Music Creation

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