/vr/ - Retro Games

>>2474868
Doom's music isn't pre-recorded.

They're MIDI files. Think of them like files electronic sheet music, just containing notes, drums, the instruments instructed to play, etc.

The actual sound is produced when MIDIs are passed through a synthesizer. Windows comes with one, based on the instruments sounds from the Roland Sound Canvas (SC-55) synthesizer. Apple has a similar sound set with QuickTime.

However, these particular software synthesizers don't sound very good, even in comparison to their original hardware counterparts.

If you just want to have decent MIDI sound in games, there are other software synths you can get.

On Windows? Install BASSMIDI System Synth(https://kode54.net/bassmididrv/bassmididrv.exe)) and a decent SoundFont. SoundFonts are collections of recorded instruments for use by synthesizers, packed in ".SF2" files. Here is a decent free one that isn't terribly large in file size: http://www.schristiancollins.com/soundfonts/GeneralUser_GS_1.44-SoftSynth.zip

Use the Configure Driver program after installing BASSMIDI. Point it to the extracted .sf2 file. Apply.
Other tab in that program, change the default system synth from "Microsoft GS Wavetable" to BASSMIDI Driver. Apply.

Enjoy MIDIs that don't sound like shit.

tl;dr voice aahs in MIDIs sound different dependent on the sample the synth uses.

actual answer to your question: Deja Vu.