OK. This slightly irritates me…
Because your facts are COMPLETELY opposite, regarding the older formats. MOD, XM, IT, etc. all contain their own samples. As many samples as the composer wants. You are thinking of General Midi Wavetable. Speaking of outdated concerns, any computer running a fairly modern Windows would play the same GM Wavetable (Microsoft GM, provided by Roland I think), unless someone specifically installed a software synthesizer to play different SF2s.
The console I’m trying to emulate the audio of is the GBA. It used 8-bit compressed samples, 4-bit compressed samples, two squares (one without envelope), and a noise.
Technically, it’s 32-bit music. Which sounds perfect with the tracker format.
Not to mention, we already have many songs in this format.
I really hate songs which were made with softsynths/samplers that ‘sample well-known retro machines’. Perhaps most people think they are 1:1 accurate… But as for every game that passes for ‘retro’, I find that they all sound horribly off target. And extremely cheesy. As I said, I’m trying to get as close as possible.
I mean this, by creating my own samples, compressing them to the same quality of the GBA, and loading them into the tracker. As for the squares and noise, I can generate those with simple tone generators, and load the output as a sample, as well. Not 100% perfect… But 98% is as close as I can get without resorting to the real hardware. And I broke my GBA’s audio-out adaptor when I was 8.
Also, I’m really, really sorry for being harsh. I got a little passionate…
To paraphrase my argument above more respectfully: I personally disagree with your opinion, and would like to continue pursuing my original idea. Thank you, however, for showing me another side of the argument.