Hi all, I am creating my first game to be marketed. My musician and I were wondering: Does anyone know how MP3 and MIDI compare? Is one superior in quality to the other? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Any links are also appreciated. Thanks very much, Brian.

Unless you use Direct Sound / Music / Show / Whatever:
- I wouldn''t use MP3, it has licencing issues.
- I would not use MIDI, the samples are too variable and often low quality.

If you do use DirectX, then those to should not be a problem (Use the software synth of Direct Music for MIDI).

On the other hand, if you don''t use DirectX, then your best bet is OGG instead of MP3, this is a free compression format, and better too. FMOD and a many others can decode it.

Instead of MIDI, use MOD (if you can find free samples or make them). This is like midi but you distribute the samples as well as the notes. ModPlug Tracker is free and will make MODs for you. FMOD will decode them as will heaps of other sound libarys. (MOD also has these types/extentions: S3M, XM, IT, MOD, and a few others)

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Or use directmusic segments in conjunction with DLS instrument sets for external instrument loading and better compression for samples over mod.

mp3 files are highly compressed sound files. MIDI files on the other hand don''t contain any sounds themself, they are simply files that contain the times that certain notes should be played among other information. I''m not expert... try this page for info on midi http://www.midi.com/questions/midi_basics.asp

quote: Original post by Matt Calabrese
Or use directmusic segments in conjunction with DLS instrument sets for external instrument loading and better compression for samples over mod.

Yeah, that''s the one. I''m not a DirectX man, so I havn''t touched that for a while. If using DirectX, go for that.

Do not meddle in the affairs of moderators, for they are subtle and quick to anger. ANDREW RUSSELL STUDIOS
Cool Links :: [ GD | TG | MS | NeHe | PA | SA | M&S | TA | LiT | H*R ]
Got Clue? :: [ Start Here! | Google | MSDN | GameDev.net Reference | OGL v D3D | File Formats | Go FAQ yourself ]

I appreciate the help everyone.

I am using DirectX. I was initially leaning toward MIDI; it''s best supported in DMusic, plus it''s the only format I know how to program at present. But I''m now interested in exploring MP3, MOD & OGG, as well as using DLS samples with MIDI in DMusic, so I may compare & determine which is right for me. I did some searching here (gamedev), on amazon.com & at bn.com - can''t find anything on MP3 or OGG coding, but found one book that seems to go into MOD (among several other formats).

Can anyone recommend a good technical book or two, or perhaps online resources, regarding programming any or all of these formats?

Thanks.

Ah, so I now notice, Andrew Russell, you have already answered my question with your File Format link.

Great site, thanks. Ogg Vorbis looks like a winner, hope I can go with this one. I found ClanLib (www.clanlib.org) too, apparently an open source & free DirectX-like package, which handles Vorbis - any experience with this one? FMOD looks awesome too, but I''ll probably have to pay $100 since I''m going to sell the game.

Thanks again. Tremendous help.