Saturn Sound Format

From Sega Retro

For the identically-abbreviated Sega Saturn emulator, see SSF.

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The Sega Saturn Sound Format (SSF) is a subformat of the Portable Sound Format (PSF), which allows users to store and reproduce audio from Sega Saturn games. Generally, SSF files contain the section of game code required to play the audio (which is then emulated), the sequence information (notes, timing, etc.) of the track, and any samples used in that track. For this reason, game audio stored in this format typically requires much less storage space than audio simply recorded to a streaming format such as WAV or MP3.

Players

The multi-platform game audio player Audio Overload supports the SSF format, and many others. Playback is generally very accurate, perhaps even indistinguishable from an original system.

kingshriek's SSF/DSF (the latter being Dreamcast Sound Format) page offers source code and a software development kit (SDK) for some of Audio Overload's file format engines including SSF; a plugin pack for Winamp, foobar2000 and KbMedia Player; and various scripts for dumping/ripping SSF files.

Rips

SSF format rips of the audio from various Saturn games—including popular ones like Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei and Saga, NiGHTS into Dreams and Christmas NiGHTS, and Radiant Silvergun—can be found at the following links:

Further information

Further information about the SSF format, and various scripts for dumping/ripping SSF files, can be found at kingshriek's SSF/DSF page.