OST or OSV?
 

I don't know if you guys noticed, but sometimes, the music in the game (OSV: original sound version) is different from the soudntrack (OST). It first struck me with chrono trigger. Tracks like the brink of time and delightful spekkio (i can't make small excerpts, sorry) sound more... electronic on the OST (and the PSX version), whereas the SNES version's "harp" sounds more realistic with brink. It's also quite obvious with tales of eternia, where the "techno" music (efreet gorge, celestia boss battle) sound different.

So, OSV or OST?

OSV: Original Sound Version is usually just that: Comes directly from the game sound and uses the game instruments.

OST: Original Soundtrack usually can range from select tunes from the game to minor touch ups in notes to make it sound cleaner and less synthetic to all the gamesound tunes just simply crammed on a CD.

Personally for me, its a mix. I like OSV stuff, but if the OST has a better quality and equal amount of tracks, then I'll usually go for that. It just depends really.

OSV and OST actually mean the same thing: It's the original soundtrack from a game - no technical difference whatsoever. I don't even recall that there were different soundtrack names for the same game, though. Might have just been a reprint or something. Besides, I think Square was the only company using the term "Original Sound Version" for some of their older game soundtracks.

Dubble here is confusing original soundtracks and game rips, I presume ...

I probably am. At least, thats how I remember it being told me when I asked ages ago. So I probably am wrong. :P

**stamps a giant red "F" on forehead**

The truth is there's no truth.

OST, OSV SoundTrack, Sound Track, Sound Trax, Music From ... Game albums have been called many things and a global coherencey could never be observed. I guess they just pick what sounds best. As long as it's music from the game, uh?

It's actually quite annoying, 'cause you can end up purchasing some crappy enhanced version when all you wanted were the damn songs you heard while playing the game.

And yeah. I always prefer pure, unaltered game music recordings.

Then the best thing for you would be emulated music, since most commercial video game soundtracks are altered in some way or form from the original source. This only applies to classic consoles, though, since most modern games have synthesized or even orchestrated music.

I wonder if anyone can confirm that there have in fact been both "OSV" and "OST"-titled Square soundtracks. Final Fantasy VI comes to mind, especially since I own the "Original Sound Version" copy. I hear some of their soundtracks have been re-released labelled "OST" because of the merger with Enix.

Me too.

There isn't much else to say. OST and OSV are the same thing with a different name. "Original" is the key word.

Square used the "OSV" title for the majority of their pre-PSX original soundtrack releases. This includes FF3-6 and CT for example. From the PSX and on they've used strictly "OST" though. And as far as reprints of Square soundtracks go, they always have identical naming.

Stuff like "OSV", "Music from..." and "All Sounds of..." were used pretty commonly back in the NES and SNES days, but these days prety much all you'll ever see is "OST". I wonder if it's the game company or the publisher who decide these things...

That's what I get everytime it's possible.

(Possible as in: available, faithful, functionable)

This is pretty interestig question, and also makes me wondering why they give different labelling toward game albums. The term of OSV usually, as Niki said, contains unaltered music from the game, while OST might contains some arranged tracks (like the case of Mother OST).

The reason these are different is because the OST contains the arranged versions of tracks used in the cutscenes of the PSX remake of Chrono Trigger in Final Fantasy Chronicles.

Actually, they appeared to be referring to the regular in-game tracks selected for the OST, which sound a bit different as well.
That has nothing to do with any technical differences between an "OSV" and an "OST", just the fact that the OST contains music from the PSX version, and the original sound couldn't be reproduced exactly in the port.

Or maybe because the music in PSX version using different sound driver with better quality? Muzza said the Chrono Trigger in PSX is bit different compared with the SNES version. But I'm not really sure either, because I think the chrono trigger is PSX is emulated, so basically there are not much differences.

The PSX version is emulated. Badly. SFC version is by far superior. Same thing for the FF conversions.

Indeed, almost all Play Station portings from SNES as far as I know have lesser sound ( CT, FFV, FFVI, Tales of Phantasia, Tactics Ogre and anymore?). FFVI for PS1 would be the exception, but I guess it was streamed. PS1 has 8 times more memory space, 3 times more channels and higher sampling rate than SNES, but it never means PS1 can sequence SNES music better.

Strictly speaking, CT and other games's music for PS1 were not emulated but sequenced by PS1 synth. If PS1 could emulate or stream SNES music, we would have heard the very same music as SNES. However, PS1 didn't have enough power to even render 2D visuals with fast reading time. So, they couldn't read individual instrumental data from CD-ROM, While SNES could read them from their ROM cartridge immediately.

Well, but, I'm not a game developer. Don't believe me.:D