Ripping stems with vgmstream? by SecretAgent2001 at 8:32 AM EDT on June 9, 2017
Is there any way that single channels can be ripped in vgmstream, and not just the song with all the stems + instruments combined? Or are the files just simply different compiled formats like wavs, where there aren't any sequenced instruments? The file I'm trying to do this in is Super Smash Bros Melee's .hps file (I also want to try this with other game's sound file formats too).
The formats vgmstream supports are all prerendered just like wav.
That said, some games still have music split into many channels with different parts that are mixed at runtime. Unfortunately Melee is not one of these.
Some different foobar plugins can do this. Game Emu Player is a great example since it supports tons of different formats and lets you enable and disable specific channels as you please. But as hcs said, every single filetype that vgmstream can play is completely streamed, or, at least for the purposes of separating audio, the same as any .wav, etc.
I didn't know you weren't using foobar in the first place. I was talking about the vgmstream plugin for foobar, since that's the easiest way to get things done. Both of the plugins I mentioned are on the components section of the foobar site.
Yes, I've always used vgmstream (the one with the test executable) for my sound ripping. I've never heard of foobar until you mentioned it, so I'm quite new to it. I've installed both components like you said (Game Emu Player and vgmstream). So, how can I actually separate the stems or disable the channels with foobar? Is there a specific option I should select to view the separate channels?
There is no way to disable individual stems in vgmstream. Nor is there a way to properly mix them, since they'll all just play to different channels in the player. A file which is 3 separate versions of a song may actually end up decoding as a 6 channel file, with the 3 stereo streams going to all the wrong channels.