Is it this track/instrument? If so, the delay of the 19th note (@ 0:56/1:01.5) is intentional (it's coded to be the exact same time delay as the first note of that track). It also slightly lowers the volume of itself and the next note (which then gets reset to its original value).
by dachschaden at 1:06 AM EST on December 27, 2021
That does sound like the instrument I'm referring to, yes. As I've said, I'm going off of the soundtrack to the game (in which the track is called "Darkness of the Unknown", a compilation of four different PSF2 tracks actually). The instrument itself appears after the switch from the first to the second track at 1:19 and remains throughout the entirety of the second track to 4:20; until this point it *never* goes away, especially not in 2:09 - 2:20 (the equivalent to zophar's version). I've located a snippet so that you can listen to it yourself.
Now, if you tell me that these PSF2 files are the accurate manifestations of what was written to both the KH2 and KH2FM discs, and somehow, by a freak accident, the soundtrack version is incongruent to these (either because both KH2 and KH2FM were faulty and they patched that for the soundtrack, or because KH2 and KH2FM are shipped as intended and it's the soundtrack version that's buggy), then I'll just have to accept that. But I'd like you to be sure about this - maybe there's another driver-related instrument mixup?
by dachschaden at 1:11 AM EST on December 27, 2021
<Wupps, didn't mean to double-post. Damn mouses with their damn fidgety go-back buttons.>
A recording directly from a console would be preferred (or even an emu I guess). OSTs are mastered and touched up at times, or even based on pre-console mixes, so I rarely consider them when ripping (first-party N64 OSTs are notable for this).
Anyways, it's not too hard to mod the sequence to throw in the extra notes required and get rid of the delayed one. I can almost guarantee you that this is not how it would play on console... but here it is. Just make sure to throw it in the same directory as "ffxdriver.psflib" (it would be in the same directory as the KH2 rip I uploaded/you've downloaded).
edited 2:44 AM EST December 27, 2021
by dachschaden at 1:35 PM EST on December 27, 2021
I've now gone and watched footage of: KH2 JP PS2, KH2 EN PS2, and KH2FM EN PS2 (couldn't find KH2FM JP PS2 footage, which is weird considering FM PS2 came out in Japan exclusively - but then again they put the English voice acting in that one, so maybe no one considers it special enough?). All versions feature the note dropping you described; to me this means the soundtrack version is the modified one. I'll leave it at that, and thank you for your support. Have a happy new year!