NES Sound Format

The NES sound format or Nintendo Sound Format ( NSF) is an audio format that instructions for the sound hardware of the Nintendo Entertainment System ( NES) containing. NSF files are similar to SID files of the Commodore. NSF files from ROM images of commercial Nintendo games are created and contain the entire soundtrack, sometimes even the sound effects. Composers and hobbyists but also use the NSF format to develop completely new chip tunes itself.

An NSF file is a modified ROM image in which the program code, data, and the graphics were removed and only the music engine and data are left over. The files can be played by using various plug-ins or players, including NES emulators. The original mechanisms of the NES console be used for sound generation. There are also programs such NSF2MIDI which are capable of producing MIDI files from NSF files.

NSFE

NSFE (Extended Nintendo Sound Format) is a NSF format that is used to establish title and timings for individual tracks. Likewise, the track order changed or certain tracks can be marked to be ignored by the player.