Super Audio Cart 2
The definitive collection of retro video game samples, spanning over 30 years of gaming history.
$199
The legendary 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit/64-bit eras of gaming in sample library form.
Exhaustively sampled from 19 distinctive consoles, handhelds, and sound chips.
The first library EVER to delve into platforms like the Nintendo 64, SampleCell II, and PlayStation.
Over 6,000 authentic sound sources, from simple waves to timeless acoustic PCM samples.
Customize, tweak, and transform sounds with a massively powerful synth engine.
Runs in the free Kontakt Player (VST, AU, AAX formats).
The ultimate compendium of video game musical history.
From the Atari 2600 (1977) to the Game Boy Advance (2001), Super Audio Cart 2 encompasses multiple generations of legendary audio hardware — even obscure chips such as the VRC6 (a Japan-only add-on to the Famicom), SampleCell II (a hardware-based sound card), and the MSX Home Computer.
Far beyond mere pulse waves, bleeps, and bloops — although it has plenty of those, too! — Super Audio Cart 2 includes virtually any instrument you can imagine, taken straight from the worlds of your favorite games and systems.
100% authentic and royalty-free.
Many of the included systems used PCM sample playback rather than pure synthesis. We did not ‘rip’ samples from existing games; we spent years painstakingly recreating thousands of classic sounds from scratch using our own sample catalog and careful editing. Where applicable, these sounds were then played back directly from the original hardware for maximum authenticity.
In other words, the sounds in Super Audio Cart 2 are as close as possible to the sounds you remember from your favorite retro games, without any need to worry about copyright infringement or royalties.
Our dream ROMpler comes to life.
Systems like the Nintendo 64 and original PlayStation could play full audio tracks, rather than individual samples. In this era, composers used gear like the Roland JV-1080 and SC-88, Korg M1, Akai S1000, E-mu Proteus, and many others, which were then colored by playback on the consoles themselves to create the distinctive (and now nostalgic) music of this generation.
We followed a similar process to ensure that Super Audio Cart 2 was equal parts authentic and usable. But rather than merely ‘ripping’ sounds from these hardware units, we took an insanely difficult (but much more versatile) path: we created our own virtual dream hardware with its own “Impact Factory Library” (IFL).
The IFL covers all General MIDI sounds and much more, just like the hardware that inspired it. We recorded and edited samples to match the style of a mid-90s sampler.. and then re-sampled them for the N64, PSX, SNES, and GBA, exactly as would have happened for video game music at the time — thus giving us the highest possible authenticity.
These are sounds you’ve never heard before. And yet they will seem immediately nostalgic if you’ve played games from that era or used classic MIDI hardware from the ’80s to the ’90s!
Created by game music fanatics.
Every developer who worked on Super Audio Cart 2 has a deep connection to video game soundtracks. Over the years, we have arranged video game music, studied it, owned an array of consoles and MIDI hardware, and written our own retro-inspired game soundtracks. We are obsessive perfectionists, especially about things we care about, and we care a lot about video game music.
Simply put, this is our ultimate passion project, a true labor of love. It’s everything great about the original Super Audio Cart and its later expansion Super Audio Cart PC, plus so much more.
Nintendo 64 (N64)
Classic mid-’90s Nintendo nostalgia. No dedicated sound chip or audio RAM, so developers were only limited by computing power and cartridge data storage. Most games hit the ‘sweet spot’ of 16-bit audio produced at 32kHz or 22.05kHz.
Audio Demo: Hew Wagner – “Adventure 64”
PlayStation (PSX)
CDs instead of cartridges meant multiple audio playback styles and capabilities. SAC2 emulates the PSX’s audio chip, which could be used for sequencing samples compressed as VAG – a more modern iteration of the ADPCM BRR algorithms used on the SNES.
Audio Demo: Kaedalus – “Nighttime Blur”
SampleCell II
A popular soundcard from the early ’90s. Not a true sampler, but functionally a ROMpler with user-editable soundbanks, able to replay up to 32 voices across 8 channels. SampleCell II’s Factory Library notably used in the soundtracks of Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time & more.
Audio: zircon – “Jack’s New Sound Card”
Game Boy Advance (GBA)
Early-’00s handheld with no dedicated sound chip, so samples varied from developer to developer and from game to game. Very electronically noisy, which combined with poor fidelity & tuning of most audio samples to create a distinctive sound. SAC2 balances usability and grunge to capture this aesthetic.
Audio: zircon – “Mirai the Heroine” (Tangledeep)
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
America’s favorite ’80s console. Ricoh 2A03 APU with 5 channels: 2 pulse channels. 1 triangle channel. 1 noise channel. 1 lo-fi DPCM channel. Pure nostalgia.
Audio: zircon – “Famidisco”
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
Arcade-inspired late-’80s console. Yamaha YM2612 FM synth and SN76489 PSG chip. 6 channels of stereo 4-op FM sound. 1 channel of 8-bit PCM sample playback. Noisy DAC.
Audio: zircon – “The Devil’s Mudflap” (Demon Truck)
Commodore 64
The MOS 6581 SID chip from a widely-used ’80s home computer with audio capabilities beyond even many dedicated synthesizers of the time. Three independent oscillators. Four waveforms. Volume envelopes, ring modulation, oscillator sync, and multi-mode filter.
Audio: Vae Song – “On the Verge”
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)
Enormously popular home console at the heart of the original Super Audio Cart. Up to 64KB of BRR samples across up to 8 channels. 16-bit/32kHz audio. Pleasantly lo-fi and super nostalgic.
Audio: Jeff Ball – “Climbing the Tower” (Tiny Barbarian DX)
Game Boy
The definitive handheld console of the 8-bit era. Two pulse oscillators. One 4-bit PCM sample channel. One noise generator. Enormously popular among modern chiptune musicians.
Audio: Traditional – “Korobeiniki” (arr. Andrew Aversa)
AdLib Music Synthesizer Card
Groundbreaking ’80s-’90s sound card from the early digital music scene. Uses FM synthesis to produce multitimbral instruments and sound effects via the Yamaha YM3812 sound chip.
Audio: Jake ‘virt’ Kaufman – ‘Strike the Earth!’ (Shovel Knight, arr. Andrew Aversa)
Amiga 500
The sound chip of a popular late-’80s gaming computer. 4 hardware-mixed PCM channels of 8-bit PCM audio, up to a sample rate of 26kHz.
Audio: Chris Huelsbeck – ‘The Desert Rocks’ (Turrican)
Sega Master System
An early home console, a competitor to the NES in the mid-80s. Sound chip is a clone of the TI SN76489. 3 square wave generators. 1 noise generator. 16 attenuation levels.
Audio: zircon – ‘Bit Bubbler’
Aegis Sonix
One of the very first software synths in the mid-’80s, a cutting-edge digital replication of a highly capable (at the time) hardware synth. Produced for the Commodore Amiga. One oscillator. One LFO. Pure style.
Audio: zircon – ‘The Castle at Midnight’
Atari ST / POKEY
Soundchip from the best (and final) line of Atari home computers, which were renowned for their MIDI capabilities and highly popular with electronic musicians at the time. Thick sound. Multiple forms of distortion.
Audio: zircon – ‘POKEing Around’
Tracker / Ultimate Soundtracker
Commodore Amiga tracker (a form of PC-based synthesizer) from the late ’80s. 4 pitch- and volume-modulated channels of 8-bit 8SVX PCM samples.
Audio: zircon – ‘Club Trackdown’
WinGroove
Mid-’90s PC application that enabled higher-quality playback of MIDI files via its own set of samples. (We worked with the creator to retrieve the source files and loop data to provide THE authentic sound set in Super Audio Cart 2!)
Audio: Noriyuki Iwadare, arr. Fredrik Häthén – ‘You Won’t Be Able to Kill Me Just Like That’
ASCII MSX
’80s home computer, popular in Japan and Europe. Square waves. Hi-fi 3-voice PSG with better pitch accuracy and resolution than most sound chips of the era. Could use additional FM sound chips via expansion cartridges (also included in SAC2!).
Audio: Jorito – ‘Block Invaders’
Famicom (VRC6, VRC7, Disk System)
Released in the early ’80s, Japan’s version of the NES had expanded sound capabilities compared to the NES. Some game cartridges used sound chips; VRC6 adds two additional pulse channels and a saw channel, and VRC7 features an FM synthesis chip based on the Yamaha YM2413.
Explore Super Audio Cart 2
Four layer power synth architecture
Independent settings for every layer, including arpeggiator and sequencer
Intelligent sound browser
Extensive performance configurations, including synth legato and portamento
Eight macro knobs and two XY pads
Four channel Console FX rack plus master channel, over 40 effects modules
MODRIX with unlimited sound design and performance design capabilities
What people are saying about Super Audio Cart 2
“Super Audio Cart is the perfect library to get those classic video game sounds, with all of the features to be able to modernize and create unique sounds that aren’t limited by classic hardware. Whether its for pixel art games, or making musical soundscapes reminiscent of arcades, this is my library of choice!”
Testimonial – Brennan Anderson (Marvel’s Avengers, Disney Emoji Blitz, Star Wars: Commander)
“Super Audio Cart fills a niche in my chiptune arsenal that has been sorely lacking. The SNES-style patches sound so authentic, and the multi-chip patches bring usability and versatility I haven’t seen in a chiptune instrument before.”
Testimonial – Danny Baranowsky (Crypt of the NecroDancer, Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy)
“Super Audio Cart is without doubt the best plugin for all your chiptune needs, it’s got the lot and they’re all glorious! Having all these authentic sounds in one place is the best idea since someone said, ‘Let’s put a rap in Donkey Kong’ … oh wait.”
Testimonial – Grant Kirkhope (Donkey Kong 64, GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie, Civilization: Beyond Earth)
FAQ
Is this a VST plugin?
Not exactly! This instrument is a sample library (or ‘virtual instrument’) designed for the Kontakt plugin. Kontakt itself IS a VST plugin (also available in AU and AAX formats). In other words, to use this product, you will first load the Kontakt VST plugin in your DAW (FL Studio, Live, Logic, Pro Tools). Then, you’ll load this instrument within Kontakt.
How is this product delivered?
All of our products are downloadable. Within a few minutes of placing your order, you will receive an email with a product code that is used to download your purchase. Specific instructions for activation and installation will be linked directly from the email.
Will this work in my DAW? (FL Studio, Pro Tools, Ableton, Logic…)
Yes! Our instruments work in ANY DAW that can load the Kontakt Player VST plugin (AU plugin for Mac, or AAX for Pro Tools).
Will this Kontakt instrument work on my system (MacOS Sierra, Windows 7, Windows 10, etc.)
We always recommend users have these Native Instruments compatibility pages bookmarked: Compatability on MacOS, Compatability on Windows.
Check the minimum required Kontakt version in the Requirements section of this page, make sure you’re able to run at least that, and you should be good to go!
Follow original console limitations or go way, way beyond.
Sound designers and synth heads, rejoice: Super Audio Cart 2 is far more than a staggeringly huge sample library. It’s also a mega powerful (dare we say Blast Processed) synth/sampler engine with loads of creative sound design possibilities.
Dozens of filter models, fine-tunable control over legato, portamento, and voice behavior, a super deep arpeggiator with gating and sequencer capabilities, step modulation, envelopes, and a four-layer architecture to truly inspire unique patches.
But that’s not all…
MODRIX: The most powerful modulation matrix ever?!
The original Super Audio Cart sported a flexible, versatile mod matrix, but we knew we had to do even better than that with the sequel. Enter MODRIX, the modulation system we developed in-house to offer every kind of movement and control imaginable.
Use a multitude of modulator types like envelopes, LFOs, MIDI values, key ranges, macros, X/Y pads… and connect them to basically any control you can think of: filters, pitch, volume, pan, effects, and even combine multiple routings for the same parameter together for complex, dynamic modulation masterpieces!
MODRIX routings can be tweaked to your heart’s content with curvature controls, min/max depth, adjustable base, and so much more.
- SM65 Bomb-Bomb Arena (N64, SCII, PSX) zircon
- Bad Apple (C64) Alstroemeria Records (DanFourts)
- Adventure 64 (N64) Hew Wagner
- Super Famitasia (SNES, GB, NES) Protodome
- Megalovania - Clash With a Retro Mix (Hybrid) Toby Fox and Namikin (Arranged by DanFourts)
- Chip Damage (Multi) Andrew Aversa
- Nighttime Blur (PSX) Kaedalus
- Future Bounce (Hybrid) Andrew Aversa
- The Past Has Arrived (Hybrid) Andrew Aversa
- You Won't Be Able To Kill Me Just Like That! (WinGroove) Noriyuki Iwadare (Arranged by Fredrik Häthén)
- Studying Masers (Multi) Noah Kellman
- Jack's New Sound Card (SCII) zircon
- Marsupial Kart Winter Windway (Multi) Tremendouz
- Level Up (N64) Biango
- Mirai the Heroine (GBA Dry) zircon
- Cave Clash (N64, PSX) Michael Hoffmann
- Club Trackdown (Tracker) zircon
- The Castle At Midnight (Aegis) zircon
- POKEing Around (POKEY) zircon
- Bit Bubbler (SMS) zircon