What is a .VGM file?
VGM logs the exact sound-chip commands of retro game music for accurate playback.
- Did you know
- VGM replays the original chip instructions, so the music sounds just like the hardware.
- A VGM logs the exact register writes sent to sound chips such as the Sega Genesis YM2612 and SN76489, timed at 44.1 kHz for faithful replay.
- The header records each chip’s clock rate, so a player can reproduce the original tuning of the hardware that made the music.
- What Analyser reads
- Identify many more audio formats: lossless/hi-res codecs (Monkey’s Audio, WavPack, TAK, True Audio, DSD/SACD, Musepack), pro containers (Core Audio, RF64/BW64, Wave64, Sun AU, Broadcast Wave with timecode), speech/mobile (Speex, AMR-WB, QCP, 3GA, M4R, GSM), MPEG Layer I/II, instrument banks (SoundFont, SFZ, DLS, RIFF MIDI, GigaStudio), ringtones (RTTTL, iMelody, SAP), tracker modules (MOD, XM, IT, S3M, OctaMED, 669, Oktalyzer), chiptunes (NES NSF, SNES SPC, VGM, Game Boy GBS, AY, YM) and Audacity projects.
- Depth of analysis
- .VGM is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .VGM file
- Drag a .VGM file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.