well i tried mame2010 sound is still the same
i will try and hunt down a different rom packs and try again with fresh roms

I just came across this issue and I fixed it by doing exactly what mediamogul said. Thank you. Do not press escape to exit the menu, select "exit to game over". After the game booted up, I exited using "hotkey" + exit and the settings stuck.

Ok, I tried turning off dithering, and it didn't seem to make any difference.

I'm still getting artifacts, like echo-type sounds, sounds that go on longer than they should etc.

I have listened carefully to games that I am very familiar with on other systems, and this definitely only seems to affect Hatari.

@trippy86
I'm an engineer too :) I couldn't resist the urge to build it myself, but of course it helps if you're familiar with woordworks.

If I should have changed one thing, I would have routed out some of the wood from the inside of the boards, e.g. in hexagon shapes to save weight but still keep some stiffness - this arcade weighs quite a bit :)

Wiring is not that complex with a RPi, mostly consisting of signal wires and ground wires from the iPac to the buttons. The illuminated ones need a few more but that's it. Keeping wires tidy helps the overview, but there's countless videos on YouTube - check them out.

My screen size is a 16" 5:4 and I think it's a pretty good size, and since many games run 4:3 there's only black borders in vertical arcade games. Just look at getting one that's as fast as possible (less input lag/response time), maybe a modern one with a gaming mode.

Okay, I'll go through and check all my wiring and soldering. Hopefully it's just that. I've tried with 2 different speakers now, so I don't think it's that. I'll try different wires maybe. I've posted on the SudoMod forum too, so I'll hopefully get a response there too.
Yeah, It's pretty fun, and frustrating XD I've never done much with hardware before so it's a challenge! Once It's all done I'll probably make a post about it, and I'll link it here :)

Additionally, is your HDMI routing directly to your TV or is it passing through a soundbar or AV receiver?

@caver01 , thanks heaps mate, that did the trick and now it's all good!

Resurrecting an old topic, but just a note that if you update RetroPie-Setup to version 4.3.8 or later and reinstall AGS, MIDI playback should now work correctly - no need to install the GUS patches manually. AGS content will also automatically appear in EmulationStation without the need to manually edit any files. I've removed the obsolete instructions from the RetroPie wiki.

The post [Tutorial] Installing Munt (MT-32 emulation) on RPi 3 might be interesting regarding this topic.

Fantastic! Thanks guys for the help! I'm yet to finish my bartop but will soon begin with setting up RetroPie and your advice will help.

@perhansa post your /boot/config.txt (put it in a codeblock)

Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first (as agreed when registering)

Currently on retropie, yes as far as I know those are all.

Ok, solution found. I don't know why the two settings are different... but anyway.

I was able to stop all game sounds for nes by editing the file:
/opt/retropie/configs/nes/retroarch.cfg

audio_enabled = "false"

This works and doesn't stop the roms from working like using the select-X method. Now working on atari (stella)

Darn, new i would forget something. Mario kart 64 using the mupen64plus-gles2rice-highres.

@backstander maybe that's it... i'll have to try that.

curious (but glad) that the script you showed actually worked with single quotes (instead of double quotes), because i couldn't figure out how to get a double quote character out of the keyboard for the life of me :)

It might not be new or the answer for the whole life existence thingy, but it may help someone ;)

@Charononus Glad I could help.

@KNGAlive: You can see the master THEMES.md from the original EmulationStation github repo here. The only 'sound' mentioned in this document is the <scrollsound> within the "textlist". Unless they've been added my another developer somewhere along the way (unlikely), then that is the only sound you can use. Sorry.

On a related note, I'd like to see your theme when it's done. I always love to see new themes. If you need a hand with anything else theme related, there is a Tutorial on the wiki.

Also, welcome to the Forum :D

@Darksavior Thanks for the reply, that is my next option, but it is one of those problems that bugs me and I want to figure it out!! :) lol.