SNES S/PDIF vs Built in audio.

[RGB32E]

<Gets information from L-Train and orders parts>

Thanks, L-Train!

<Receives parts in the mail and starts getting ready to solder>

Why u hate me, L-Train?

This is where you use a liquid flux pen...

[CkRtech]

This is where you use a liquid flux pen...

Definitely!

It looks like the OSH park solder mask is not super heat resistant. I have a small bit of exposed traces in two spots after some of the drag soldering. Not too big of a deal, but a little disappointing.

[L-Train]

Have you considered adding a SRC bypass option?

I considered it, but it would have involved having to add a mux to select between the onboard oscillator and the master clock coming from the SNES. I figured adding it would have complicated the PCB layout quite a bit, and I wasn't going to use the feature personally, so I decided to leave it out.

<Gets information from L-Train and orders parts>

Thanks, L-Train!

<Receives parts in the mail and starts getting ready to solder>

Why u hate me, L-Train?

Lol, as RGB32E said, use flux. A lot of flux. You also have to be a bit strategic in the order in which you stuff the parts. For example, solder X1 before R5 and R6 otherwise you won't have much room to solder the bottom 2 pads on the oscillator. Also solder U4 before C1 and C2, and solder FB3 and FB4 before FB1 and FB2. Pay attention to part orientation, and above all else take your time. It's a tedious build.

I also noticed the same thing about the solder mask coming off on my boards, although only for the tiny bit of solder mask between grounded pins on the ICs.

[CkRtech]

It's a tedious build.

Ha. Yeah, it is. I knew that going in, but I was just having a bit of fun with my image. I have drag soldered stuff like this before, and I generally work the most complex stuff first (pin packages) & then go from the inside out across the PCB. That said, the solder work and continuity check definitely requires the usual amount of patience when doing electronics - it'll just take a little bit longer this time.

Maybe I will do some A/B recordings of the 8406-only circuit, swap out the new one, and make the same recordings using the new one. Might work on it some more tomorrow depending on my schedule.

I think game-tech is going to do some video on it soon, too. No sooner did my parts come in than everyone was talking about your circuit, L-Train. Once again - thanks for sharing!

[RGB0b]

I absolutely love the digital audio mod. It sounds so good and there's none of the analog hiss I sometimes get with SNES consoles. The only downsides:

- You can't get audio from the Super Game Boy, as it uses it's own sound chip.

- SN2SNES users can't play games with MSU-1 audio, as it also generates it's own sound.

That's not many shortcomings and since analog audio still works, I don't really see a downside to it. I use the one designed by Borti and was planning on making them available on my site, once the board design is tweaked a bit. At the moment, I only have the guides completed for the SNES Mini (soldering to the vias), but it can be installed in any SNES, using the pins on the sound chip.

PM me if anyone's interested in buying the leftover (fully working) prototypes.

[RGB32E]

PM me if anyone's interested in buying the leftover (fully working) prototypes.

Very cool! Looks like an attached TOSLINK transmitter? It doesn't look like the connector has a hole for mounting though? What's the P/N of the transmitter?

[RGB0b]

Very cool! Looks like an attached TOSLINK transmitter? It doesn't look like the connector has a hole for mounting though? What's the P/N of the transmitter?

Right, the optical audio port is directly attached. I've been mounting them simply by cutting a square hole in the back of a SNES Mini, or removing the RF module in a SNES1 and using it's hole. Then I just glue it in. I use basic hot glue on my personal one, just because I know I'll probably have to take it out for one reason or another, but that's kind of a fragile (and ugly) solution. I did a few others and used epoxy. That worked perfect and you only need a tiny bit of epoxy, so it's barely even noticeable from the inside (either solution looks fine from the outside).

Here's the part number: PLT133/T10W

[FBX]

Just got a $15 external sound card/hub that handles 32Khz, and made a direct capture from the TOSLINK mod done by RetroRGB. I could tell right away the sound was cleaner, stronger, and has distinctly better stereo separation. Here's the first capture I made for those that want to check it out:

http://www.firebrandx.com/downloads/SNE ... apture.zip

[austin532]

Stop it FBX, you are making retro gaming become too awesome

Good ole Axelay btw.

[opt2not]

Wow, I want this mod! Sounds so crisp and clear!

[RGB0b]

Retrofixes sells them now and I have install guides up on my site with llinks to everything you'd need: http://www.retrorgb.com/snesdigitalaudio.html

[CkRtech]

Ha. Wow. <raises cane and shakes it> Back in my day, we had to wire the mod completely from scratch!

Good stuff. Check out the bass response on Space Megaforce/Super Aleste. Especially good if you have a subwoofer.

[parodius]

Just got a $15 external sound card/hub that handles 32Khz

Link please ?

[FBX]

Just got a $15 external sound card/hub that handles 32Khz

Link please ?

https://www.amazon.com/VAlinks%C2%AE-Ch ... +6+channel

It's the perfect cheap solution for getting TOSLINK audio into your PC. I needed it because I fried the TOSLINK on my internal sound card trying to capture PS3 audio as it switched to PS1 mode.

Be warned though, some recording programs will capture the audio at a sped up 44.1 Khz, but the simple fix is to change the file's playback rate to 32Khz and it corrects the speed.

[RGB32E]

Stop it FBX, you are making retro gaming become too awesome

Considering this mod has been around for YEARS, your exuberance is entertaining at best, given the fact that the SPDIF mod was already awesome...

Ha. Wow. <raises cane and shakes it> Back in my day, we had to wire the mod completely from scratch!

Good stuff. Check out the bass response on Space Megaforce/Super Aleste. Especially good if you have a subwoofer.

Yeah, no kidding. Built and installed the CS8406 circuit 6+ years ago in my 1CHIP-01 and haven't looked back! Coincidentally, the extra SNES I had picked up for $20 to perform the mod on was how I discovered the 1CHIP-01, and it's nice RGB output.

There's quite a few games that output some good low frequency - Mortal Kombat II, Contra III, and Super Metroid come to mind. However, the output level is a little lower and the higher frequencies are not filtered out when comparing SPDIF to stock analog output. Not to say either are "issues", but games that make pops and crackles from audio mixing (e.g. U.N. Squadron) are much more apparent.

"Sounds" like someone needs to check out the MegaAmp to dramatically improve Genesis/MD audio! Works wonders on even the Genesis 3!

[FBX]

I looked into the MegaAmp with side-by-side tests and I ultimately decided it wasn't for me. It seemed to sacrifice dynamic range for overall loudness, and some tracks with 'softer' notes had everything blaringly loud when played via MegaAmp. I can see a lot of people preferring it though.

[RGB32E]

I looked into the MegaAmp with side-by-side tests and I ultimately decided it wasn't for me.

Well, that's completely contrary to my results and others, not to mention a head scratchingly vague account. If anything, nuances of a given mix are much more clearly defined and not obscured!

Perhaps you should revisit the mod, especially given that most, if not all, Genesis revs have fairly poor audio mixing circuitry, and even the "best" model 1 rev(s) are extremely rolled off, as well as a number of other factors that can influence the end result. That said, picking the right LPF capacitor value makes a noticeable tonal difference as the default 47pF ("unfiltered") is too bright, while the 270pF value ("best Genesis 1") is a bit muddy (rolled off). Hence, if one enjoys the improvements of the SNES SPDIF mod (clarity/low noise), the same type of improvements can be obtained with a suitably installed and slightly tweaked MegaAmp (mixing PSG and YM L/R only for lowest noise).

[John.Smith]

User "L-Train" released his up-sampling SNES SPDIF circuit on OSH Park a couple of weeks ago.

https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/Qdy2pZzr
http://www.head-fi.org/t/740288/super-n ... t_11227890

Looks slick. I'll share my results when I get this assembled and installed! I wonder if this circuit can be tailored for the N64 since this circuit contains a sample rate convertor for up-sampling.

The N64 is something I had in the back of my mind when I was designing the circuit, but since I don't have an N64 I couldn't test it out. The SNES S/PDIF board is configured to only accept 16-bit right-justified audio, and thankfully the N64 RCP outputs that same format (according to the datasheet of the N64's audio DAC, the BU9480F) so it might actually work! The only thing I'm unsure of is where to connect the /RST line as I haven't found a pin diagram for the RCP. Perhaps just tying /RST to 5V would suffice, though.

Here is the connection to the uncompressed sound record. The break out link to my sound card that can record s/pdif is missing so here is the manner by which I recorded this.

1. Simple snes multi out sound system/apogee two part harmony sound system in/Apple Garageband. Record and fare at 24 bit.

2 Digital spdif rca out from snes/ViewHD spdif to simple converter/apogee two part harmony sound system in iMac Garageband. Record and fare at 24 bit.

[djc5166]

https://www.amazon.com/VAlinks%C2%AE-Ch ... +6+channel

It's the perfect cheap solution for getting TOSLINK audio into your PC. I needed it because I fried the TOSLINK on my internal sound card trying to capture PS3 audio as it switched to PS1 mode.

Be warned though, some recording programs will capture the audio at a sped up 44.1 Khz, but the simple fix is to change the file's playback rate to 32Khz and it corrects the speed.

Anything specific to set this up? I got this one from amazon and it doesn't even seem to detect the 32khz coming out of my snes.