TurboGrafx16 Sound

[Fusion916]

I have a regular (not Duo) TG16 and I am using RCA audio through the expansion port. Is there a known issue with older units with the audio output? There is no audio ground loop or buzz or anything but the output sounds, for lack of a better term, "distorted" in some music/sound effects. Some stuff sounds clear, some sounds a bit distorted. I'm not sure if the sound in TG16 games just isn't that great or is actually some kind of hardware problem where some caps need to get replaced or something.

[nmalinoski]

I know it's always recommended to recap the Duos; I'm not sure about the non-Duo models, but I would at the very least remove the shell and examine the board for bulging and/or leaky caps.

I'm not familiar with PCE hardware, so I can't recommend much more than that as an easy starting point; someone more knowledgeable might be able to chime in.

If it turns out this is a fairly common problem, I wonder if it makes sense to make an audio bypass for these, like what's available for the Genesis and SSDS3.

[Fusion916]

If it turns out this is a fairly common problem, I wonder if it makes sense to make an audio bypass for these, like what's available for the Genesis and SSDS3.

Thats what I'm hoping someone can chime in on.

[Kez]

How are you getting audio from the expansion port? Iirc the expansion pins are below line level and it is best to amp them before connecting to anything else. If you have a db Grafx Booster or Engine Block then this should just be included, but if it's connected direct to the expansion pins that might be the cause of your problems.

[Fusion916]

How are you getting audio from the expansion port? Iirc the expansion pins are below line level and it is best to amp them before connecting to anything else. If you have a db Grafx Booster or Engine Block then this should just be included, but if it's connected direct to the expansion pins that might be the cause of your problems.

I got this cheapo chinese one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-Engine-AV-B ... 2749.l2649

Even though it says it drives composite sync from the listing, it does not and I had to add a sync splitter to it. Otherwise I'm taking the audio directly from the connector. Even if the audio is line level as long as it can drive ~10k input impeance theoretically it should be fine. That IC on the board isnt a sync splitter so maybe it's an audio amp. Maybe it's some shit chinese amp and thats where the distortion is coming from. I'll look into it.

[Mobiusstriptech]

The TG16 and white PC Engine do not amplify the audio out of the console. You need either an internal or external amplifier to provide good quality audio. As far as I know, I am the only person that has an internal amplifier circuit available. Any external solution should include an amplifier circuit but if they do, there is a good chance it will not be correct.

[thebigcheese]

Tim's AV Driver can amplify audio as well, though I don't think it does a particularly great job with the video compared to the Mickris or Voultar options. If you do offer a circuit that just amplifies the audio for PCE and TG16, you should advertise that more! Would be a great compliment to those RGB kits. If I didn't change to a CoreGrafx, I would've bought one...

Having said that, compared to NES/Sega, I do find the audio on the TG16 series to be kinda crappy. It's a more capable sound chip, but I think it's kinda... low fidelity. Look up some of the games on YouTube and compare what you are hearing to that. You will still amplify the audio, but at least that gives you a starting point to know if something is actually wrong.

[Mobiusstriptech]

I have talked about it a few times but not a lot of people seem to be looking for such a solution these days. A lot of people will just pull from the expansion pins for basic video/audio or they will use some adapter. That cheap chinese adapter does not have anything for the audio. It just has a 7314 RGB amp with a poorly built circuit.

I do plan on releasing the audio amp freely so if people want to make their own they can. I have a bunch of them already built and sitting here. I use them when I do internal RGB mods for customers.