Snes mini RGB amp mod question!

[aamike68]

Hello all! this is my first post on these forums, ive been poking around here for quite some time while researching the XRGB mini. skip to the second paragraph if you dont care to hear me babble on about my story.

After purchasing my XRGB mini and csysnc jp21 cable from retro console accessories, i was astonished at the picture quality i had gained, never before had i seen such sharp pixels coming from stock hardware. but i noticed diagnol lines on solid colors, and i couldn't ignore them, i mean how could i? i spent so much money to move my old console to the new age, i couldn't stop now! so i read about all the snes revisions and i had a UN28 model. A buddy gave me his older yellowed UN19 snes and the lines had disappeared! ugh, nintendo, why?!

Anyways haha, further research has lead me to purchase a mini, rgb amp from retrorgb, and a video game tool. These should arrive this following week, and im stoked to get my hands into this mod and achieve the best picture quality possible on the snes. only question i have is, are installing the 1.1K resistors a given? on retrorgb, he states that he thinks the brightness is fine, but others may not think so. I want to go ahead and just install everything in one swoop without having to tear it back apart. I work in a electrical motor repair shop, and thats where i plan to do the mod. My boss wont mind me doing it there, i just dont want to have to come back the next day to fix issues that could have been prevented.

So, to install the resistors or not to install them? thanks so much for the help guys! im soooo excited!!!

[leonk]

I've build that amp and I only used the 75 ohm resistors on the output with my mini. Looks great on my PVM and very much comparable to composite brightness. I find it silly to attenuate video signal to just amp it up again!

[aamike68]

Hmm, I wonder why the guide would mention 1.1k resistors... It's just kind of confusing because I've heard many mixed results in my research. It seems I'm probably going to have to do some tinkering on my own after all to get things the way I want them. Thanks for the reply!

[Glossectomy]

75ohm resistors are all you need. No amp or anything unless you're bypassing the consoles amp.

[aamike68]

Yeah I plan on installing the amp, I figure it will or should eliminate the vertical line and offer me an easier rgb mod experience at the same time . The brightness is my only concern. I guess I will just have to find out lol.

[Chocograph]

Get back here with results when you can, I'm interested.

[aamike68]

Will do, looks like everything should arrive Tuesday afternoon, so hopefully I'll have everything done then or Wednesday after work, I'll post pics of my results.

[FBX]

I feel ya about the random PQ on various SNES revisions. I've got an APU SNES where the diagonal jail bars are simply unbearable. Rather than go the mini route, I instead hunted down the 1CHIP-03 revision of the original SNES and restored the CSync signal on it. No chips or amping required; just a single half-inch wire solder job did the trick. The PQ is nothing short of flawless on it going through my Framemeister.

[kel]

If it's not too much trouble then you may as well add the resistors while you're at it.

Check out this thread for more background info on the 1.1k ohm resistor mod. On the last page of the thread you will notice that the value of the resistors were recalculated to 1.2k ohms.

http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/sne ... nts.53053/

[leonk]

I agree about it being total hit and miss with SNES revisions. The new TI based amp tries to combat the white line issue by bypassing the internal RGB amp and use an external one. My personal mini has the simple 75 ohm resistor mod where I use Nintendo's RGB amp rather than the TI one. Luckily my system doesn't suffer from the white line issue.

I did an SNES mini mod for a customer using the amp and did not use the 1.1K resistors on the input. The brightness is equivalent to my simple mod console as well as composite video. When people talk about mods online take it all with a grain of salt. It very much matters if they're PAL or NTSC and if they modded based on it looking good vs actually measuring the output to be within spec.

[aamike68]

I feel ya about the random PQ on various SNES revisions. I've got an APU SNES where the diagonal jail bars are simply unbearable. Rather than go the mini route, I instead hunted down the 1CHIP-03 revision of the original SNES and restored the CSync signal on it. No chips or amping required; just a single half-inch wire solder job did the trick. The PQ is nothing short of flawless on it going through my Framemeister.

FireBrandX! i read your entire article on Framemeister! So much good info sir, thank you for taking the time to write up your experiences with the XRGB mini. For the past month i was quite dedicated to hunting down the 1chip-03, but could only find the 01 and 02 on ebay for around 100-110 bucks. I even went to 10 goodwills in my area and a few flea markets on numerous occasions but came up dry. I figured i might as well go with the mini, i found one for $50 in near mint condition on amazon and decided to jump on it.

If it's not too much trouble then you may as well add the resistors while you're at it.

Check out this thread for more background info on the 1.1k ohm resistor mod. On the last page of the thread you will notice that the value of the resistors were recalculated to 1.2k ohms.

Yeah i just read that thread 2 nights ago and noticed the new findings. this confused me even more, but i think i will end up putting 1.2K resistors into the mini. someone should let retrorgb know so he can add this to his write-up .

[aamike68]

Leonk, thanks for the reply and useful input. From all of the conflicting information about resistors on this mod, im starting to think that the differences are extremely minor, or barely noticeable. Like you have said, Some people either dont add resistors, add 75ohm resistors, or add the 1.1k (or 1.2k now lol) and all say that the picture is fine. I am still going to go with the 1.2K resistors because of the thread posted earlier only because so much research and know-how went into the discovery.

[RGB0b]

If it's not too much trouble then you may as well add the resistors while you're at it.

Check out this thread for more background info on the 1.1k ohm resistor mod. On the last page of the thread you will notice that the value of the resistors were recalculated to 1.2k ohms.

http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/sne ... nts.53053/

I've been adding them to my systems and if I do any mods for friends I'll add it to theirs, but depending on your setup, you might not notice a difference either way.

Yeah i just read that thread 2 nights ago and noticed the new findings. this confused me even more, but i think i will end up putting 1.2K resistors into the mini. someone should let retrorgb know so he can add this to his write-up .

I'll eventually test with 1.2k as well and see if I can compare the two on my systems. The guys posting there (Borti, Calpis, Ultron) are much more educated about these things then I am and I'd generally take their word as gold, but I still like to test myself. Also, the difference between 1.1k and 1.2k is much smaller then 75Ohm to 1.1k (the difference between the 1CHIP and Mini), so either one should work fine.

I work in a electrical motor repair shop, and thats where i plan to do the mod.

Make sure the soldering iron you use is a low-wattage one. I've seen people try to install the amp mod (DIY or the pre-assembled one) with a 60w iron and damage their systems. Please don't be offended by that comment; I'm sure you know what you're doing, I just wanted to add that as a reminder.

[aamike68]

Make sure the soldering iron you use is a low-wattage one. I've seen people try to install the amp mod (DIY or the pre-assembled one) with a 60w iron and damage their systems. Please don't be offended by that comment; I'm sure you know what you're doing, I just wanted to add that as a reminder.

No offense taken, really! Thanks for the heads up! I may work in the shop, but i mainly work on tearing down motors anything from .5 HP to 300 HP, AC and DC, finding the failure, refinishing, rebuilding, and testing. pretty much bearing work and minor fabrication. If the motor is blown out on the winding then i write it up and it goes to an electrician in the shop who knows what hes doing. So i am by no means a pro at electrical work, but i do have a little experience with soldering, which is why i am doing it at the shop. There are guys there that have been doing this their entire lives. This mod should be a piece of cake for me.

I must thank you retrorgb, and the community owes you big time for dedicating so much time to your website. I would be lost without it bud. And my wife thanks you! (not, lol) this has not been a cheap journey and she is constantly reminding me of that haha, i told her that this is the last SNES item that i will buy besides carts. I'll have the best setup money can buy

[FBX]

I feel ya about the random PQ on various SNES revisions. I've got an APU SNES where the diagonal jail bars are simply unbearable. Rather than go the mini route, I instead hunted down the 1CHIP-03 revision of the original SNES and restored the CSync signal on it. No chips or amping required; just a single half-inch wire solder job did the trick. The PQ is nothing short of flawless on it going through my Framemeister.

FireBrandX! i read your entire article on Framemeister! So much good info sir, thank you for taking the time to write up your experiences with the XRGB mini. For the past month i was quite dedicated to hunting down the 1chip-03, but could only find the 01 and 02 on ebay for around 100-110 bucks. I even went to 10 goodwills in my area and a few flea markets on numerous occasions but came up dry. I figured i might as well go with the mini, i found one for $50 in near mint condition on amazon and decided to jump on it.

Oh cool, thanks! The way I tracked a 1CHIP-03 down was by using the serial number method. It was a chore sifting through 1,000+ auctions for SNES consoles on ebay, but after a day or two of doing that, I finally found one with photos of the serial number in the target range. It was actually a coin-toss that it might still be a -02 revision, but I got lucky it wasn't.

[RGB0b]

Make sure the soldering iron you use is a low-wattage one. I've seen people try to install the amp mod (DIY or the pre-assembled one) with a 60w iron and damage their systems. Please don't be offended by that comment; I'm sure you know what you're doing, I just wanted to add that as a reminder.

No offense taken, really! Thanks for the heads up! I may work in the shop, but i mainly work on tearing down motors anything from .5 HP to 300 HP, AC and DC, finding the failure, refinishing, rebuilding, and testing. pretty much bearing work and minor fabrication. If the motor is blown out on the winding then i write it up and it goes to an electrician in the shop who knows what hes doing. So i am by no means a pro at electrical work, but i do have a little experience with soldering, which is why i am doing it at the shop. There are guys there that have been doing this their entire lives. This mod should be a piece of cake for me.

I must thank you retrorgb, and the community owes you big time for dedicating so much time to your website. I would be lost without it bud. And my wife thanks you! (not, lol) this has not been a cheap journey and she is constantly reminding me of that haha, i told her that this is the last SNES item that i will buy besides carts. I'll have the best setup money can buy

Thanks, I'm really glad the site was a help to you. Email me if you have any trouble with the installation...but I'm sure it'll go fine.

[aamike68]

Little update from my end:

Yesterday was a huge let down, long story short (seriously) the post office practically skipped my apartment building during delivery and still updated my tracking to "ready for pick up at post office". well, thinking that sounded fishy I left work 30 minuets early and went to the post office, they did not have my packages. so, they said to come in the next morning (they open an hour after im supposed to be at work...)

After that head ache... I will be picking it up in an hour or so, and figure i would let you guys know about a few of the components i bought yesterday.

30 gauge wire from radio shack. wow. ive never seen wire this small, or worked with wire this small. stripping will be easy, I just pinch it with my nails, and i did a few test solders on a junk board at work yesterday, but wow! this stuff is fishing line hahaha.

1.21k ohm .25W 1% resistors. This was the closest I could get to 1.2k at my local electronic supply store (peerless). im sure the difference wont be noticeable.

Shrink tubing, solder, soldering iron, flux paste, and my bench are waiting for me at work! ill let you guys know by the end of the day (with pictures) how everything went!

[aamike68]

Woot! the deed is done folks! but not without some trouble along the way of course haha. keep in mind, my mod work is by no means clean or pretty, this took me about an hour and i got frustrated at times, but the end product is a beaut!

unable to do the mod at work due to a hard day, i brought all the supplies home and cleared off the kitchen table. upon unboxing the mini i was very surprised at the condition it was in, the thing was practically new! and only 50 bucks! anyways i began to unscrew everything.

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0057_zps8fyqcyrc.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0058_zpshztidrtc.jpg[/img][/img]

I found the RGB-A chip after removing the shielding and was like "oh crap thats a small target" this was by far the hardest thing i had to solder in the entire mod lol. And after wiring everything else together and trying to place the shielding back on i realized i had ran the c-sync wire through the screw hole...

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0060_zps1evwqqfr.jpg[/img][/img]

i was a little frustrated, but i just clipped the wire and re-routed it. You can see that i leave a lot of slack in my wiring, i know it looks sloppy, but if i ever make an error, i like to have some room to work with. Also, on the amp, i know my work is sloppy, but honestly ive never soldered anything this small haha.

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0059_zpskxcsahvg.jpg[/img][/img]

So having completed everything, i assembled the mini and fired it up with my fingers crossed. the c-sync job was the only thing i was worried about, and it worked! but wait... the text on the megaman x boot up screen was green.... simple fix! obviously something knocked loose (or was poorly soldered lol) took it back apart and found the blue resistor had come loose. the resistors were a little troublesome. they are mounted so close, and the leads are practically the same diameter as the board connection. so i put some solder on the opposite side of the board and presto! Mega man x fires up in a beautiful shade of blue! my goodness, everything looks sooooo sharp and crisp! thanks everyone for all the help! here are a few images, which were taken with my phone (htc m8) so forgive the crappiness, they dont do the true quality justice.

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0070_zpswb3lzqsp.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0069_zps0uyxqmw9.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0067_zps05v87nen.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0066_zpssgmdo82h.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0065_zpsoarzirsk.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0064_zpsxadgpi7a.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0062_zpssvbyrnif.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][IMG]http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww234/aamike68/IMAG0062_zpssvbyrnif.jpg[/img][/img]

All running on 70 inch vizio, 1080p, Framemeister, csync rgb jp21 cable from Retro_Console_Accessories, and newly modded snes mini . sorry about the pictures being crappy, but the display is truly amazing in person.