PC Engine Duo Sound Question

[ATTRACTS]

Hi all,

Just got a very clean PC Engine Duo (Japanese black one) today from a seller who only sells PC Engines and Fami's on EBay. Says he replaced caps/soldering tips/cleaned etc. Unit came pristine with original controller and a 3rd party power supply.

Fired it up and it plays discs and hucards just fine (hooked up via composite to a PVM)
Overall volume was very low with a slight buzzing/humming sound that progressively got worse after about 10 mins. I replaced the AV cable, same deal. Moved console to a different wall outlet, same deal.

Now, when I plug in my two little Logitech self powered laptop speakers to the headphone outs, the sound is perfect. Crystal clear, loud and very crisp with no degredation.

So two questions:

1. Is this the infamous capacitor/Duo sound issue or as someone suggested, could this be the power adaptor messing with the audio?
2. Seeing as I don't plan on moving it around and I actually like the way the laptop speakers sound, would it be harming the system at all to leave that set up as my primary source of audio?

Thanks as always guys

[Tarma]

Sounds like a caps issue to me I'm afraid.

When I got my Duo it had a similar problem - poor audio through the TV, but quite acceptable with headphones.

Open her up and post a picture here - someone will soon tell you whether the caps have been changed or not.

[the_crayon_king]

Hi all,

Just got a very clean PC Engine Duo (Japanese black one) today from a seller who only sells PC Engines and Fami's on EBay. Says he replaced caps/soldering tips/cleaned etc. Unit came pristine with original controller and a 3rd party power supply.

Fired it up and it plays discs and hucards just fine (hooked up via composite to a PVM)
Overall volume was very low with a slight buzzing/humming sound that progressively got worse after about 10 mins. I replaced the AV cable, same deal. Moved console to a different wall outlet, same deal.

Now, when I plug in my two little Logitech self powered laptop speakers to the headphone outs, the sound is perfect. Crystal clear, loud and very crisp with no degredation.

So two questions:

1. Is this the infamous capacitor/Duo sound issue or as someone suggested, could this be the power adaptor messing with the audio?
2. Seeing as I don't plan on moving it around and I actually like the way the laptop speakers sound, would it be harming the system at all to leave that set up as my primary source of audio?

Thanks as always guys

You could try this guide:
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthrea ... -beware%29

I bet he only replaced the normal aluminum caps and not the surface mount ones.

If you are happy with the speaker setup I would just continue to use it unless it causes an issue.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Same audio issue could be said with the TTI released Turbo Duo console as well. I haven't had any issues with mine considering that I bought mine brand new back in November of 1994. It even came with a free four year extended warranty good until November of 1998 but never did have to use it. The Turbo Duo has the slick headphone jack output as well but this feature was axed on the later NEC Duo-R & Duo-RX consoles to cut down on production/manufacturing costs. It's still a cool retro gaming console worthy of anyone's gaming collection these days.

The PC Engine Duo/Turbo Duo consoles sound even better with a powered 2.1 speaker setup (preferably one with a good & hefty bass speaker setup). I like to use an old-school JBL 2.1 speaker setup myself with the appropiate bass controls on hand for some serious thumping bass from them ol' TG-16 & PCE games indeed. Not to mention the slick Redbook audio format that NEC used with all the CD-Rom2, Super CD-Rom2 & Arcade CD-Rom2 games come in sounding razor-sharp and crystal clear even today.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[ATTRACTS]

Same audio issue could be said with the TTI released Turbo Duo console as well. I haven't had any issues with mine considering that I bought mine brand new back in November of 1994. It even came with a free four year extended warranty good until November of 1998 but never did have to use it. The Turbo Duo has the slick headphone jack output as well but this feature was axed on the later NEC Duo-R & Duo-RX consoles to cut down on production/manufacturing costs. It's still a cool retro gaming console worthy of anyone's gaming collection these days.

The PC Engine Duo/Turbo Duo consoles sound even better with a powered 2.1 speaker setup (preferably one with a good & hefty bass speaker setup). I like to use an old-school JBL 2.1 speaker setup myself with the appropiate bass controls on hand for some serious thumping bass from them ol' TG-16 & PCE games indeed. Not to mention the slick Redbook audio format that NEC used with all the CD-Rom2, Super CD-Rom2 & Arcade CD-Rom2 games come in sounding razor-sharp and crystal clear even today.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

So based on this info, would you say it's safe to just run the audio to external speakers via the headphone jack as I'm doing right now? It sounds terrific this way but I just want to be sure I'm not putting the system at risk.

Thanks for the info!

[kamiboy]

What a silly question. Ask yourself, do people's iPhones blow up when they use the headphone port to connect them to a sound system?

What would even compel you to ask this?

In any regard, leaky capacitors will certainly hurt your PC Engine if not treated, so if the loss of audio is related to capacitors leaking you had better get that looked at.

[ATTRACTS]

What a silly question. Ask yourself, do people's iPhones blow up when they use the headphone port to connect them to a sound system?

What would even compel you to ask this?

Ahh I love that there always has to be one person to condescend someone for inquiring about something they are curious about. The point of my asking is that the speakers are powered while headphones aren't. I was just trying to make sure that a powered speaker source wouldn't hurt the nearly 27 year old headphone output (made when technology may have been different) on an already finicky system. I know, silly to ask a question in an attempt to make sure I don't break something I spent money on.

[kamiboy]

It is ok to ask stupid questions, but try not to be sensitive when they are answered accordingly. Rest assured that headphone jack "technology" has not changed much in the last 30 years.

If you are paranoid about your system breaking then have those capacitors looked at because if they are leaking then your system is slowly being destroyed, and that is a fact.

[ATTRACTS]

It is ok to ask stupid questions, but try not to be sensitive when they are answered accordingly.

You are exactly the kind of garbage that ruins otherwise good communities. Good for you.

[kamiboy]

Well, in my experience that role is actually most often played by people with fragile constitutions prone to throwing hissy fits over none events, but opinions, opinions.

Oh, by the way, PC Engine Fan X had already answered your question in his last post, but you kept asking the same question and I had to answer the call, albeit in my usual witty sarcastic way, which you apparently find very offensive.

Grow some thicker skin, mate. Notice how being called garbage by a stranger on a forum does not faze me one bit.

[ATTRACTS]

Notice how being called garbage by a stranger on a forum does not faze me one bit.

You're phased by life, friend. If you weren't you'd conduct yourself differently.

[gojira54]

Open up your duo and have a look at the caps as said before... if they are the original aluminium ones get them replaced and your sound will most likely be OK =]