Krikzz Turbo Everdrive Pro -- Installation Guide & Tips.....

[SavagePencil]

EDFX is great, but this topic is about the TED Pro, which still does not have a fix for audio. In almost no time I found unacceptable audio glitches in Darius and Star Parodier. Really, really hoping there can be a firmware fix so I can drop the TO solution.

[BazookaBen]

EDFX is great, but this topic is about the TED Pro, which still does not have a fix for audio. In almost no time I found unacceptable audio glitches in Darius and Star Parodier. Really, really hoping there can be a firmware fix so I can drop the TO solution.

Is there a specific part, ideally in the 1st stage, of Star Parodier where you're getting glitches? I want to see if they're bad on my Turbonanza + TED Pro

[SavagePencil]

I’ll have to play again but it happened twice in the mid- or mid-late game.

Same rip from original discs did NOT have the issue on the SSDS3.

Argh I really need to pull out my Duo to capture real comparisons.

[Jorel81]

Hello,

Was just looking to see if anyone was talking about this issue. I myself have been waiting for some fixes to the Turbo Everdrive Pro for a long time now. Gate Of Thunder still has audio glitches as far as I know, and that was a launch title with the Turbo Duo I think. That's kind of a flag ship game. It's been about 7 months since any new firmware...

The Mega Everdrive Pro has a bunch of issues as well with Sega CD games. One of which is Silpheed which is really easily one of the best games on that system. It's been a year since that thing has gotten new firmware...

And before these expensive products were even fixed, the RGB Blaster was released. And just recently I see online Krikzz and other big names in retro gaming news letting everyone know these products are in stock for the holidays.

I like Krikzz products and I don't like to complain, but just for myself, this is why I have stopped purchasing new products for retro gaming. I have more than I need and this stuff is starting to feel a little cash grabby.

There are a lot of people out there in the retro gaming community who are big names, who praise these products, put out their review videos, and certain product creators seem to get a pass on this kind of thing while others don't.

This has been bothering me and I just wanted to post my opinion...somewhere. Because it's been my experience that very rarely does Krikzz check the Krikzz forums.

I just want a fix for Gate Of Thunder. Until then its my Mister, my SSDS3, or my PC Engine DUO. Not my TED.

[fernan1234]

The past few years I've been pretty insistent in advising people to stick with the MiSTer core, but the release of the Turbonanza and the TED Pro enticed me to go against my own advice and give original hardware another try.

More than some remaining bugs and inaccuracies remaining, I am mainly disappointed by the constant SD card access buzzing that the TED Pro produces constantly (and not just while loading) when playing CD game audio. Tried several different SD card brands and some are louder than others but they all have this problem, also makes no difference whether getting audio from the Turbonanza install or from an EDFX attachment.

I play with headphones so this problem becomes intolerable. Brought back bad memories from the Terraonion product.

[jd213]

That's disappointing to hear, as I also usually use headphones.
SDcard noise also mentioned here: http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/202 ... de-in.html

Was thinking about getting a TED Pro eventually as save states would be nice for PCE games (even if it only works with HuCards), and would probably have pulled the trigger if there was a Black Friday sale this year, but I guess Krikzz hasn't done a sale in a while.

[AaronSR]

There is a sale, it starts on the 22nd

[Gunstar]

Disappointing to read about the issues with the TED Pro and the Mega ED Pro, was looking to upgrade to them

[jd213]

There is a sale, it starts on the 22nd

Ah, thanks. I recently checked his twitter and didn't see anything, so I assumed there wasn't going to be a sale.
Going to have to think about it though...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yep, the black colored Krikzz Turbo Everdrive Pro is listed at a mere $215.00 usd brand new on the Stone Age Gamer site as part of Black Friday deals going on right now (11/23/2023).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[jd213]

Thanks, went with a new Christmas Edition one from Krikzz's store, came to quite a bit less than that. I imagine one ordered from Stoneagegamer would arrive faster though.

[fernan1234]

EDFX is great, but this topic is about the TED Pro, which still does not have a fix for audio. In almost no time I found unacceptable audio glitches in Darius and Star Parodier. Really, really hoping there can be a firmware fix so I can drop the TO solution.

Have you or anyone else tried messing around with the PCM Cutoff and Gain values in the Audio settings of the TED Pro? I heard the glitch in Super Darius and it sounded like clipping to me. By just dropping the PCM Gain to 1.0 I noticed most of this apparent clipping was reduced, though not sure if the same as from a real CD-ROM. At least I think it made a noticeable difference, but need someone else to try as a sanity check.

Then again changing the PCM Gain value may lead to other inaccuracies. I assume Krikzz set the default to 2.15 for a reason, though PCM sound effects sound the same to me. Maybe it'll be necessary to also adjust CD volume levels to compensate, or it could be more complicated than that.
edit: 1.5 Gain and lowering Cutoff to 31000khz seems to sound close to original and without clipping, though the PCM sound effects on Super Darius may still sound a bit low, but seems like it comes down to these settings.

[SavagePencil]

EDFX is great, but this topic is about the TED Pro, which still does not have a fix for audio. In almost no time I found unacceptable audio glitches in Darius and Star Parodier. Really, really hoping there can be a firmware fix so I can drop the TO solution.

Have you or anyone else tried messing around with the PCM Cutoff and Gain values in the Audio settings of the TED Pro? I heard the glitch in Super Darius and it sounded like clipping to me. By just dropping the PCM Gain to 1.0 I noticed most of this apparent clipping was reduced, though not sure if the same as from a real CD-ROM. At least I think it made a noticeable difference, but need someone else to try as a sanity check.

Then again changing the PCM Gain value may lead to other inaccuracies. I assume Krikzz set the default to 2.15 for a reason, though PCM sound effects sound the same to me. Maybe it'll be necessary to also adjust CD volume levels to compensate, or it could be more complicated than that.

Worth a shot. Will poke around when I get back from the holidays.

[BazookaBen]

Krikzz finally released update 1.5 which takes care of PCM sound effect issues.

I tested in Super Darius lvl 1 and it's now crystal clear, no distortion!

Really glad now I went with a cheap used Core Grafx II + Turbonanza + TED Pro instead of a an Analogue Duo, considering the Anlogue Duo still doesn't support the DAC. And having all this capability in the tiny CG2 package, running CDs off the SD card, is so cool

The only thing I'm missing vs the Analogue console that I can think of is bluetooth controller support. But there is a 3rd party USB hub adapter available for PC Engine that I can use instead, for the rare occasions I'll want to play multiplayer games

[SavagePencil]

I am so excited to get rid of all the terrible memories that TerraOnion instilled in that awful launch. So glad for this upgrade!

[SavagePencil]

Note that a minor patch fix was made for 1.06: https://krikzz.com/pub/support/turbo-ev ... /firmware/

It fixes an SD write bug that must've gotten missed in the big 1.05 update.

[Gunstar]

Krikzz finally released update 1.5 which takes care of PCM sound effect issues.

I tested in Super Darius lvl 1 and it's now crystal clear, no distortion!

Really glad now I went with a cheap used Core Grafx II + Turbonanza + TED Pro instead of a an Analogue Duo, considering the Anlogue Duo still doesn't support the DAC. And having all this capability in the tiny CG2 package, running CDs off the SD card, is so cool

The only thing I'm missing vs the Analogue console that I can think of is bluetooth controller support. But there is a 3rd party USB hub adapter available for PC Engine that I can use instead, for the rare occasions I'll want to play multiplayer games

This is great news, time for me to pick up the TED Pro!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Krikzz finally released update 1.5 which takes care of PCM sound effect issues.

I tested in Super Darius lvl 1 and it's now crystal clear, no distortion!

Really glad now I went with a cheap used Core Grafx II + Turbonanza + TED Pro instead of a an Analogue Duo, considering the Anlogue Duo still doesn't support the DAC. And having all this capability in the tiny CG2 package, running CDs off the SD card, is so cool

The only thing I'm missing vs the Analogue console that I can think of is bluetooth controller support. But there is a 3rd party USB hub adapter available for PC Engine that I can use instead, for the rare occasions I'll want to play multiplayer games

Yes, Krikzz finally delivered his latest TE-Pro firmware updates -- two of them. I was skimming through the latest TE-Pro manual and it doesn't mention what the biggest micro sdhc card is supported. What is the maximum micro sdhc card size supported with a TE-Pro setup?

The PCE CoreGrafx II console is quite tiny (and a bit hefty with all the hardware crammed inside) compared to the TurboGrafx-16 console setup with it's larger real estate space/footprint (but it has it's charms with it's all black-colored scheme + the cool neon stylized font/typeface that NEC went with for it's initial USA debut launch in the summer of 1989 with a MSRP of $189.99 usd). By December of 1993, you could buy a brand new TG-16 console for a mere $29.99 usd from your local American Toys-R-Us store. Not to mention all TG-16 TurboChip games were priced at between $14.99 (the TG-16 port of Air Zonk was $14.99 brand new) to $19.99 (including the uber-rare TG-16 version of Magical Chase that was available at TRU stores during February of 1994 for $19.99 brand new -- there was no indication/clue that it and Legend of Hero Tonma were the very last two official TG-16 Hu-Cards to be released from Turbo Technologies Incorporated themselves despite their official 12/31/1993 release date according to TTI). How cool was that? The TG-16 port of Magical Chase sure fetches a "pretty penny" on the secondary gaming collector's market nowadays (in both the USA & JPN). Nevertheless, it's cool to be able play both the JPN & USA versions of Magical Chase with a TE-Pro setup indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[fernan1234]

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Sorry for off-topic but I've been wondering for years: do you type out your signature with the winky face every post across forums, or do you have it set up automatically somehow?


On topic, it's awesome to see the update that fixed the CD audio issues, but sadly the SD access card noise is still there even with the more quiet SD cards like the Transcend that often gets recommended. Plugging USB power to the TED card helps quite a bit, but is cumbersome and still not perfect when using headphones.

Now I'm hoping for Krikzz to release a hardware revision TED Pro v2 that would not have this problem.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Sorry for off-topic but I've been wondering for years: do you type out your signature with the winky face every post across forums, or do you have it set up automatically somehow?


On topic, it's awesome to see the update that fixed the CD audio issues, but sadly the SD access card noise is still there even with the more quiet SD cards like the Transcend that often gets recommended. Plugging USB power to the TED card helps quite a bit, but is cumbersome and still not perfect when using headphones.

Now I'm hoping for Krikzz to release a hardware revision TED Pro v2 that would not have this problem.

For fernan1234,

It's all done "old school" typed out by hand. I wouldn't want to have to use an automated signature setup just to save typing a few keystrokes -- it's all cool.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[fernan1234]

It's all done "old school" typed out by hand. I wouldn't want to have to use an automated signature setup just to save typing a few keystrokes -- it's all cool.

Gotta respect this consistency. And the muscle memory for it must be so strong now you probably can type out that string really fast lol

[BazookaBen]

but sadly the SD access card noise is still there even with the more quiet SD cards like the Transcend that often gets recommended. Plugging USB power to the TED card helps quite a bit, but is cumbersome and still not perfect when using headphones.

I guess ignorance is bliss. I never had a Turbografx console back in the day, so I don't know if it had perfectly pristine noise floor, with or without the CD add on. I've only known life with TEDpro

I only notice the SD card noise when I have headphones on and it's loading something, so it's not really interfering with the actual music when it starts playing, as far as I can tell

[fernan1234]

I only notice the SD card noise when I have headphones on and it's loading something, so it's not really interfering with the actual music when it starts playing, as far as I can tell

Don't want to endanger your blissful ignorance, but with redbook audio the CD/card is accessed all the time, but usually music is playing so you won't hear it until there is a quiet moment in the track or a transition. All original consoles do have a relatively high noise floor though, but the noise is different (more of a hiss vs the scratchy buzzing of the TEDPro).

It's not a huge deal overall, but it's still something that makes me wonder why I'm not just using the MiSTer core instead or even burned discs on a Duo.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Hooking up a white-colored PC Engine console with a Krikzz Turbo Everdrive Pro to a candy cab is doable/possible but that involves a few additional more steps to get it up & running properly. Here's how to do so:

1.) Get a Krikzz EDFX add-on board and hook it to the backside of a PCE, CoreGrafx, CoreGrafx II, SuperGrafx or a TurboGrafx-16's console Extension Bus port. Carefully insert it in place and make sure not to damage the fragile pins housed within the Extension Bus port itself. Note: Up to a 256gb sized maximum micro sdhc card is supported with the Turbo Everdrive Pro flash cart (even a paltry 32gb sized micro sdhc card fills up fast when loading it up with PCE CD isos).

2.) Connect a Sega Mega Drive/Genesis 2 RGB Scart cable with C-Sync to the EDFX's A/V output interface.

3.) Hook up the Scart cable to any of the following below listed Scart to Jamma adapters:

a.) Tim Worthington's Scart to Jamma adapter (Versions 1, 2, or 3). You'll still need to padhack some PCE/TG-16 gaming pads to properly interface the game controls portion of Tim's Scart to Jamma interface. Tim's version 1 Scart to Jamma adapter pcb accepts both JPN 21-pin RGB and Euro Scart from the get-go which is a plus in my book -- the later released version 2 and version 3 pcbs only accept Euro Scart input at best. (If you're using Tim's version 1 Scart to Jamma adapter pcb, a Sega Mega Drive 2/Sega Genesis 2 JPN 21-pin RGB cable may be used in lieu of a Euro Scart cable -- something different for a change of pace.)

b.) Arthimus' JammaIZER pcb (that was available to buy back in 2020-2021 through his website) along with a Brook Fighting Board for classic retro consoles (i.e. PC Engine, NES, etc.) + a PCE to RJ-45 cable interface for hooking up to the PCE's controller port (will be just for Player 1 only). I tried hooking up a PCE multitap with a PCE console with two PCE to RJ-45 cable interfaces + two Brooks classic retro console fighting boards and it doesn't work/register whatsoever. Only accepts Euro Scart format from the get-go.

c.) PCE to Jamma adapter -- this is the only "PC Engine based Scart to Jamma adapter" that allows the ability to hook up both Player 1 and Player 2 dedicated controller mini 8-din interfaces to a PCE multi-tap setup which is then plugged into the PCE's sole controller port. Great for playing 2-player co-op Aero Busters, Bonk 3 two-player co-op, any of the Bomberman games with 2 players capability chosen (Bomberman, Bomberman '93, Bomberman '93 Special, Bomberman '94 and even the slick Bomber Panic puzzler, etc.) on the classic PCE or TG-16 (with the proper Retro Frog's PCE to TG-16 controller port adapter) console setup. It doesn't get any better than this, folks. This particular two-player endowed PCE Scart to Jamma adapter pcb only accepts Euro Scart indeed.

4.) Plug in the right multi-switching PSU A/C adapter to the PCE/TG-16 console so that it get's it own proper power to power up up the console itself. (Note: some of the various PCE to Jamma conversion jamma pcbs already supply the proper power through the 12v/5v power rails -- so there's no need to use an addition PSU with those particular setups as it could fry/toast the arcade pcb itself if supplied with additional & unnecessary DC power.)

5.) Considering that stereo will be outputting from the Sega MD2/SG2 Scart cable as usual, it'll be downconverted to mono-sound output through the candy cab's twin speakers through the 56-pin jamma edge interface (you could construct a custom-made Sega MD2/SG2 Scart cable with RCA Left &Right audio phono-output jacks and hook it up directly to the candy cab's stereo input interface if it does support stereo sound & if you want true stereo sound support from the get-go).

6.) Enjoy playing all those cool PCE/TG-16 based CD-Rom2, Super CD-Rom2 and Arcade CD-Rom2 based game titles on your favorite candy cab setup!

7.) The Turbo Everdrive Pro will auto-detect which region PCE or TG-16 console it's hooked up to, so there's no need to locate the tiny PCE/TG-16 region switch on the older Turbo Everdrive flashcart setups (versions 1.xx, 2.0, 2.1 and 2.5).

8.) If using a SuperGrafx console with both a TE-Pro + EDFX add-on board, the SuperGrafx game roms will play/boot up without any problems whatsoever through the Turbo Everdrive Pro. If you have access to a handy SuperGrafx console, this setup would be the ideal way to play your favorite SuperGrafx game roms on your candy cab's monitor. You would then have the best of both worlds of PCE & SuperGrafx while playing all your favorite PCE game roms, SuperGrafx game roms, CD-Rom2, Super CD-Rom2 & Arcade CD-Rom2 games isos on hand -- a grand total of five different gaming formats at your disposal. So yes, it makes sense to retain/keep that ol' SuperGrafx console located somewhere in that cubby hole stashed away (or gaming closet close by for easy access/within easy reach if it needed be). Nippon Electronic Corporation (NEC) only made 75,000 of the SuperGrafx consoles in their entirety for the Japanese public back in 1989-1990 before ultimately deciding to retire it "out to pasture".

A user-created SuperGrafx CD game iso recently released back in 2020 by the name of "Space Ava 201" (assuming if you have access to a SuperGrafx + Super CD-Rom2 interface unit + Arcade Card Duo is used = something never done before with a SuperGrafx-based puzzler game) is said to showcase what the SuperGrafx can really do/achieve if NEC had made a dedicated SuperGrafx CD-Rom interface unit add-on (hence the Super CD-Rom2 interface unit that was originally developed for the SuperGrafx later during the PCE's lifespan as a result of the SuperGrafx's untimely demise and endowed with full Super CD-Rom2 support from the get-go + no need for an external Super CD-Rom2 card upgrade either as it's already built-in into the hardware itself). Still requires an Arcade Card Duo or Arcade Card Pro if used with a PCE, CoreGrafx, CoreGrafx II or SuperGrafx if you want the ability to play Arcade CD-Rom2 game on real hardware (or just use a Turbo Everdrive Pro as it already doubles as a bonafide Arcade Card from the get-go with real PCE hardware).

-----------------------------------
The below listed various PCE to Jamma conversion pcbs do support the Turbo Everdrive Pro but will only play the sound effects and not the CD music (the Hu-card based game roms will play both sound effects and music just fine without any problems). Of course, the below mentioned arcade pcbs are properly RGB attenuated at the factory-level for the finicky PCE console hardware -- still might require some more fine tuning with the candy cab's owner/user to adjust the overall monitor output/appearance to his or her liking/tastes for best results. "Your mileage may vary" as usual due to the PCE's overall RGB output levels -- on some PCE to Jamma conversion pcbs, the contrast level output may be a tad bit dim as that's be to expected).
-----------------------------------

9.) The Spain produced PC Engine powered Tourvision jamma pcb (from 1990 to 1992) plays all PCE and TG-16 games with a proper Tourvision Hu-Card converter -- it has true stereo output on the 56-pin jamma edge interface as well + the four Hu-Card slots on the motherboard itself making it a true multi-slot based PCE arcade motherboard literally -- is regarded as a cool arcade-based PCE setup worth owning/playing for novelty's sake for the discerning PCE/TG-16 gamer/collector nevertheless. It seldomly appears on the secondary reseller market these days though but if one appears, snatch it right away.

10.) The United Amusements manufactured TurboGrafx-16 jamma pcb kit that was sold in limited numbers to American arcade owners/operator back in 1989-1990 is another uber-rare method of hooking up such a PCE to a candy cab (or the usual upright American Dynamo arcade cabs that were prevalent back in the late 1980s into the mid-1990s) setup as well -- this rarely appears for sale on the secondary arcade pcb collector's market nowadays. It, originally, had a MSRP of $995.99 usd pricetag for arcade owners & operators and has the ability to play both Japanese and American Hu-Cards wihout the need for a cumbersome Hu-Card convertor anyways. How cool is that? I've tried this rare TG-16 arcade jamma conversion pcb only twice in one day back in March of 1990 at a local arcade joint and haven't played it since then.

11.) There were various 3rd-party manufactured PCE to Jamma conversion pcbs that were made/sold for the Japanese game centers back in the early 1990s and in South Korea during that particular timeframe also (on some of them, the "countdown timer" can be totally dsiabled/turned off for unlimited "freeplay" if so desired -- very cool feature/functionality to have). They are known to work or require a bit of arcade pcb repair to get them back and running at 100% working condition. Most that are available to buy nowadays are in poor shape to begin with and are sometimes missing the right cables to get everything up and running as it should be. Buyer beware -- make sure that everything is included and works 100% as shown before hitting the "Buy It Now" button (as some secondary resellers have been known to sell such incomplete and non-working PCE to Jamma conversion pcbs).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Gara]

Can anyone recommend a CD game with an easily repeatable long pause in sound while the game accesses the SD card? I'd like to do a comparison on the SD access noise

[fernan1234]

Can anyone recommend a CD game with an easily repeatable long pause in sound while the game accesses the SD card? I'd like to do a comparison on the SD access noise

Everyone's favorite PCE CD game, Rondo of Blood, has silent pauses in between BGM track loops. Actually, the intro sequence with the narrator in German is a good one since it has so much silence between the dialogue, which is a redbook audio track. The noise is pretty obvious as soon as the intro starts and the German dude is about to start talking.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Both Super CD-Rom2 game titles of Super Darius 2 and Gradius II GoFer have built-in support with the Roland Sound Space (RSS) 3-D surround sound method which by using a PC-based powered 2.0 or 2.1 speaker setup set to 20 degrees in relation to the player's seating position, fully-realized 3-D audio from just a two-speaker setup is possible. Just hook up your favorite PCE console to a powered speaker setup and enjoy full redbook audio in glorious redbook audio 44.1kHz format. (Even the PCE Super-CD-Rom2 game title of Konami's Snatcher supports RSS also.)

The same above listed PCE CD-based game titles still offer RSS 3D spatilized surround sound with a Krikzz Turbo Everdrive Pro + EDFX add-on setup as well. How is that? Just use a MD2/SG2 Euro Scart cable (with C-Sync output) with RCA phono L&R audio breakout cable hooked up to a set of powered speakers.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~