Dreamcast into ATW AWSD

[neorichieb1971]

I can't find a manual online for the AWSD. So could anyone tell me if my AWSD has a audio amplifier? I am wanting to put my DC in there. Cheers.

[cools]

http://www.arcadeotaku.com/wiki/index.p ... Manual.pdf

[neorichieb1971]

Nice but its in Japanese (As expected).

[cools]

They don't have amps

[MKL]

On page 30. It's not a stock part of the AWSD but it's available. A few for sale here:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27353
http://i517.photobucket.com/albums/u339 ... CF0549.jpg

Of course you might as well use any other amplifier but the AWSD already has hookups for that one.

[neorichieb1971]

Right, you mean my AWSD has a loose molex inside which goes to the speakers?

Wouldn't be N1 and N2 would it?

[kernow]

[neorichieb1971]

Cool, thanks for that.

[MKL]

Right, you mean my AWSD has a loose molex inside which goes to the speakers?

Yes, from the amp to the speakers (through the mono-stereo switch and volume pot). It also has a connector to power the amp with +12V:

Wouldn't be N1 and N2 would it?

N1 and N2 are JVS power connectors (for Naomi). The AWSD also has a kick harness (C3 in the above pic) for the Sega Naomi Jamma I/O (see also p. 30 of the manual).

[kernow]

I've got one of those amps coming tomorrow - woo!

Not sure where I'm going to place it as theres not really any mounting spot, and I'll have to keep disconnecting it from the MVS as thats amplified stereo already, but it'll definitely be nice to have for CPS2.

[neorichieb1971]

Where do you get the amps from?

[kernow]

Poolchamp had them for sale on a thread here, £50 +pp I think.

You can pretty much hook up any stereo cab amp though like a sega naomi one or capcom q sound amp. But the official taito ones are nice - especially as they are plug and play.

[Radiantsvgun]

Oh man, I'd love to have one of those amps for my e2. Kern, I might have to send you some $$$ to pick one of those up for me.

[kernow]

They aren't a straight fit into the e2, but its not too much extra work to fit it. not sure if it has the +12 connector for power, and the stereo connector is 4pin not 6. I think they're all sold now too sadly

I'll let you know how it sounds on my cab though with CPS2 :awe:

[cools]

The E2 has a similar F connector but it's only 4 pin. It doesn't quite fit onto the amp due to the extra pins. Two methods would work - chopping the extra pins off, or swapping the connector for a 6 pin one. Both are easy.

There is no 12v connector, so that'll need to be rigged up. If anyone knows what/where to get the connector and pins for this (or fancies chopping the 12v line out of their AWSD/E3 ) I'd love to know.

[MKL]

It's a JST VH. It's also used as an extra power connector on MVS 4- and 6-slots:



Here I used them for a HRAP mod:



I get them from rswww but Digikey stocks them too.

[kernow]

Extra power on a 4 slot eh.. hmm

My 4 slot works perfectly without it, I guess its optional of course.

[neorichieb1971]

Just for reference. What is the part number Kernow? Or where do I buy an amp new?


thanks mate,

Richie.

[kernow]

Poolchamp said he still has some, PM him

I'm currently having problems in mine with my AWSD, its related to how the speakers are wired but its only with CPS2. Shouldn't be too hard to solve it either.

So yeah, Alan has some still, £50 + pp

[neorichieb1971]

I googled the amp and found your neo geo thread. I won't have that problem since I won't be using the jamma edge connector at all. Although I could use one for the controls (just gave me an idea). That would save me a whole bunch of work. Using it for controls won't cause a problem for audio surely?

[cools]

It's a JST VH. It's also used as an extra power connector on MVS 4- and 6-slots:



Here I used them for a HRAP mod:



I get them from rswww but Digikey stocks them too.

VH?

Oh, balls. I just placed an order for YLs based on the photo on NG.com

/me fail

[kernow]

I googled the amp and found your neo geo thread. I won't have that problem since I won't be using the jamma edge connector at all. Although I could use one for the controls (just gave me an idea). That would save me a whole bunch of work. Using it for controls won't cause a problem for audio surely?

Nope

[neorichieb1971]

Got the amp a day or two ago.. Installed today.

These are my findings -

Dreamcast absolutely hates this thing. The sound is muffled, distorted and any sign of bass out of the system gives this amp a heart attack. I am not sure whats going to be honest.

PS2 - I haven't put any bass line into it yet, but the games I tried worked fine. The problem with the PS2 is that I need the XRGB2 and its alot of wiring going on in there.

So can anyone tell me if there is a way to sort out the Dreamcast or the distortion in general. The PS2 sounds acceptable so far but its on the brink of distorting again. I think the output levels of these consoles is too high.

Oh, and I get the buzzing/humming as well even though i'm not using the jamma connector.

[kernow]

Oh, and I get the buzzing/humming as well even though i'm not using the jamma connector.

Hmm, bloody cabs.

[neorichieb1971]

I put the DC through my XRGB2 and VGA cable direct using a 3.5 to photo cable and the same results. On my PC speakers the DC sounds fantastic. Therefore the Taito amp is no good for DC unfortunately. Unless of course you like listening to distortion.

The games through the XRGB2 look the same as the cab does natively.. so thats a good thing for the XRGB2.

Now I just need a couple of PS to Jamma control converters. Although I am not sure how that is going to work with the kick harness.

[cools]

The amp won't work nicely with anything other than line level input.

[neorichieb1971]

I assumed any console outputted line level output.

[neorichieb1971]

I did a search on distorted audio for Dreamcast and someone had a problem with the wii having distortion at every volume level. At the end of the line was this product -

http://www.amazon.com/HARRISON-LABS-LIN ... 84-2771954


Seems expensive, but will it do the job?

[neorichieb1971]

According to my friend the buzzing is caused by the PSU.

Can anyone who has the Taito amp tell me if there is any controls on the unit that adjust the level of amplification?

It seems rather weird that my DC is distorting a lot.. Maybe a faulty unit?

[neorichieb1971]

Ok.. Well, I got the attenuators from Iain at www.goldenjacks.com

He suggested -14db which is a tad too powerful and it stopped the distortion. You do have to turn the volume to almost maximum to get a decent amount of sound from the PS2.

The dreamcast is fine with -14db. I would have thought -10db would be nearer the right attenuation for both though.

Tonight myself and Firebug done a joypad conversion on the PS2> cab CP and it works great. So now I have control, video and audio.


The taito amp buzzes a little, but its because of the XRGB2 grounding badly as it buzzes to the whiteness of the video on screen.