Analogue Duo, New PC Engine Duo FPGA From Analogue

[neorichieb1971]

For those in the United Kingdom. This is the breakdown cost of an Analogue duo.

$250 base price
$80 UPS 3 day shipping
£59.10 customs fee.

On my calculation that makes it $400 base price for us on todays exchange rate. Analogue always put the contents, price paid on the shipping label so customs is always due.
There is no shipping option, as Analogue wants full protection so they use UPS which are not competitive. I waited since May for this thing I don't need a 3 day shipping quote from the other side of the world.

The only blessing is that I dodged eBay this time. So Any UK guys on the fence, this is my experience so know what you're getting into.

And yeah, the forum takes 1 min to load and 1 min to respond to button presses. Good job I'm British and can always do with a nice cup of tea.

[Koa Zo]

Does analogue actually allow order cancellations? I refreshed the store tab i had open and actually saw the stock go up by one

They do. Whether or not they actually refund the money after cancelling is another question.
I cancelled my orders on Nov.17, two units at $575, they confirmed cancellation and suggested I would see the amount credited back to my card within a week. No refund has been issued and they have not responded to any follow up emails or messages through their website support form.

edit: my credit card provider was able to return the funds to me

[Ricdeau]

I requested a cancellation for one of the Duos I had on order last week. I got a confirmation on Monday saying I'll receive a partial refund, but no refund yet.

[neorichieb1971]

I started mine up today for the 1st time. I don't have a SD card and I only have an original pad.

I assume that the screen filters are either on a later firmware than 1.0 or that my controller doesn't tap into the screen filter screen as I cannot find those options anywhere.

As others have said the volume line output is very low.

The boot up sequence always goes through the setup as well. I assume the memory card takes care of that but it won't remember the time.

I do prefer the setup on the previous machines I don't need a clock.

So should I go out and buy a SD card and get the FW downloaded over to it?

[Guspaz]

You should consult the manual: https://assets.analogue.co/pdf/e1643ec7 ... l+v1.0.pdf

Startup behaviour and display modes are both available in the settings menu. The menu can usually be accessed on generic controllers using down+select.

Yes, you should get an SD card and keep your firmware up to date. Several of the console's features require an SD card, though I don't believe saving settings does. You can find firmware here: https://www.analogue.co/support/duo/firmware

[neorichieb1971]

Duo – System – Display Modes


That option does not exist. There are 5 white circles at the bottom left which might state there are more panels as only the first white circle is filled with 4 more black ones. But I've pressed every button I cannot see how you can get to those panels if they exist.

I don't see the HDMI option in the menu either.

[neorichieb1971]

Chase HQ doesn't run at all. Just says "Play Hucard" and screen goes black.

I've had a blast on Jackie Chan, New Adventure island and Galaga 88 so far.

[bobrocks95]

Chase HQ doesn't run at all. Just says "Play Hucard" and screen goes black.

I've had a blast on Jackie Chan, New Adventure island and Galaga 88 so far.

I do see mention in the patch notes of fixing HuCard detection. But I would have thought that meant the system didn't think you had a HuCard in or something.

[neorichieb1971]

Chase HQ doesn't run at all. Just says "Play Hucard" and screen goes black.

I've had a blast on Jackie Chan, New Adventure island and Galaga 88 so far.

I do see mention in the patch notes of fixing HuCard detection. But I would have thought that meant the system didn't think you had a HuCard in or something.

Chase HQ is one that hasn't come up in other videos i've watched. I only have about 6 games and one is sealed. If you put a Hucard in the system it reads it and the name of the game comes up on the menu. But when it doesn't work it just says "Play Hucard" instead of the name of the game and the screen goes black.

I don't like the clean look image very much so I'm hoping getting a SD card/FW1.2 tomorrow updates my menus with all the options in all these videos reviewing it. I'd rather they just put the old O/S on it to be honest.

[SavagePencil]

Chase HQ doesn't run at all. Just says "Play Hucard" and screen goes black.

I've had a blast on Jackie Chan, New Adventure island and Galaga 88 so far.

Do you have the US or the JP version of Chase HQ? And can you confirm it works on a genuine TG16/PCE?

In the run-up to release, I helped a journalist test the device. We found some odd situations, like the US Dragon's Curse would boot but the JP version (Adventure Island) wouldn't. But both worked fine on real hardware.

Similarly, we thought Salamander was incompatible but found out that it appears to have died when I couldn't get it to work on real hardware, either

[neorichieb1971]

Chase HQ doesn't run at all. Just says "Play Hucard" and screen goes black.

I've had a blast on Jackie Chan, New Adventure island and Galaga 88 so far.

Do you have the US or the JP version of Chase HQ? And can you confirm it works on a genuine TG16/PCE?

In the run-up to release, I helped a journalist test the device. We found some odd situations, like the US Dragon's Curse would boot but the JP version (Adventure Island) wouldn't. But both worked fine on real hardware.

Similarly, we thought Salamander was incompatible but found out that it appears to have died when I couldn't get it to work on real hardware, either

All my games are Japanese.

I don't have any real hardware and Chase HQ I bought in August and its never been tested by me. I bought it from BEEP in Tokyo.

I don't understand why these devices don't just use USB for firmware. I've got so many USB sticks its ridiculous and now I have to buy a SD card and USB reader just to unlock new options.

[neorichieb1971]

Audio -

If you have the unit plugged in via HDMI to your TV or whatever you might find the line out level to be extremely low. I was not using a TV I was using a monitor and outputing from the 3.5mm jack on the monitor into some PC speakers.

So I decided to take the 3.5mm jack out of the monitor and plug it straight into the Duo. This gives you control from the headphone volume control on the side of the Duo. It goes so loud now i'm very happy.

Its a strange setup that the line out via HDMI is so low compared to the headphone jack on the duo. But I'm happy now I can actually hear it very well and the jingles are so retro. I'm not just experiencing the Analogue Duo i'm playing games i've never played before. Loving it.

Just need the Firmware updating now and I think if those options that I'm missing appear i'll be very happy.. and of course trying to get the Chase HQ working.

[Johnpv]

Duo – System – Display Modes


That option does not exist. There are 5 white circles at the bottom left which might state there are more panels as only the first white circle is filled with 4 more black ones. But I've pressed every button I cannot see how you can get to those panels if they exist.

I don't see the HDMI option in the menu either.

The Duo's shjipped out with firmware version 0.9 you need to update the firmware to get the display options.

[neorichieb1971]

Duo – System – Display Modes


That option does not exist. There are 5 white circles at the bottom left which might state there are more panels as only the first white circle is filled with 4 more black ones. But I've pressed every button I cannot see how you can get to those panels if they exist.

I don't see the HDMI option in the menu either.

The Duo's shjipped out with firmware version 0.9 you need to update the firmware to get the display options.

Thats reassuring since I've gone and purchased an SD card with a USB adapter. I think its a bit poor that this unit released with F/W that wasn't up to scratch with the earlier consoles that Analogue released out of the box. I've never updated any of the firmwares on the other 3 Analogue consoles I have and am completely happy.

Also I just tried to buy a 8bitdo PC engine controller and it seems there are none, at least not outside of China for a decent price. I have one in my watch list on ebay I might go for it.

So far this Duo has cost me $425 and I haven't got a wireless controller yet.

[fernan1234]

Every single Analogue console released with a crap firmware featuring plenty of inaccuracies and bugs.

[Johnpv]

A lot of stuff ships with out the most recent firmware or OS. Stuff needs to be assembled and packed months in advance.

[Guspaz]

I don't really understand why anybody would want to keep using launch Analogue firmware, they're always bug-ridden and it doesn't make any sense to not update them. And who doesn't own one or more SD cards in this day and age? I couldn't even tell you how many micro and full sized I've got floating around at this point.

[neorichieb1971]

I updated and retested. All the options were there so I have a reasonable picture.

The only SD card I had was in my camera and my camera corrupts the cards. I used to have a few knocking about but they are small and things get moved around. I've misplaced whole consoles before I couldn't find my GBA earlier. IGN review states Chase HQ doesn't work for them either.

https://www.ign.com/articles/analogue-duo-review - Just past halfway it mentions games that don't work.

I did, unfortunately, have a few games fail to be recognized or even run in my mixed collection of 50 original games or so, including the PC Engine HuCards of TAITO Chase H.Q. and F1 Circus '91, both of which work fine on my original PC Engine Core Grafx II console

[spmbx]

I'm afraid that's impossible. You see we are not talking peasant-level emulation here but the real FPGA deal. "Unlike the knock off and emulation systems that riddle the market today, you'll be experiencing the entire NEC era free of compromises."

[evil_ash_xero]

Mine just came in. I got a US one and a JP one.

I'll leave them in their plastic until they add DAC support. So, they'll probably be sitting there for a LONG time. If they never add it,
I'm sure I can sell them for more than what they cost me, since Analogue are always out of stock.

Hopefully they add the DAC support though.

[neorichieb1971]

Chase hq working. Sent ticket to Analogue support they said to change region from auto detect to Japan.

After that game is recognised and works.

I guess that says a lot about auto detect.

Analogue responded quickly and gave me good help.

Since I don't plan on getting any Turbo Grafix cards I might as well leave the region to Japan.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

For neorichieb1971,

You can try the Turbo Everdrive or Turbo Everdrive Pro flash cart with a micro sdhc card loaded with TurboGrafx-16 (and PC Engine) game roms including the uber-rare TTI version of Magical Chase. It's worth taking out for a leisurely spin as it has some slight differences compared to it's original PCE counterpart of the same name (best bang for the buck/pound and totally worth it in the end just to play the TG-16 version of MC on the cheap). Just gotta remove the plastic casing cover off the TE/TEP beforehand and you're in business/good to go.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Austin]

I've played a couple dozen CDs and for the most part things have been solid. Of the issues I have found, they are:

- Mad Stalker locks up at the first load screen after the introduction. It specifically locks up at "70" (it counts down from 99). I did set the region to Japan and it still does it.

- Riot Zone had major background graphical glitching on the first two boss fights.

- Super Darius 2 blacked out on me on the Zone O boss fight. I could still hear the occasional shots and death sounds, but it wasn't registering actual deaths/triggering a Game Over. I could still pull up the Analogue OS menu with holding Select + Down. Totally black screen otherwise.

- Terraforming loaded fine for me last night, but upon playing it again this afternoon, it refused to load after the initial developer logo faded to black. I power cycled the console and it worked after that, but I just thought that was weird.

[Deubeul]

- Mad Stalker locks up at the first load screen after the introduction. It specifically locks up at "70" (it counts down from 99). I did set the region to Japan and it still does it.

I did not test with my own copy but try setting the system card to Arcade Card.

[Ricdeau]

Does analogue actually allow order cancellations? I refreshed the store tab i had open and actually saw the stock go up by one

They do. Whether or not they actually refund the money after cancelling is another question.
I cancelled my orders on Nov.17, two units at $575, they confirmed cancellation and suggested I would see the amount credited back to my card within a week. No refund has been issued and they have not responded to any follow up emails or messages through their website support form.

edit: my credit card provider was able to return the funds to me

I did finally get my refund yesterday.

[BazookaBen]

I did finally get my refund yesterday.

Did you have to initiate a dispute through your cardholder, or did Analogue take care of it on their own?

[Ricdeau]

I did finally get my refund yesterday.

Did you have to initiate a dispute through your cardholder, or did Analogue take care of it on their own?

After a sufficient amount of time for them to issue a refund, I emailed them every 2 days or so until I got a response (3 additional emails past them confirming they would issue a partial refund). Next day after that response I got my refund.

[Elrinth]

I did a big test and all the games I tested worked. I made a youtube vid about it. But it makes me a bit worried now that I see other's have had problems with many games (after having read this thread).

I did have 2 "freezes" where my controller stopped working or the console just didn't continue with the game.
It has happened a total of 3 times now. There seems to be a bug with the retry operation for CD based games.

Also sound is not reproduced as original console does. Even Analogue Pocket openFPGA & MiSTeR does audio better.

The freezes with Analogue Duo has happened to atleast 3 other people I saw on facebook. I will scavage thru this thread.



Hopefully Team Analogue is working on fixing the issues. (Anyone knows?)

[parodius]

My Image Fight 2 original CD does not pass the loading screen, though it works using a Turbo EverDrive Pro.

I also have some issues with 2 of my 2.4Ghz 8bitdo PCE controllers, when they are fully charged they seem to work well, but then get disconnected regularly after 30-60 min of play.
Those are older ones I got when the PCE mini came out, I have a new one I haven't tested yet.

[Austin]

My Image Fight 2 original CD does not pass the loading screen, though it works using a Turbo EverDrive Pro.

I also have some issues with 2 of my 2.4Ghz 8bitdo PCE controllers, when they are fully charged they seem to work well, but then get disconnected regularly after 30-60 min of play.
Those are older ones I got when the PCE mini came out, I have a new one I haven't tested yet.

Did you flash the 8bitdo pads with the Analogue firmware, or are you just using their USB dongles?

I am using the dongle with my PCE Mini wireless pad and have had zero issues. I have heard from others though about disconnects and dropouts like you described.