Messages

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Super CDRom2 low/static sound....caps?]

Its really not very easy to change the caps on the cdrom2 unit. Since you decide to go into this trouble, why not use really quality kit caps like the panasonic console5 sells... I only get kits from him.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Is anyone selling replacement gears?]

Be careful not to buy gears from China no matter how cheap they may be. I did once and they were crap, they were transparent and the grooves were sticking, the motor was struggling to move the laser. I would definitely go with console5 , he sells really quality stuff.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Duo recap distorted audio and no left channel on headphone jack]

Good job !!!!! Anything is possible but I think its going to be hard to find the exact nob and replace it.
I don't remember about the DUO but on the CDROM2 unit, the sound signal on the headphone jack is indeed high when turned all the way up.... it causes distortion, not like static but more like a loud bass.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Duo recap distorted audio and no left channel on headphone jack]

Hey, what did you do with the CDROM drive gears? Did you just clean it off or did you apply any lubricant later?

I cleaned it as good as possible with cotton swabs and ISP and then applied Tamiya boron nitrite lubricant.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Duo recap distorted audio and no left channel on headphone jack]

Yes it did, the serial is printed with ink.

More time can't harm, just let it soak for a couple of hours to make sure the board (or the part of it that you want) is clean.
Since I have an abundance of ISP, i even changed it a couple of times to make sure all this yellow orange goo has been removed from the whole board.

Here's mine, as you can see its squeaky clean.


<sub>https://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r502/gtsamour/DSC_0013.jpg

https://i1169.photobucket.com/albums/r502/gtsamour/DSC_0005_2.jpg</sub>

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Duo recap distorted audio and no left channel on headphone jack]

I had a kind of similar problem with my PCE DUO, the sound was fine before the recap (no leaks anywhere) but thought I would do the recap anyway so I got an SMD kit from console5.
Did the recap and after a while I noticed that after the console warm up, there was some kind of audio problem.
Even if nothing was playing there was something in the background. Something like when you touch a microphone sounds like.... coming and going... I imagined that it had to be a small solder blob somewhere that after console warm up it expanded and made contact.

I couldn't see anything wrong while inspecting.... so i took the whole board out and immersed it in isopropyl alcohol for a while. Thought it could be a small solder blob somewhere making contact. I gently rubbed with a brush while the board was immersed both sides.
Let it dry in the oven at 45C and placed everything back together.

That solved it.

Whatever it is in your case, it has to be on the upper left corner area of the board.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: CDROM2 audio glitching and alternative laser request]

Can someone post the kss-220A equivalents please? (if there are more that the kss-225a)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine / TurboGrafx 16 CDRom ?]

The black and the white CDROM2 units ARE interchangeable and can be used on TG16 dock and on the IFU-30 unit (with the white pce).

I have both and have tried the swaps, they work.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: CD-ROM2 missing cap at (C158)]

Yes you're right, I can see a cap there from pictures of my board but I have no idea of what value. There are no indications on it.

Maybe an expert could shed some light on that one....

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: CD-ROM2 missing cap at (C158)]

Here... I don't see a C158 cap in the schematic though....

https://console5.com/wiki/Turbo_Grafx_CD-ROM_Drive

Is it an SMD cap component? Could you post a picture?

Audio dropouts could be due to the caps being old, you may need a total cap replacement.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine duo RGB audio hum/buzz]

I think he's referring to the buzzing sound on RGB modded consoles...

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE DUO cd spindle not spinning but laser is tracking and seeking.]

But how can this be.... wouldn't I be having problems with reading other cds? Just with this single one?
And also, it could read this particular cd with the previous laser (before I accidentally torn the ribbon and had to replace it).

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE DUO cd spindle not spinning but laser is tracking and seeking.]

gts it sounds like yours is getting stuck
clean rails, clean gears, wires not getting cought

Everything is completely clean and well greased with boron nitrate grease (Tamiya) which is the best to my knowledge.

Wires couldn't be the problem, it reds everything else without a problem....

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R suddenly has one of the audio channels completely gone]

Well its not a small task, there are more under the cdrom part too that are not visible in this picture...
Don't do it all at once, start and finish it little by little.
There are a lot worse.... the DUO for example, it was a nightmare with the SMD caps and the traces on that one get ripped easily.
This one... they are through hole caps, much much easier to replace.

The fact that it was working ok and suddenly not without having something remarkable happen to it smells like bad caps to me....

If there are audio schematics, I haven't come across them.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R suddenly has one of the audio channels completely gone]

The DUO R has Rubicon capacitors by factory. Even if they have gone bad, don't expect them to be leaking or looking bloated, they will look normal, good capacitors are like that except if they have been under lots of stress.

If you do the complete caps replacement go for the console5 kit, it has excellent 105C Panasonic capacitors. I've recapped ALL of my PCE consoles with console 5 kits, even if the consoles were working fine in the first place to be on the safe side for the future.

I think the audio caps are located on the upper left corner of the board, if I'm mistaken please someone correct me.

Here's mine, done it myself


ps
focus on the audio R and L soldering points only, not the ones related to RGB as you don't have issues there.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R suddenly has one of the audio channels completely gone]

The starting point is to determine whether your problem is something very simple (like a din8 cracked sound pin solder) or not. Start from there.

Then open and inspect what has been done to the system during the mod.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R suddenly has one of the audio channels completely gone]

Well Keith is right, the duo r isn't known for needing capacitor replacement but its not impossible to happen.

If that's indeed the case (and not the din-8) then its better to go for a complete cap replacement because that means they have started to die.

I would investigate further before I start replacing caps because this is uncommon for the duo r.

Try pushing the connector while the console is on and producing sound and see if the sound gets restored momentarily. If that's the case then its a cracked soldering point.

Or it could be a solder blob that got moved and is shorting something. You need to open it and investigate closely.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Duo R suddenly has one of the audio channels completely gone]

Probably you need a capacitors replacement.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE DUO cd spindle not spinning but laser is tracking and seeking.]

Really? Did the laser light up or was it completely dead?

These lasers are weird things... I have a new one I installed recently, that will load and play cdr games perfectly, will play audio silver cds but will refuse to play one single audio cd that otherwise plays fine on all other PCE units I have. It was playing fine with the previous laser on the same unit though (all caps replaced), even identical units (cdrom2 with ifu30).

Adjusting the pots could not make it play... it refuses to go beyond track 4 and track 3 plays with sound distortions.
Lowering or increasing laser power slightly made no difference.

I just can't explain it.... it plays everything else I threw at it fine (also loading times are minimal)so I gave up trying....

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE DUO cd spindle not spinning but laser is tracking and seeking.]

I hope it works for you. Just post if you managed to fix it and what was the problem. Every problem solved is a hand to someone else.

Well everything is possible but its probably the BA6290A , where did you touch the board? Was it near the BA6290A ?

Another guy had a system that wouldn't spin the disc and he solved it by replacing the BA6290A so... fingers crossed.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE DUO cd spindle not spinning but laser is tracking and seeking.]

Maybe it the BA6290A that drives the motor. There are two onboard, one that drives the motor and the other the laser. But don't know which one is for which...
I bought a couple from this guy http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BA6290A-Power-Driver-for-CD-Players/381930295245?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Stick PCB repair]

Just a proper cleaning can work wonders....

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Stick PCB repair]

Also in case you're thinking of replacing the caps on that, take notice that they are NOT polarized, they're bipolar.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG16 CD unit laser doesn't move SOLVED]

Steve said it might be due to more thickness on these two.
I'm suspecting that my issue is laser power related..... I was unable to make two audio cds play by adjusting the pots but 9 others play OK, so it has to be laser power related, maybe it needs to be a tiny amount higher.

I may try to increase the power just a little bit and see what it does.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Pre-Existing Repair/Modification]

The chip shielding on the left picture is normal, both of my TG16 have it.

On the right picture, i don't know what this cable is for but I can see the jail bar fix has been applied (ceramic cap added on C134). There has to be one more that is out of the picture.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG16 CD unit laser doesn't move SOLVED]

But isn't that weird, that it would play all CD-Rs OK, it will play silver pressed audio cds OK and just two out of 11 of them have problems?

I thought that all silver pressed cds have the same reflectivity (and better than any CDr's) and thus, I would expect either all of them to be playing OK or none of them... isn't that so?

Also I would expect the silver pressed audio cds to be playing OK first and then any CD-R due to better reflectivity. In my case all CDRs i made play absolutely fine with excellent loading times, every time.

As for an Oscilloscope... would these cheapos that go around ebay suffice? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-4-TFT-Digital-Oscilloscope-Kit-DIY-Parts-Acrylic-Case-Cover-1M-HOLD-Function/282518516105?_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555014%26algo%3DPL.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D43781%26meid%3Deaa4abd3c8bb4e77874980abb0eedcc7%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG16 CD unit laser doesn't move SOLVED]

I managed to adjust the pots with the new laser installment, frankly there was no change compared to the previous settings....

one thing is strange though and I would like your insight....

all cd-r games I tried (Taiyo Huden), load fast and play fine (data loading ok and all audio tracks play crystal clear).
But two genuine pressed audio cds out of a total of 11 I tried, will not play OK (skipping after a later track on one and bad audio on the other, with very faint static like distortions but clearly audible).
The other 9 audio cds play absolutely fine, all tracks.

How can this be explained? The 2 problematic audio cds don't have any scratches or dirt on them.

The weird thing is that I tried to adjust the pots using one of the "bad" audio cds and it was impossible, it wouldn't play OK no matter what.

And finally, this "bad" cd was playing fine with my previous laser (before I replaced it)....
The previous KSS-220A was Sony and the new one is Denon.... could that make a difference? (maybe the laser power setting is lower on the Denon)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: IFU-30 RGB mod horizontal noise?]

Your PSU is fine specs wise.
Anything between 9-11V is OK assuming the polarity is correct and the PSU isn't defective or of bad circuit design quality. 1,5A is enough, more doesn't hurt.

As for grounding... no need to ground all the pins.

Use the cable's/pce jack shell ground for the scart sound ground, and the regular pce ground for the composite ground pin on the scart.

Here's my cable

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG16 CD unit laser doesn't move SOLVED]

It was a pain finding a new KSS-220A and it cost me 50 euros postage included... but what can you do... there is an Austrian guy on ebay selling new Denon KSS-220A and still has 6 of them for sale if someone is interested.
If someone knows of a different source for new ones it would be great to let us know.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: IFU-30 RGB mod horizontal noise?]

If I turn up the brightness on all my RGB modded PCEs there's always "something" lurking in the black parts. I think they are normal and are only seen in LCD tvs. These consoles were made to be played on CRTs and analog picture signals are never 100% clean.

Specially on the PCE TG16 CD systems and during loading I can see faint waves going up or down if the brightness is high enough, so your case (IFU-30) falls in this category too.

If you turn the brightness down you'll see that after a point these are not visible anymore and the picture is still very well lit.

So... after looking at your video and picture, I think this is normal.
The guy in the link you posted seems to be having an entirely different issue. I had his issue too when I used an insufficient psu (lower amps than needed on a pce duo).

Ps
A crappy or insufficient PSU can make these kind of distortions A LOT worse.
A Low quality RGB cable  can make these kind of distortions A LOT worse.
Don't expect these kind of distortions to go away completely even if you have good quality psu and cable.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG16 CD unit laser doesn't move SOLVED]

Thank God it was the laser. Seems to be working OK now, cd spins every time. Every now and then it may take longer to load Dracula X but I guess that has to do with the disc being a CDR, all my pce cd systems do that sometimes.

It seems I damaged the ribbon without noticing when I took it apart to retrobright it.

Do the pots need re adjusting every time the laser is changed?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG16 CD unit laser doesn't move SOLVED]

The turbo duo I have been repairing also had a bad BA6290A and would move the laser but not spin the disc.

Thank you for the info
My PCE cd unit was working fine (new caps, gear and lens installed by me, pots adjusted too) until I disassembled the unit to whiten it with retrobright.
When I put it back together carefully, the unit worked but started to behave strangely, some times it booted and loaded fine. Other times it seemed struggling to boot and the laser seemed to go back and forth with the disc spinning but failing to load. Other times the disk didn't spin.

Opened it up more than once but couldn't see anything wrong with it (ribbons half way in, clogged gears etc). While trying to find out what was wrong I ripped the wide ribbon right through, so now I'm waiting for the new one.

So I still don't know what was wrong in the first place. I'm thinking I might have damaged the ribbon without noticing while I was putting the unit back after the bleaching, or the laser started to die although it was new or the BA6290A started acting up. I ordered two from ebay just in case.. Easy to find and thankfully cheap.

Fingers crossed, I hope replacing the laser will be all that's needed.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG16 CD unit laser doesn't move SOLVED]

What could cause this (the BA6290A go bad)? Is this normal ware or maybe a wrong psu connected some time before and damaged it?

Are there two BA6290A on a PCE CD? I can see two components that look like that in photos but are they both BA6290A?
If thats so.... is one for the laser movement and the other for the disc spin motor?

The turbo duo I have been repairing also had a bad BA6290A and would move the laser but not spin the disc.

Did the disc spin occur from time to time or never? On my unit it happens but not always... could it be the BA6290A?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG16 CD unit laser doesn't move SOLVED]

Has anyone else encountered a BA6290A go bad on the PCE or TG16 CD unit?

Could this be the cause if a unit that has new gear, new lens and well lubed mechanism (tamiya boron lube) sometimes spins the disc (and seems to be playing fine) and other times not?

Might be the laser (although it is new, I had replaced it myself a couple of years back) but I don't have a new one yet to try... if the new laser doesn't fix it, could it be the BA6290A?
Or is the BA6290A only responsible for moving the laser back and forth? On my system the laser moves but sometimes it doesn't spin the disc.

The 7805 isn't the cause, I replaced it with a new one.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE CDROM2 problems]

Does the power on the drive always come on when you press run? Just wondering if the lid close detection switch was maybe put back in at an angle or something.

Yes Keith it does, I know the lid switch thing and I'm paying great attention when putting it to place with tweezers.

Can a new KSS-220A go bad just like that? Any good source for getting a new one?

Now it also skips audio (hiccups).... maybe I need to adjust the pots but never done that before, I marked the original setting of the pots both by taking a picture an also by making a red line on each one so I can bring the pot to its original spot if i align the line.

Any clues?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / PCE CDROM2 problems]

I repaired a totally broken white cdrom2 unit in the past.
The repair included a total recap, e gear replacement and finally a lens replacement of the KSS-220A.

The unit was working OK until yesterday that i decided to have the case whitened with retrobright.
So I carefully removed all the parts from inside and bleached the plastics (up and down case, plastic buttons and lid).

After I carefully put everything back together, the unit behaves strangely...

although most of the times it seems to be working OK (data reads OK and at excellent loading times) sometimes when you put a cd (copy) in the laser seems to struggle back and forth. Turning the system off and then on doesn't help.
Only if I remove the disc and apply some pressure on the cd deck (under the lid) the drive reads OK again.
Also sometimes the disk doesn't spin, the lens moves initially but doesn't spin the disk. Again, if I apply pressure on the part with the lens (not on the lens) inside the lid, the drive works again.

I've taken apart the unit lots of times to figure what could be causing this but I can't find anything.

What the heck could have caused this.... just because I removed the plastics and put everything back together....

Could it be that the pots need adjusting? The system was working OK, why now... is there a guide for the pot adjustment?
Could it be bad laser lens? Its brand new, and when the unit works both audio and data are excellent.

Any help is much appreciated guys?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Burning TG Game CDs]

Actually I made a mistake, it was a CUE file and a single ISO file.... Is that good too? And I didn't rip it myself... in case that's what you mean by "Always do a single BIN and CUE"...I downloaded it.

But why could the "redump" images fail to verify since the burning completes without issue?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Burning TG Game CDs]

I'm having trouble making a backup for some of my originals....

I have two options...

1. a CUE file and a single ISO file (the burning process using IMGBURN completes OK and the CD verifies OK). Plays OK on the console.
2. a "redump" image which is a CUE file and multiple BIN files for the audio tracks. This one seems to complete the burning process OK with IMGBURN but the verification seems to fail (mismatch at LBA: xxx). The CD seems to be playing OK on the console though.
I tried to burn it on another system with another cd recorder and got the exact same thing.

I tried another game but I get the same on another LBA position.

I am using Taiyo Yuden 700mb CD-R (JVC)

I went for "redump" image because they are supposed to be 100% accurate to the original. I searched the web but can't find any mention for something similar to what I'm having.

Any clues guys?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE white displaying either white or teal blue screen without cart]

Is this a PC Engine Duo R or something where you're expecting the system card screen to show up or a regular white PCE with no built in menu?

Its a white regular PCE, not expecting anything to show up without a card but a white screen. Its just that sometimes I get a light blue screen and I was wondering if thats an error color code of some kind. The console seems to be working fine though, everdrive, cds all ok.

Maybe I'm flipping the switch too fast, I noticed that if i turn it on, then back off and on again fast, a color screen shows up (light blue or green)...

It means nothing. The PC Engine just displays whatever code is in the video RAM as a color. It entirely depends on the make and model of the SRAM used as video RAM. The exact same thing happens with the NES and Famicom.

Thank you for the info, I appreciate it ;)

I got worried because I read somewhere that solid color screens are error codes.

So nothing to worry about right?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PCE white displaying either white or teal blue screen without cart]

If it ain't broke, fix it till it is!

LOL!!! that's a good one ;)

[Console Repair/Mod Center / PCE white displaying either white or teal blue screen without cart]

My PCE white displaying either white (most of the times) or teal blue screen without a cart inserted.

When a cart, everdrive or arcade card is inserted everything seems to be working ok.

I'm a bit worried about the teal blue screen that I get sometimes without a cart inserted. Does it mean something is wrong with my console?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Is the audio on the PCE White amplified?]

I read on the net that the "little chip on the back" of the white pcengine pcb which is a c358c, is a sound amplifier.

But from my poking around with the continuity tester, the pins for audio (R and L)  on the expansion port of the pce white, go straight to two pins (one for R and one for L) of the CPU which produces the sfx (6280). So to my understanding, what you get from the audio pins on the expansion port, is what comes out of the 6280 cpu without going through an amplifier....

Which one is correct?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Standard white PC Engine - no output?]

 If the fuse was blown maybe you don't have an appropriate psu?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound distortion on a white PCE on a specific spot]

---ok maybe it apears on all white backgrounds and bright colors?

EXACTLY but on white backgrounds its the most intense.

---I could make a bad youtubevideo on thursday maybee, but for now:
That would be lovely, you think that the "distortion" will be audible in the video?

---The konami theme on the logo soundes. blingblingBLINGBLINGblingbliiiingeee
---But with the distortion its kind of like: blingbliingBLING(tick)BLING(tick)BLING8tickticktickBliiingeee

Hmmmmm, we may be describing the same thing (but I'm too anal about it). I would describe mine more like a "scratch" maybe:  blingbliingBLING(tshss)BLING(tshss)BLINGthsthshBliiingeee
but I have the tv exporting the sound signal through optical fiber to a 5.1 Logitech Z-5500 surround system so I may be hearing the issue much much more clear and loud.

--- I only have blue Core Is and all three have AV and an arrow pointing to the din5 embossed in the plastic, maybe early Core Is had RF?

You are probably right about that, but there has to be cirquit differences between Core I and II, who knows... maybe this is why I don't hear it using my Core II, maybe its muffled by filtering...

-- Than this is a mystery indeed, could you maybe make a "bad" youtubevideo?

I don't think the issue is clearly audible though.

--- I can kind of hear it on the duos to, but fainter. and its like the high notes gets garbled right in the middle of the konami theme.

But you can clearly hear a difference between the "distortion" of the white and the DUOs right? The white being definitelly more "scratchy" and high pitched making it more obvious maybe?

-none of my white ones are jailbarefixed as i dont se any/much jailbars on them with my setup. The cores are fixed, and so are the duos.

I am maybe getting paranoid about this... since the board is squeeky clean and like new, I'm starting to think that this could be normal for a white pce.

Here are some pics of the pcb

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound distortion on a white PCE on a specific spot]

Ok tried it out... and acctuly didnt notice any difference. But i do notice a distortion of sorts. I get a slight hum and also a kind of a ticking on the high notes. But this is on both the withe and the core grafx with blue text. I thought there where no big difference  between core I and II. I only hace the ones woth blue text and they all have a din 5 instead of RF. I whent a head and tried it on the duo and the duo-r (with a white pc 6280 in it) both sounds the same but a little lower kind of filtred. But i think the distortion is there. Could it bee corroded traces in your white one? Iv seen several of those with really dry soldermask and eaten traces.

Or maybee i have bad ears. I give up

Fist of all I would like to thank you for taking the time to test it for me, I apreciate it

The hum/buzz is to be expected, specially on the konami logo, it has to do with rgb/sound interference and its more or less there on all pcengines with the RGB mod.

What exactly do you mean by "ticking"? How would you describe it more accurately? We are talking about the loudest level on the konami logo right.?

Actually there is a difference between Core with blue (Core I) and core with orange letters (Core II). The blye letters one has RF from factory and the orange lettered one has a composite and stereo sound DIN from factory so the latter might have a sound amp inside...

The blue lettered one resembles the white more so you may not hear a difference between the two.

My White's board is very well preserved, recapped and with no traces of corrosion anywhere, like new.

This "ticking on the high notes" that you mentioned, was it on the white/core only or on the DUOs as well? Would you classify this as a distortion like the sound being too loud and gets distorted?
Is your white jailbar fixed?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound distortion on a white PCE on a specific spot]

Might it bee that dracula X produces a real clear loud note just at the logo wich is to much for the amplifyer in the ifu?

It might, but not too loud for the amplifier of the IFU. As I said earlier,the sound has the same issue either taken from the IFU or from the white PCE's jack (which audio is taken from the expansion's port sound pins thus the cpu itself). Its just that the whole IFU thing needs to be complete (PCE+cdrom2+IFU) to play the Dracula X so i can't test the white pce as a stand alone for Dracula X.

So the issue is produced on the white PCE that produces the sound effects and its not introduced later on in the IFU. At least thats what I have concluded.

I would say that if the "too loud for" is the issue here, it would be "loud note just at the logo which is to much for the White PCE's cpu"

Have you tried it yourself NichlasEk? Since you have the same hardware I mean... you may have the same issue but haven't noticed it... you may have to turn the volume up to realise... and maybe try it a couple of times.
I would really appreciate it if you gave it a go (cdrom2+ifu30+white PCE) and paid attention to the konami logo "jingle".

ps
The core I is much like the white, it has RF out, you may not see any amplifier in that one.... on the Core II that has a DIN jack (composite and stereo sound out), maybe.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Sound distortion on a white PCE on a specific spot]

I feele that the white pc engine is outputting a much clearer audio than the core grafx. This might just be a personal reflection thou.  I Use a rgb modded ifu. And through that, the white one sounds the best on dracula x. Might be that the ifu and the pc engine uses diffrent grounds? And the ifu if connected both to audio and rgb (8 pin din) attenuates this diffrence? Also i think that the core grafx uses another low level filter on audio than the white one. Please correct me if wrong.

I don't think it has anything to do with the rgb mod using the same ground with the sound... Just to test this out I disconnected the +5v feed on the rgb amp and just tested the sound coming out of the ifu and white pce, still the same phenomenon.

To be more specific, I could describe the phenomenon as a distortion that happens if the sound output of the console is too high but I only spotted it at the konami logo jingle of the Dracula X.

I don't know if the core II i tried and didn't have the same phenomenon, has some king of low pass filter for the sound, for the white there is nothing in between the CPU producing the sound and the expansion port sound pins.

I also forgot to mention earlier that I have also performed the jailbar fix using the two 4,7 uF ceramic caps on the digital and analog 5V cirquits.... I doubt it could be that but could it?

The board is completely clean so not a chance of a solder blob somewhere. After the recap the whole pcb was left to soak in isopropyl alcohol twice to remove dirt, flux and possible solder blobs.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Sound distortion on a white PCE on a specific spot]

I wonder if anyone that has the same hardware can help me...

So, I have a white PCE connected on an IFU-30 and a white cdrom2.

When I load Dracula X and the Konami logo comes up, there is a sound distortion at the point where the sound jingles, at the point that the sound becomes the loudest. I can only describe it as a short white noise like hhsssst that is on both left and right channels.
I'm not referring to the regular buzz due to the increased luminescence at this point

The white PCE is RGB modded and there is a connector installed. So I am getting picture from the console itself, and sound from the 2 RCA on the IFU-30. The console and IFU-30 are recapped using panasonic capacitors from console5.

I haven't noticed any distortions playing other stuff, either from a cd or from the everdrive.

I have concluded that the "problem" if indeed there is one, is on the white PCE itself and not on the ifu-30 because if I try the same with a Core II (also getting sound from the IFU-30) the sound is clear at that point. And if I extract sound from the White PCE's jack, the distortion is there too.

Has anyone that has the complete IFU-30 set noticed the same thing on the Dracula X konami logo?

I find it weird that if there is something wrong, the sound seems OK on everything else.
Can someone that has the same hardware please try it out and tell me?

Does all PC Engine consoles "sound" exactly the same quality wise?

Thank you

ps
I checked the traces of right and left sound channel of the connector (and there is also where I get sound from for the jack) and they go straight to the 6280 chip, no components in between except a resistor for each channel that goes to ground. 6280 chip is where the sound is generated right? Can it be a bad 6280 chip?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine DUO CD-R Issue]

Also keep in mind that even the slightest bump on the table, causes the audio to stop. That stands for all pce, with internal or external cd unit. The audio will start again when the game switches track (next stage for example), but it can't pick up at the point of interruption (bump).

It can also be a dirty cd disk, try burning a fresh copy at the lowest possible speed.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine Duo Jail Bar fix Question]

That's right....

one from the digital and one from the analog part, doesn't actually matter which one.