TG-CD "whirring" and "buzzing" when loading

[Marll]

So I asked this inside another thread quite a while back, and want to revive the question. My TG-CD makes a "whirring" and "buzzing" noise when loading games that is transferred through the speakers of my sound system. Over the years it's gotten louder, and I've always wondered what caused it, but also thought that maybe it was somewhat normal.

A friend of mine just got a system and TG-CD from Craigslist and he says his doesn't do that, and since mine is the only one he'd ever seen, found it odd that his didn't do the same, and said it sort of felt missing LOL.

I've thought in the past that maybe it's interference from the power supply, or something similar, but I'm not sure. It's not really noticeable (though you can faintly hear the drive "working" through my speakers) unless games are loading, and then it's pretty loud.

Any ideas of what might cause something like that?

[BlueBMW]

On the US CDroms, there is a ground wire inside that connects the PCB to the bottom shell of the CDROM which has a ground contact that in turn contacts with the IFU.  Its possible maybe that wire broke loose and so the unit isn't grounding fully.  That's the only thing I can think of that might cause a sound interference issue.

Have you tried your CDROM in your buddy's IFU and vice versa?  You could determine if the issue is truly in the CDROM itself or possibly the IFU.

[Marll]

Yeah we were talking about that today. We were going to swap out each piece of the system one at a time and see which it was. Thanks for the tip, I'll check for any loose ground wires in the unit as well.

[SignOfZeta]

All TG-16/PCEs have terrible sound. It depends on how bad "bad" is, but the fix I've always used is to just EQ it out

Obviously if its really terribly bad then you'll want to do something, and I agree that the first places to look are the power supply and possible ground loops.

[Marll]

It's not an issue with sound quality, which some people say the TG16 is a bit scratchy (I like it better than other game consoles all the same  ) but this is more like some sort of mechanical sound being transmitted through the speakers when it shouldn't be.

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah, they all do that, to an extent. I'm not talking about the basically horrible quality of the preamps, or video noise bleeding over onto the audio, but electrical interference of the CD spindle motor at all times in CD games (since the CD almost never stops) and also when the laser is moving (much louder).  You can really hear it at the startup screen right after you push Run and the CD spindle begins to spin (peak torque and power consumption).

I've owned three CD systems (US Duo (sold), Duo R, and PCE+CDROM2) and they all did this. Whether or not you have an actual problem depends on how bad your particular situation is. You're never going to get rid of the sound completely, but it shouldn't be all that loud.

Even with the volume relatively high this interference still isn't as loud as a Dreamcast with the TV off. Its just what old stuff did back then.

[Marll]

Yeah, I don't expect it to go away at all, figure I've had the thing nearly 20 years now, and older tech tended to be noisier. I think that what I'm hoping for is just to make it quieter, as now it is REALLY loud when I have the volume turned up, so much so that when I know a cutscene is coming and a load will occur I scramble for the remote to turn it down 

[Phades]

I wonder if my receiver is just really good at cancelling out the feedback? Does your new receiver do it still?

[Marll]

Yeah, even with the new receiver it's there.

I took the CD unit apart yesterday and the ground wire is securely soldered to the board and the bottom of the case. I wonder if maybe something inside the dock is causing it. I also noticed a little tab attached to the grounding plate in the base of the CD unit and pryed it up a bit in the thought that whatever it makes contact with would make a better connection when it put it back together. The noise seemed just a bit quieter, but still obviously there.

[nat]

Yeah, you'll never get that to go away. That's just how these systems are.