Sega Genesis in Stereo!

[Duane Dibbley]

I have a Genesis 2 hooked up to a Sega CD 2, and get stereo sound through the Sega CD. I guess I'll have to check whether it's actual stereo for Genesis games, or just dual mono.

Are the sound differences between the Genesis 1 and 2 really that big? I listened to some samples, and while they sounded slightly different, it wasn't like night and day.

On a somewhat related topic, I recently got some new used Genesis games, and in testing one of them out, I was getting some weird buzzing in the audio. Upon checking to see what was wrong, I noticed that I had unplugged the Sega CD and forgotten to plug it back in. I plugged it in, and everything seems to be working fine now. I wasn't aware that it was possible to run the Genesis with the Sega CD unplugged. Hopefully nothing was damaged!

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I have a Genesis 2 hooked up to a Sega CD 2, and get stereo sound through the Sega CD. I guess I'll have to check whether it's actual stereo for Genesis games, or just dual mono.

Are the sound differences between the Genesis 1 and 2 really that big? I listened to some samples, and while they sounded slightly different, it wasn't like night and day.

On a somewhat related topic, I recently got some new used Genesis games, and in testing one of them out, I was getting some weird buzzing in the audio. Upon checking to see what was wrong, I noticed that I had unplugged the Sega CD and forgotten to plug it back in. I plugged it in, and everything seems to be working fine now. I wasn't aware that it was possible to run the Genesis with the Sega CD unplugged. Hopefully nothing was damaged!

Yeah it's completely possible to run the Genesis with the Sega CD unplugged.

Also unhook your Genesis and look on the bottom through the vents, if the shielding extends all the way across your console you have a crappy early revision and more common place Model 2. The later model 2's had a motherboard that was smaller and only extended 3/4 of the way across the case just flip the Genesis onto it's bottom to check by looking at the shielding.

These Model 2's with 3/4 motherboards tend to buzz lightly in their audio when they have unplugged Sega CD's connected to them thanks to their smaller motherboard. They also buzz both physically inside the console and in their audio circuit when connected to a Sega 32X without the Sega dongle that connected to the expansion slot. The Sega dongle contained extra capacitors and served to clean up the dirty signal caused by the 32X and stop[ buzzing, but the Sega CD also does the same when plugged into the 3/4 motherboard Model 2's.

But, a bonus of the 3/4 motherboard Model 2's is that when used as a standalone Genesis they are the clearest and most finely tuned Genesis consoles from an audio visual standpoint. No squeaks or grainy audio is present and the video is extremely sharp with only minimal interlace here and there when compared to the fuzzy and blurry outputs from other Genesis consoles.

It also features one of the Sony CX chips which is completely able to output S-Video with minimal modifications if you ever want to add an S-Video jack to your console.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I was thinking of this while driving earlier: The Sega Genesis does not normally output stereo sound but The Model 1 does if you use the headphone jack, (I'm not sure if the others do without modding)

But my question is was the music for games recorded in stereo or in mono? When outputting the Sega Genesis in Stereo is it "fake Stereo" with the mono sound coming out of both speakers or is the music actually stereo? I'm just curious.

It's 100% true Stereo, but most games never truly used it to great effect.

Also, put some headphones on and play any of the Sonic games. The first time I heard the pling!-pling! sound of rings in Stereo I thought the effect was wickedly cool.

[Hatta]

Plug a HDG Model 1 into a stereo with good bass and you'll hear the difference. But the 3/4 motherboard model 2 ModMan mentioned is otherwise quite good. Clean, just not as much bass.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Plug a HDG Model 1 into a stereo with good bass and you'll hear the difference. But the 3/4 motherboard model 2 ModMan mentioned is otherwise quite good. Clean, just not as much bass.

Meh, I've heard both my HDG Model 1 and my 3/4 Model 2 side by side on my Pioneer receiver and there's not as significant of a difference as everyone touts. Mainly the Model 1 had a bit more of an oomph in it's bass channel, but suffered overall from a serious lack of Treble in certain areas with slightly squashed highs. The 3/4 Model 2 has lots of clarity with highs sounding amazing and while it lacks in the bass department by a small bit it's by no means a slouch like the full motherboard or revision 6 Model 1&2's.

[Duane Dibbley]

Also unhook your Genesis and look on the bottom through the vents, if the shielding extends all the way across your console you have a crappy early revision and more common place Model 2. The later model 2's had a motherboard that was smaller and only extended 3/4 of the way across the case just flip the Genesis onto it's bottom to check by looking at the shielding.

Judging by this, it looks like I have the VA0 Model 2. I've never had any issues with video or sound though. I guess if I decide to get picky, I'll look into upgrading.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Also unhook your Genesis and look on the bottom through the vents, if the shielding extends all the way across your console you have a crappy early revision and more common place Model 2. The later model 2's had a motherboard that was smaller and only extended 3/4 of the way across the case just flip the Genesis onto it's bottom to check by looking at the shielding.

Judging by this, it looks like I have the VA0 Model 2. I've never had any issues with video or sound though. I guess if I decide to get picky, I'll look into upgrading.

When you hear both it and a 3/4 Model 2 or a HDG/Early revision Model 1 it's a total night and day difference.

[samsonlonghair]

Check out
Shinobi III
Sonic 1/2/3/Knuckles
Mortal kombat 2
Streets of Rage 1/2/3
Ecco the Dolphin
Earthworm Jim 2
Vapor Trail
Vectorman
Rocket Knight Adventure
Zero Wing

Thanks for the list. I have most of these titles. What about Revenge of Shinobi? Does that game have music as good as Shinobi 3?

It's 100% true Stereo, but most games never truly used it to great effect.
Also, put some headphones on and play any of the Sonic games. The first time I heard the pling!-pling! sound of rings in Stereo I thought the effect was wickedly cool.

This is exactly the sort of thing I was asking about. I know that most Genesis games had some sort of stereo, but which ones had great stereo? Which games had the best stereo sound effects and music?

[Pulsar_t]

Check out
Shinobi III
Sonic 1/2/3/Knuckles
Mortal kombat 2
Streets of Rage 1/2/3
Ecco the Dolphin
Earthworm Jim 2
Vapor Trail
Vectorman
Rocket Knight Adventure
Zero Wing

Thanks for the list. I have most of these titles. What about Revenge of Shinobi? Does that game have music as good as Shinobi 3?

Revenge sounds awesome but not that stereo.. will have to do a wave dump for quick analysis.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

This is exactly the sort of thing I was asking about. I know that most Genesis games had some sort of stereo, but which ones had great stereo? Which games had the best stereo sound effects and music?

Oh in that case hit the Pro Logic button on your receiver because I know for a fact that Sonic 3, Rocket Knight Adventures and I believe Vectorman as well were all encoded in Dolby Surround, now known as Dolby Pro Logic.

It was insanely cool when I heard rings plinging in the rear speakers right behind my head and explosions and sound effects in rocket knight bouncing across the room. Seriously an awesome experience.