Retro Duo questions

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I own a lot of Famicoms and Famiclones. I've owned every commercial Famicom except for a Titler, I composite modded an NES-101 toploader and I own a Yobo FC Game Console, Generation NEX, Handy Fami-Eight, RetroN3, GameAxe Color and I've still got my ol' clunker NES toaster.

I heard about the great compatibility and got intrudged by the Retro Duo. It's a Famiclone that plays MMC5 games and has more or less correct audio? Shocking!

I have a few questions.

1. To make sure I didn't read it wrong; the Retro Duo will output NES games in S-Video?

How in the hell did they do that? Outside of the Titler, the Famicom was never designed with S-video output and NOACs are true to form in that respect.

Another thing, how good is the S-video? How good are the colors in comparison to the real hardware? Does this Famiclone produce vertical lines like a stock NES-101 toploader or the NEX? I read that you can get proper S-video from the Retro Duo by hooking up only the S-video cable and leaving the composite cords disconnected. True/False?

2. Can someone please post links to detailed pics of the motherboard, particularity the NES portions? From a few scatter pics I've seen it looks like there's a main board for the SNES, and the NES is housed in two smaller daughterboards and connected by small ribbon cables.

3. Except for its power switch and controller input, is the NES portion completely independent of the SNES board? In other words, could one in theory remove the NES portion from the RetroDuo, rewire it slightly and make it a standalone Famiclone? I ask because this might be the perfect candidate for a mod project I have in mind.

Along the lines of that question, does the RetroDuo havea 7805 voltage regular and built-in video amplifier? the less I have to rebuild, the better

Can I get measurements of the NES boards, both the one with outputs and the cart connector?

4, Kinda obviously not, but does this NOAC handle Famicom expansion audio for the VRC6 and VRC7 and other chips? lol I guess I'm being greedy now.

5. I'm curious if anyone has modded the RetroDuo to use NES 7pin controllers as the SNES used the 4021 just as the NES did and its possible to wire up an adapter.

6. I was reading here that people had issues with certain colored units. A quick ebay look reveals there's now two colors: black and red and silver and black. Is the silver/black one a newer revision? Any reason to choose one over the other?

Thanks.

[Rayban]

I can answer a few of your question.
The NES side has correct sound but not until you add the missing capacitor to the NES board. Some sounds (like the plucking sound when you pluck a veggie in SMB2) are really quiet.
It does output s-video but on my tv anyways it's black and white.
I ended up switching the cables from the pack in controllers and connected them to an extra NES controller I have and it works perfectly.
The rest is up to someone else

[Satoshi_Matrix]

About the NES side being in black and white - have you tried disconnecting the composite video line and then trying? It would be caused by interference between the two lines. My guess is that Retro Duo isn't really using S-video for NES but is just carrying a video line along the y pin of the s-video cable.

Is the video quality any clearer on the nes side for s-video vs composite? if not, then that pretty much confirms my theory.

[Jrecee]

My experience with the S-video was that it looked worse. Washed out and drab. Could have been my tv, don't know.

[Rayban]

About the NES side being in black and white - have you tried disconnecting the composite video line and then trying? It would be caused by interference between the two lines. My guess is that Retro Duo isn't really using S-video for NES but is just carrying a video line along the y pin of the s-video cable.

Is the video quality any clearer on the nes side for s-video vs composite? if not, then that pretty much confirms my theory.

I just checked again by unplugging the yellow rca cable and it's still black & white. I know it's not my TV or converter box because the SNES looks great in s-video.

[CRTGAMER]

About the NES side being in black and white - have you tried disconnecting the composite video line and then trying? It would be caused by interference between the two lines. My guess is that Retro Duo isn't really using S-video for NES but is just carrying a video line along the y pin of the s-video cable.

Is the video quality any clearer on the nes side for s-video vs composite? if not, then that pretty much confirms my theory.

I just checked again by unplugging the yellow rca cable and it's still black & white. I know it's not my TV or converter box because the SNES looks great in s-video.

Maybe the TV not accepting both cables. Try plugging in just the Composite cable, be sure to remove the SVideo cable. If it works, give the Composite its own dedicated separate input to the TV.

[Rayban]

About the NES side being in black and white - have you tried disconnecting the composite video line and then trying? It would be caused by interference between the two lines. My guess is that Retro Duo isn't really using S-video for NES but is just carrying a video line along the y pin of the s-video cable.

Is the video quality any clearer on the nes side for s-video vs composite? if not, then that pretty much confirms my theory.

I just checked again by unplugging the yellow rca cable and it's still black & white. I know it's not my TV or converter box because the SNES looks great in s-video.

Maybe the TV not accepting both cables. Try plugging in just the Composite cable, be sure to remove the SVideo cable. If it works, give the Composite its own dedicated separate input to the TV.

But, I can play SNES in color but the second I switch over to NES it comes in black & white....

[Platinumfungi]

There's a lot of great info on the Retro Duo in this sega-16 forum post:

http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread ... 958&page=2

Among other things, here's a quote from Ace with a lot of info you might find useful:

"There are numerous issues with the RetroDuo:

-Washed out NES Composite

-Slightly washed out and blurry Super NES Composite

-HORRIBLE NES S-Video(plays like an NES via a bad RF box)

-INCREDIBLY DARK Super NES S-Video

-MASSIVE interference(you get lines on the NES side that are in sync with music, and you can see 2 strips of static rolling down the screen on the Super NES side)

-ABSOLUTELY MURDERED NES audio

Most of these issues can be fixed:

-Washed out NES Composite(replace a resistor on the NES video amp with a higher value)

-Slightly washed out and blurry Super NES Composite(disconnect the Composite output from the KA2198BD video encoder and put a 75ohm resistor in series with a 470uF capacitor between the Composite pin and the Composite plug)

-HORRIBLE NES S-Video(I haven't managed to fix this just yet, but it works in conjunction with the NES sound)

-INCREDIBLY DARK Super NES S-Video(remove the Chroma and Luminance pins on the KA2198BD and do the same as with Composite, just on the S-Video plug's Chroma/Luminance solder spots

-MASSIVE interference(I haven't fully eliminated the interference just yet, but read the next note)

-ABSOLUTELY MURDERED NES audio(add a 0.1uF capacitor between the NES sound output from the NOAC and Ground, and add a 2.2Kohm resistor between the Base and Collector pins on one of the transistors in the NES sound amp)

Don't get me wrong: the RetroDuo's awesome, but in order to make it awesome, you have to mod it. Otherwise, it's quite bad. "

[D.D.D.]

There's a lot of great info on the Retro Duo in this sega-16 forum post:

http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread ... 958&page=2

Among other things, here's a quote from Ace with a lot of info you might find useful:

"There are numerous issues with the RetroDuo:

-Washed out NES Composite

-Slightly washed out and blurry Super NES Composite

-HORRIBLE NES S-Video(plays like an NES via a bad RF box)

-INCREDIBLY DARK Super NES S-Video

-MASSIVE interference(you get lines on the NES side that are in sync with music, and you can see 2 strips of static rolling down the screen on the Super NES side)

-ABSOLUTELY MURDERED NES audio

Most of these issues can be fixed:

-Washed out NES Composite(replace a resistor on the NES video amp with a higher value)

-Slightly washed out and blurry Super NES Composite(disconnect the Composite output from the KA2198BD video encoder and put a 75ohm resistor in series with a 470uF capacitor between the Composite pin and the Composite plug)

-HORRIBLE NES S-Video(I haven't managed to fix this just yet, but it works in conjunction with the NES sound)

-INCREDIBLY DARK Super NES S-Video(remove the Chroma and Luminance pins on the KA2198BD and do the same as with Composite, just on the S-Video plug's Chroma/Luminance solder spots

-MASSIVE interference(I haven't fully eliminated the interference just yet, but read the next note)

-ABSOLUTELY MURDERED NES audio(add a 0.1uF capacitor between the NES sound output from the NOAC and Ground, and add a 2.2Kohm resistor between the Base and Collector pins on one of the transistors in the NES sound amp)

Don't get me wrong: the RetroDuo's awesome, but in order to make it awesome, you have to mod it. Otherwise, it's quite bad. "

Wow~ A stock RetroDuo for those of us who aren't skilled at modding sounds like something we shouldn't buy.