Preferred AES board revision?

buckrogers · Nov 17, 2005

Is there a preferred board revision for the AES console?

I ordered serial # 029866 but the seller feels the color is faulty (probably just poor composite output compared to the newer models) and has offered me #055586. He has others in stock that are much newer newer too.

I will do the RGB mod, using composite video for sync, as my Hantarex wall cube monitor uses composite for sync (have not tried combined HV sync but that too should work). I'll probably do S-video too. A unibios 2.1 will be fitted.

In another post, Jeff mentioned that both and old and newer board revisions don't compare to an MVS, and benefit from the RGB bypass mod.

Given the above, am I best off trying to find the newest revision possible? Or is there some advantages to getting an older board revision?

Adamaki · Nov 17, 2005

The older boards have better rgb output and inferior composite output and the newer boards have inferior rgb output and better composite output, I think...

So it depends which output you're going to be using. However if you're doing the rgb bypass mod then you'll get the optimal rgb output whichever revision board you're using, so it's irrelevant.

JMKurtz · Nov 17, 2005

Plus, the later revision boards tend to work better with a Phantom-1, if you're thinking about getting something like that sometime.

If you're doing the RGB mod, then any board will give equal results in terms of video quality.

Jeff

MKL · Nov 17, 2005

My preference for older boards (not necessarily the very first one) has more to do with the louder sound you get from the headphone circuit.

buckrogers · Nov 17, 2005

Do you tap into the headphones out circuit to do the stereo output mod?

MKL · Nov 17, 2005

Yes. Tapping stereo from other sources will give an even more quiet output.

Urbain03 · Nov 17, 2005

You can go for the "50.000" serial without any problem...

I have a serial #58678... board revision 3-5 if i remember correctly.

The RGB output is crystal clear and the Phantom-1 works great on it (no problem with any game until now, and i have +-15 MVS carts, including zoom games)

I did however the RGB-bypass mod, just being curious about the results... and it didn't change anything

So I can tell you that despite what was being said on some website, that even on the 58.000 serial range, the RGB output is great.

The only thing that doesn't work on my Neo is getting audio from the Phantom-1 cinch outputs. But I have been told that this feature works only on very low-serial Neo's, which sent an audio signal to the cartrdige port, for reasons that have never really been understood. The later models didn't have that feature.

Adamaki · Nov 17, 2005

Urbain03 said:
You can go for the "50.000" serial without any problem...

I have a serial #58678... board revision 3-5 if i remember correctly.

Are you sure?! I thought up to about serial 80,000 was the first revision board and the latest revisions were around the 200,000 serial mark when rgb output was sacrificed for improved composite output. I could be wrong though...

buckrogers · Nov 17, 2005

I too was under the impression that early board like 50xxx were earlier than the 3-5 board revision.

doggydodomi · Nov 20, 2005

50XXX are good for S-Video Mod. Clear and Sharp pixxy.

Urbain03 · Nov 20, 2005

Are you sure?! I thought up to about serial 80,000 was the first revision board and the latest revisions were around the 200,000 serial mark when rgb output was sacrificed for improved composite output. I could be wrong though...

Nope...

My Neo is a US. version with serial #58.678

I've just opened it to check again, and the board revision is "NEO-AES3-5"

As I said, the RGB is the best you can get (since i did the RGB bypass mod and it didn't changed the quality tremendously). The picture is fantastic.

Phantom works without any problem, too... as well as the unibios

Hope it helps

Adamaki · Nov 20, 2005

Sounds like the case could have been swapped then. It's pretty common with old consoles as the cases can get damanged. Where's all those techies who know about serial numbers and board revisions?! I'm pretty sure a serial number of 50,000 wouldn't originally have a revision 3-5 board in it though.

Urbain03 · Nov 21, 2005

Well I bought it from someone who has never ever opened it :conf:

So it hasn't been changed... unless SNK did it before put it in the stores... :rolleyes:

Have you got a list of the serial numbers "vs." revisions ?

Adamaki · Nov 21, 2005

Nope but I've seen one before. That's why I was hoping one of the techies would chime in and tell us the answer. Maybe it was opened by the guy who owned it before the guy you bought it from, or maybe the guy you bought it from was lying. It would be harder to sell if people knew it was made up from more than one console.

Urbain03 · Nov 22, 2005

The guy I bought it from bought it in a shop :mr_t:

I think that you're making an error... my board is a model 3 (3-5)

For example look at the thread with the RGB Bypass mod... it's says it's for models 5 to 7.

Mine is a model 3, so i think it matches the serial.

And my PCB is old anyway, since the RGB output is perfect.

Adamaki · Nov 22, 2005

hmmm maybe I am confused, I dunno. I was getting my info on board revisions from here which clearly shows that you have a revised board layout, which I always thought were the ones with inferior rgb output, but improved composite and s-video output (seeing as SNK were trying to improve composite output on the Neo, as rgb wasn't used by anyone at that time and they didn't care about degrading the rgb signal).

I think the reference in the rgb bypass mod thread is referring to board revisions 3-5 to 3-7. According to the megamod guide in the neostore the board revisions are 'Neo-Aes' which is the first generation boards and 'Neo Aes3-X' where X is 3, 4, 5 or 6 (not sure about 7) which are second generation boards.

Urbain03 · Nov 22, 2005

Thanks for the link.

Okay, I have a 3-5 so it's a revised board

But I don't see any references to serials here. It's possible that revisions 3-5 were made in the 50.000 serial range... why does it seems so impossible ?

MKL · Nov 22, 2005

3-5 is the last but one revision (there's no 3-7). I remember a board in the 43xxx range that still was the early one (NEO-AES) and, although I'm not totally sure about this, a 3-3 board in a 60xxx neo. So I don't find it likely either that a 3-5 board comes in a 55xxx neo.

Urbain03 · Nov 22, 2005

Maybe someone like JMKurtz or Razoola could answer that question... i mean provide us a list with serials/revisions... cause i'm pretty sure my Neo is an original one... :conf:

JMKurtz · Nov 22, 2005

I've seen the serials, as related to the board revision, all over the place. I do keep a log of serials and board revisions, but it's not a complete list -- only the systems I've modified over the last year or so have I logged the board revision.

This is why I tell people NOT to use the serial as a guideline as to what Neo you are buying. I've seen some Neo systems that have had really low serials, but have a 3-x board. Of course, I don't know the history of every Neo so I have no way of knowing if SNK swapped the board on a repair, the shell was replaced, or what the deal was. So, all we can do is assume that a serial number *may* be of a certain board revision.

I'm not sure I would want to list any specific details, but I could probably do a generalization based on the system's I've logged.

Jeff

Urbain03 · Nov 22, 2005

But for you, does a Neo with a #58678 serial number could be originally fitted with a 3-5 board ?

I'm really confused since the guy who sold it to me bought it new :conf:

Adamaki · Nov 23, 2005

Thanks for the info Jeff. I wouldn't worry about it Urbain. Like Jeff said don't use the serial number as a guide to which mobo you have as the shells can easily be swapped with the boards and no-one would know and even SNK may have done that for repairs.

The important thing is you've done the rgb bypass mod so you have the best video output you can get.

Jeff - could you do that list of board revisions and serial numbers based on your log? I've heard that question asked several times, how serial numbers relate to board revisions, so it'd be useful information to have. Cheers

Urbain03 · Nov 23, 2005

The important thing is you've done the rgb bypass mod so you have the best video output you can get.

The strangest thing is that the rbg-bypass didn't improve anything... my RGB output was already almost perfect :conf:

No vertical lines, distortions, color bleeding of anything! I did the bypass juste being curious about it

So let's say that there's 3-5 boards with good RGB and 3-5 boards with bad RGB... who knows?

Honestly, I don't know if the previous owner has the Neo fixed by SNK... or maybe if the shop who sold him (new) back in the 90's swapped boards... I'll ask him the question

Urbain03 · Nov 23, 2005

Ok I have spoke to the guy I bought the Neo from.

It was bought used from an authorized seller in Germany around 1993 and was never repaired by the guy.

I don't think that back in 1993 people were aware of those serial / revisions things, did they ?

So oviously, this Neo with a #58.678 serial was originally made with a rev. 3-5 PCB.

Preferred AES board revision?

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