Best EURO SCART Switch for use with XRGB Mini?

Docfitz01

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I believe the title says it all. I am looking for recommendations on a EURO SCART switch for use with my XRGB Mini. I have been told that the silver and black ones sold on eBay between 15$ and 30$ are garbage and I want to find one that will not disappoint me and has at least 4 SCART inputs. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Docfitz01
 

MtothaJ

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I believe the title says it all. I am looking for recommendations on a EURO SCART switch for use with my XRGB Mini. I have been told that the silver and black ones sold on eBay between 15$ and 30$ are garbage and I want to find one that will not disappoint me and has at least 4 SCART inputs. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Just got the Hama AV100S in black from Amazon.co.uk yesterday - it looks and feels like a quality product, RGB works fine on every input, there are no problems associated with interference / signal degradation, also has a handy RCA breakout for sound.
Not using it with a XRGB Mini though but with a Sony BVM monitor connected via BNC to Scart cable.
 
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MtothaJ

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Just got the Hama AV100S in black from Amazon.co.uk yesterday - it looks and feels like a quality product, RGB works fine on every input, there are no problems associated with interference / signal degradation, also has a handy RCA breakout for sound.
Not using it with a XRGB Mini though but with a Sony BVM monitor connected via BNC to Scart cable.

Need to come back on my above comment - as mentioned I am getting no interference using this switch box on a Sony BVM however I have also tried it on w Sony TV with Scart RGB I am getting intereference when using a Sega Mega Drive through the switchbox. The interesting thing is that on the BVM the RGB button on the switchbox does no do anything, while on the SOny TV it is a prerequisite that it is depressed for RGB mode to work. I guess the two displays process the signal differently.

For the Mega Drive I am using an offical Sega 'Adapteur R.V.B.' Scart cable and also tried with one from Retro Gaming Cables - same symptoms so cabling can be eliminated.
 
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Xian Xi

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Is the MD cable using composite video or composite sync? Could also be a ground loop.
 

MtothaJ

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Is the MD cable using composite video or composite sync? Could also be a ground loop.

MD cable is using composite sync. I get no interference when connecting directly to the TV so its specifically something to do with the switch box. In any case not that much of a big deal for me but a bit disappoing nontheless considering the generally good reviews this box has.
 

Xian Xi

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MD cable is using composite sync. I get no interference when connecting directly to the TV so its specifically something to do with the switch box. In any case not that much of a big deal for me but a bit disappoing nontheless considering the generally good reviews this box has.

The cheap boxes have no shielding or filtering at all so that could be it.
 

MtothaJ

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The cheap boxes have no shielding or filtering at all so that could be it.

So what would be a recommended upmarket box (or put simply one that works without any degredation to signal quality etc.)?
My impression was that the one I got (i.e. Hama AV100S) was amongst the favourites on this forum and elsewhere with group buys being organised out of the US etc.

Weighing up my options of whether I should return this to Amazon...
 
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Yodd

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I own and have sold a number of AV100S and clones of it.

When using it, for RGB sources, you want to make sure all 3 buttons on the left side are NOT pressed in. Sometimes you have to fiddle with them to make sure none of those 3 are pressed in. Those are used when recording from Scart sources to another scart device (VCR or dvd recorder or similar) and I have found that if they are pressed in then can lead to interference between multiple input sources. Especially if more than one source is turned on.

Is it only this one MD scart cable that is behaving this way?
 
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jessiewonka

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So which switch did you end up with?

I believe the title says it all. I am looking for recommendations on a EURO SCART switch for use with my XRGB Mini. I have been told that the silver and black ones sold on eBay between 15$ and 30$ are garbage and I want to find one that will not disappoint me and has at least 4 SCART inputs. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Do you have any Hamas left? I ended up with a Bandridge, though no SCART-to-SCART cable to try it out yet. But it sure seems pretty cheap.

http://www.videogameperfection.com/av-gear/scart-switch-roundup/

Check the link here. Pretty informative.

In general, the Hama 100s is probably the best bang for the buck along with decent performance. I had to use amazon.co.uk as I wanted the black box (vs the silver). If you decide that's what you want, I may have an extra.
 

lwizardl

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jessiewonka

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I picked up a Bandridge 5 way scart selector

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181291441109?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Works pretty well, just as well as my silver Hama AV100S
I didn't see any cross talk or noise or brightness lost.

It also has this nice Red LED that lights up with a connection is active

One con I have is the switch box is all plastic and very light.

Do you happen to be using it with an XRGB-mini and/or any cable with a sync stripper?
 

sammargh

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I use a Shinybow SB-5525 with my XRGB-mini and have had 0 issues. It costs a bit more than the Banbridge however if you live in the states Shinybow actually sells it locally. Unlike the article says it's very easy to find but it's not cheap however it works 100% out of the box which is why I spent the extra penny.

http://www.ani-av.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=199

This is Shinybow's US distributor through Texas. According to my paypal history it was just under $190 shipped.

I spend a lot of time on something awful and they've found that with the Banbridge 5 way the 5th scart port is wired up weird and will cause strange things to happen like the power led on consoles turning on while being off using different ports. If you use it I'd just avoid plugging anything in the 5th port and you should be golden.
 

jessiewonka

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I use a Shinybow SB-5525 with my XRGB-mini and have had 0 issues. It costs a bit more than the Banbridge however if you live in the states Shinybow actually sells it locally. Unlike the article says it's very easy to find but it's not cheap however it works 100% out of the box which is why I spent the extra penny.

http://www.ani-av.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=199

This is Shinybow's US distributor through Texas. According to my paypal history it was just under $190 shipped.

I spend a lot of time on something awful and they've found that with the Banbridge 5 way the 5th scart port is wired up weird and will cause strange things to happen like the power led on consoles turning on while being off using different ports. If you use it I'd just avoid plugging anything in the 5th port and you should be golden.

Tonight I was finally able to test the Banbridge and it's not working reliably for me. Some consoles turn on but have an unstable image, some won't turn on, some off/on. I suspect it's due to strange wiring in some ports as you say, and possibly due to not being powered and conflicting with the sync stripper in my XRGB-mini adapter. Some talk of this on the Shmups forum.

I see that Shinybow is powered, is goddamn sold in this country, well reviewed, and has a 6th port, making this feel like a solid choice. The cost is significantly higher, but I assumed I was going to need to spend beyond the Banbridge anyway.

One annoyance with the Banbridge, which may be the case with any switch, is that it amplified the slight buzz I get from the Omega to a very noticeable degree. I may end up just leaving it off the switch if the same thing happens with the Shinybow.
 

Yodd

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Is the Bandridge that you have the powered version? or the unpowered, completely manual version?


If you want to use a sync stripper in line with a XRGB-mini (or any other device), I would highly suggest not powering it off the bus power of consoles. It's really best to either use a completely separate psu, or get one that plugs into the power cable going into the Mini.


There is a fix for the 5th port acting up. Cutting a trace on the pcb inside it fixes it. Most likely it behaves this way because that last port is designed to have something bidirectional (like a VCR) hooked up to it.

Thread @ Shmups:
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=48460



I would like to hear thoughts from others with the manual Bandridge as I am getting ready to import a bunch of them.
 

jessiewonka

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I have the manual, unpowered Bandridge. Saw that thread about the fix for the 5th port, but I'm having problems with nearly every port.

The sync stripper is in a retro_console_accessories mini adapter, unbeknownst to me until recently.
 

DeusVult

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I have the powered version and it seems to work fine, at first the picture sometimes vanished for a split second which was very annoying, I traced this to a dodgy cable once I replaced it that issue never happened again, I use a panel plasma so no speakers so the headphone out is great for me
 

jessiewonka

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I use a Shinybow SB-5525 with my XRGB-mini and have had 0 issues. It costs a bit more than the Banbridge however if you live in the states Shinybow actually sells it locally. Unlike the article says it's very easy to find but it's not cheap however it works 100% out of the box which is why I spent the extra penny.

http://www.ani-av.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=199

This is Shinybow's US distributor through Texas. According to my paypal history it was just under $190 shipped.

I spend a lot of time on something awful and they've found that with the Banbridge 5 way the 5th scart port is wired up weird and will cause strange things to happen like the power led on consoles turning on while being off using different ports. If you use it I'd just avoid plugging anything in the 5th port and you should be golden.

Dude! Thank you for the Shinybow suggestion -- arrived this afternoon and works great. I tried it with with the Omega, SNES and Genesis, all via XRGB-mini, and can't tell the difference in quality. Built like a tank compared to the Bandridge, much higher quality than it appears in photos.

At first the Genesis seemed to have a sync issue, and I recall reading a review or two with some stability issues with Mega Drives. But now it seems fine and isn't dropping the connection.

Great find.
 

opt2not

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Dude! Thank you for the Shinybow suggestion -- arrived this afternoon and works great. I tried it with with the Omega, SNES and Genesis, all via XRGB-mini, and can't tell the difference in quality. Built like a tank compared to the Bandridge, much higher quality than it appears in photos.

At first the Genesis seemed to have a sync issue, and I recall reading a review or two with some stability issues with Mega Drives. But now it seems fine and isn't dropping the connection.

Great find.
Have you tried out the multi-output yet? I'd like to know if there is any video noise or degradation displaying on two TV's.
 

jessiewonka

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Have you tried out the multi-output yet? I'd like to know if there is any video noise or degradation displaying on two TV's.

No, I don't have a second display to try. But it's one or the other, I think, so can't imagine why there would be any degradation.
 

opt2not

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These switchers are supposed to be able to display 1 source to two outputs, which is one of the main reasons I'm interested in it. I'd like to have one output to a PVM, and the other to a XRGB-mini for capture.
 

jessiewonka

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These switchers are supposed to be able to display 1 source to two outputs, which is one of the main reasons I'm interested in it. I'd like to have one output to a PVM, and the other to a XRGB-mini for capture.

Here's what we do: send me your PVM and I'll test 'er out for a few months?
 

opt2not

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Here's what we do: send me your PVM and I'll test 'er out for a few months?
Heh, for the price of shipping my 20" PVM down to SF, I might as well spring for one and try it myself.

I figured if you were chiming-in on how great these are, you would have at least been able to comment on all it's capabilities. I figured wrong. :(
 

jessiewonka

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Heh, for the price of shipping my 20" PVM down to SF, I might as well spring for one and try it myself.

I figured if you were chiming-in on how great these are, you would have at least been able to comment on all it's capabilities. I figured wrong. :(

lol
 
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