PC Engine Duo: Sound Issues.

Youkai · Mar 1, 2004

I never thought this would happen, but I'm starting to get some sound problems on my PCED. The music starts crackling then there's no sound at all, then after a while it flickers. It doesnt matter if my games are burned or not.

zxtec · Mar 1, 2004

Look into getting the older PCE w/CDrom

Youkai said:
I never thought this would happen, but I'm starting to get some sound problems on my PCED. The music starts crackling then there's no sound at all, then after a while it flickers.

I had the same problem with my PCE Duo. The audio would crackle and then cut out. It would not totally cut out; when I turn up the audio on my receiver all the way it would be VERY faint output. Oddly enough, when I turn off the system for sometime and turn it on again the audio would come back and would later crackle and cut out again.

I tried switching lasers and had a friend that was knowledgeable about electronics take a look at it but no luck fixing the problem. From what I've learned, the Duo(R,RX) are prone to problems. Others had problems with Duo R's not powering on at all. I got rid of my problematic duo and bought the older PCE with CDrom attactment. The older PCE CDroms(or TG16 CD) systems are much more reliable(even for being 14+ years old), but they do cost a bit more for the set. Good luck with it!

Youkai · Mar 1, 2004

I'll be damned if I buy a PCE/CD Rom attachment and downgrade to system 2 and have to depend on luck and spend a fortune on upgrading. I'm living the high life on system 3.

Are you saying the sound issue is.......*gulp* inevitable and nothing can be done about it?

zxtec · Mar 1, 2004

Youkai said:
Are you saying the sound issue is.......*gulp* inevitable and nothing can be done about it?

I couldn't figure out how to fix the sound problem. I believe everthing is "fixable" but I lack the knowledge of indepth electronic repair and internal problem diagnosing, therefore I decided on the quicker fix and purchase another system.

When I had the duo with the sound problem about 2 years ago, most people that I've discussed the problem with just suggested to get another system. Like I said before, a significant amount of people have had problems with Duos(R,RX) so I decided to go with the PCE w/CDrom even though its an older system.(I personally like the style over the Duo) But then again a friend has a US Duo and hasn't had any problems what so ever. I haven't researched this problem recently so there may be an easy fix or a modification for sound issues now. But most likely you will be purchasing another system or will be playing with a sound problem. Let us know what you find. Good luck!

soopafamicom · Mar 2, 2004

Youkai said:
I'll be damned if I buy a PCE/CD Rom attachment and downgrade to system 2 and have to depend on luck and spend a fortune on upgrading. I'm living the high life on system 3.

Are you saying the sound issue is.......*gulp* inevitable and nothing can be done about it?

Do you know what you are on about?

The original set up in the 'briefcase' with the pce and super cdrom sitting side by side can be made to the same spec as a Duo by fitting a system 3 card.Also there is the Arcade Card Pro that allows it to play the arcade range of games.

The briefcase setup was gradually udgraded with the V.1 card,then the V.2 and finally the V.3 cards as the games got more elaborat and more RAM was needed to allow them to operate.

The next set up was the super cdrom2 which fixes onto the back of a core system and that is the same spec as the Duo staright from the box,its already system3.To play the Arcade range of games this cd setup uses the Arcade card pro which the Duo uses.

If you had to buy seperates then there is no difference in spec between the briefcase cdrom,the back to back cdrom2 or a Duo.

soopafamicom · Mar 2, 2004

Youkai said:
I never thought this would happen, but I'm starting to get some sound problems on my PCED. The music starts crackling then there's no sound at all, then after a while it flickers. It doesnt matter if my games are burned or not.

As for the sound problems I would guess that one of the soldered joints on the board where the AV DIN plug socket is has cracked.Its ok when its cold but as the machine warms slightly then the joint moves apart and you can get intermittent sound problems.

The same sort of thing is common with the Megadrive/Genesis 2.It happens to both the AV out and the power in points on that machine.

zxtec · Mar 2, 2004

Re: Re: PC Engine Duo: Sound Issues.

soopafamicom said:
As for the sound problems I would guess that one of the soldered joints on the board where the AV DIN plug socket is has cracked.

Good call "soopafamicom" I had an JVC x'eye do the same thing. But for my Duo it was not the AV din plug connections since the audio from headphone jack was cutting out as well.(separately soldered/connected on the board) Most likely it was something internal that was causing the intermittent audio problem.

"Youkai".....I forgot to ask if you had tested the audio from the headphone jack as well? If the audio is find from the headphone jack then "soopafamicom" may have possibly pointed out your problem.

Youkai · Mar 2, 2004

OK I'll check that out later, if the headphone audio is good, then just simply take it to a shop and get it fixed?

Dean · Mar 2, 2004

The problem is most likely not a cracked trace on the PCB. I've had a couple Duo's do this and both the AV and headphone jack are screwed up. I believe it's a dying IC somewhere on the board but haven't been about to trace it. The problem I see is the same as all of you so it's obviously reproducible across many systems (by the way, Turbo Duos and PCE Duos both show this problem). It always occurs with a warm system and sound returns after it cools off. I believe a temporary way to avoid this is to avoid playing your Duo for 2 h or more at a time to reduce the heat stress.

I'll work on tracing the audio back to the processor and see where the issue is because this is a major concern for a lot of people. It's ridiculous to throw out a perfectly working system if the problem is only sound!

quixux · Mar 2, 2004

D-Lite said:
The problem is most likely not a cracked trace on the PCB. I've had a couple Duo's do this and both the AV and headphone jack are screwed up. I believe it's a dying IC somewhere on the board but haven't been about to trace it. The problem I see is the same as all of you so it's obviously reproducible across many systems (by the way, Turbo Duos and PCE Duos both show this problem). It always occurs with a warm system and sound returns after it cools off. I believe a temporary way to avoid this is to avoid playing your Duo for 2 h or more at a time to reduce the heat stress.

I'll work on tracing the audio back to the processor and see where the issue is because this is a major concern for a lot of people. It's ridiculous to throw out a perfectly working system if the problem is only sound!

Maybe a proper solution is to keep a source like a fan blowing on it?

Youkai · Mar 2, 2004

quixux said:
Maybe a proper solution is to keep a source like a fan blowing on it?

Nah.sounds ghetto as playing PS1 with the CD lid facing down.

BTW I wonder if Turbo Zone Direct is aware of this.

quixux · Mar 2, 2004

Youkai said:
Nah.sounds ghetto as playing PS1 with the CD lid facing down.

BTW I wonder if Turbo Zone Direct is aware of this.

That works great with my japanese sega saturn. Don't knock it.

It's a cheap way to keep it from overheating, but it works great!

Youkai · Mar 2, 2004

Well, since D-Lite "Mr. Turbo" spoke up, looks like there's hope.

Dean · Mar 2, 2004

Youkai said:
Well, since D-Lite "Mr. Turbo" spoke up, looks like there's hope.

*feels weight of the world on his shoulders*

soopafamicom · Mar 4, 2004

Just been playing around with my Duo and I have found something that may be of interest.

I had in Fatal Fury 2 and the sound was dipping in and out and the music was all mangled and it wasnt loading right.I noticed that the centre where the disk rotates was sitting high on its spindle.

I very gently gave it a few taps to just drop it very slightly,trying the game every few taps and I got it to load with no probs and the sound was nob on.The centrs should be only just proud of the surrounding plastic so the disk doesnt catch when spinning.Mine was about 1.5mm higher and now its down to about half that and I have no probs loading and the sound is fine.

Before I adjusted it I was getting some noise from the lid but that has now gone too.

Worth a try.If you knock it down too low then you will have to take the lid off your duo and use fine bladed screwdrivers in the notches the lift it back up again.

Dean · Mar 4, 2004

Actually your issue here and solution is linked to the fact that the CD unit is not fixed/attached to the rest of the Duo. It literally is floating on 4 rubber "balloons" on plastic pins. So if you ever turn your Duo upside down you will cause the CD unit to effectively raise. Pushing it down is easy and doesn't risk damaging the drive (as long as you don't push it down by the spindle or lens!).

However, the sound crackling people here are referring to is independent of the CD drive. Happens with the HuCard slot as well. I've done the tests with a bad unit with and without the CD drive installed and the problem persists.

:spock:

soopafamicom · Mar 4, 2004

D-Lite said:
Actually your issue here and solution is linked to the fact that the CD unit is not fixed/attached to the rest of the Duo. It literally is floating on 4 rubber "balloons" on plastic pins. So if you ever turn your Duo upside down you will cause the CD unit to effectively raise. Pushing it down is easy and doesn't risk damaging the drive (as long as you don't push it down by the spindle or lens!).

However, the sound crackling people here are referring to is independent of the CD drive. Happens with the HuCard slot as well. I've done the tests with a bad unit with and without the CD drive installed and the problem persists.

It wasnt the cd unit out of line it was the bit in the middle that was sitting high and I had to just tap it down lightly to make it sit lower on the spindle itself.If the cd unit was sitting a little high it wouldn't have mattered as the lens would have been the same distance from the disk.But on mine the cd's were sitting high and needed moving closer to the laser.

As a rule which cd units are the most reliable in the long term?The original cdrom,the super cdrom or the Duo's?

Also how do you get US hucards to work on a jap machine?I have tried the lifting and grounding of pin 29 on the 6280(I think thats right) but with no success.

Dean · Mar 4, 2004

Yes, the housing in the CD unit can raise and cause interference, but this is usually caused by the entire CD unit being inverted. The CD unit itself, being fairly heavy, will usually reseat itself at the lower position but the plastic housing (the horizontal "insert") usually remains "raised" since it is so light.

Many people argue that the original CD Rom add-on units are more reliable but that is just a casual observation. A Duo CD will last indefinitely as long as you don't abuse it. Let your games stop spinning before opening the drive. Try not to play disc intensive games for long periods of time (not games with music since the disc is spins at a constant rate for those), games like the ACD fighters, Flash Hiders, etc. You here lots of motor work with those.

Finally, to get a Japanese system to play US HuCards you need to lift the 29 pin on the 6280 like you said but you also have to then either use a HuCard converter like the Kisado or mod your system slot (which I do as a service

). The 15-17 and 19-23 pins are flipped between the different regions. Pin 29 on Japanese units is the region lockout (US Duos don't have such a lockout).

soopafamicom · Mar 4, 2004

D-Lite said:
Yes, the housing in the CD unit can raise and cause interference, but this is usually caused by the entire CD unit being inverted. The CD unit itself, being fairly heavy, will usually reseat itself at the lower position but the plastic housing (the horizontal "insert") usually remains "raised" since it is so light.

Many people argue that the original CD Rom add-on units are more reliable but that is just a casual observation. A Duo CD will last indefinitely as long as you don't abuse it. Let your games stop spinning before opening the drive. Try not to play disc intensive games for long periods of time (not games with music since the disc is spins at a constant rate for those), games like the ACD fighters, Flash Hiders, etc. You here lots of motor work with those.

Finally, to get a Japanese system to play US HuCards you need to lift the 29 pin on the 6280 like you said but you also have to then either use a HuCard converter like the Kisado or mod your system slot (which I do as a service ). The 15-17 and 19-23 pins are flipped between the different regions. Pin 29 on Japanese units is the region lockout (US Duos don't have such a lockout).

As I'm in the UK sending it would be cost prohibitive to send it to you.Can I email you and can you give me soem details on how I can mod my pc engine and my duo please?

greedostick · Mar 4, 2004

i have had a problem with evey duo i have ever owned. the first one i had wouldn't load the cutscenes. another one would play sound effects for cd games but would have no music for the cd games. which i thought was weird. sometime the sound would cut out and and come back. i had to turn up my tv all the way just to hear game music. them the sound effects would wake everyone in the house up.

do youself a favor and sell that junk and get a modded duo from D

it is the only duo i have ever owned that had worked perfectly!

D is the man! and he is the best seller i have ever come across!

thanks again Dean!

Youkai · Mar 9, 2004

Selling my problematic Duo will give me a bad rep.

I'm gonna try to get on the phone with Turbo Zone Direct (or are they still around) and see what they think about this. If it goes downhill with them, I think I'll consider sending my PCE Duo to D-Lite and let him put the knife to it. How much is it to do it, and any other decent Duo emulators other than Magic Engine I can still play my CD's while it's 3,000 miles away?

greedostick · Mar 9, 2004

just sell your duo on the bay. explain what the problem is. i have seen duo's on ebay where the cd system does not work at all, and have been sold for over $100

alot of people figure they can fix the system or they can just send it to turbo zone and get a new one. it's a way for someone to get a duo a little cheaper. they figure if the pay $100 for it and swap it for another one at TZD for $60 they saved over $40

if you want to play hu card imports you have to see if dean will sell you a modded one. there are so many great imports on the turbo grafx.

TZD, will not fix your system. they will just swap it for one that works and has probebly been fixed. there is a link in there website to the actual website that does this service. it costs $60. well it use to. it may be more now.

if it helps at all i had a duo with the same problem and i sold it on game tz for $90

try posting a thread here and gametz if you have an account. you never know.

Dean · Mar 9, 2004

I don't think the repair service is available anymore. There is never any response to e-mail from that other site. And TZD sold out of Duo's about months ago, so the days of cheap replacements is gone.

When I get back to the west coast in a few days I'll look into the sound problem more.

-Dean

BenimaruN · May 28, 2004

you can add me to the list of shmucks with a busted duo. games play fine, sound effects and iso music are fine, but no cd music (game or audio cd). but the oddest thing is, the problem exists as soon as i boot the system up, and actually goes away after a while. the music comes back after about 20 minutes of play. wierd as all hell.

greedostick · May 28, 2004

BenimaruN said:
you can add me to the list of shmucks with a busted duo. games play fine, sound effects and iso music are fine, but no cd music (game or audio cd). but the oddest thing is, the problem exists as soon as i boot the system up, and actually goes away after a while. the music comes back after about 20 minutes of play. wierd as all hell.

WOW! you dug deep to get this thread.

my old duo had the same exact problem. except mine would play the cd music when it felt like it. pretty ghey.

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