Blazing Lazers Audio Popping?

[Mgridgaway]

Hi all,

Picked up Blazing Lazers today, and for some reason the audio pops on certain stages. Specifically Area 5 (the Desert). Checked it out on an emulator and no popping.

What am I looking at here? Just normal? Something wrong with my TG-16? Something wrong with the HuCard?

[esteban]

Is it rhythmic (for example, is it linked to the drum sample), or does it seem random (no discernible pattern)? 

[Mgridgaway]

It seemed somewhat more rhythmic, but I'll have to give it another listen. The audio popped in the sound test as well.

[Mgridgaway]

I went ahead and recorded a video. Sounds more random to me, but constant. This is the only game I've noticed it in.

[780racer]

Try it on a different TV, see if it does the same thing. It sounds a tad off, I do hear the pops, but it does happens at specific points (More of less... If I am hearing what you are talking about)

[Mgridgaway]

I've listened to it a bit more, and it sounds like it's popping on the beat after drum hits. Also, it sounds like the popping is on every track, but it's more/less subtle depending on the track. No other crts in the house but I'll try it on a LCD.

Edit: cleaned contacts again. changed tv, tried sega 1 power supply. no change.

[rxmage]

Sounds like it is on the drum beats to me.  As mentioned, try a different TV.  Could be just the speaker on the TV has crapped out or it is bottoming out on the bass.

[Mednafen]

FWIW, the HES rip is making popping noises with that music in (latestish) Mednafen.

[Mgridgaway]

I've watched a couple videos on Youtube and the popping is also present when they're actually playing the game on actual hardware. Guess it's normal?

[StarDust4Ever]

Looks pretty normal to me. I can barely hear the "pops". Could it be a cap issue? Some systems may have caps degraded moreso than others. For instance, my RF out looks almost pristine direct connected to CRT. Others claim their RF connections are roached but I wouldn't know what to compare it to.

Also are you using the mono RF connection or the stereo AV outs from the back panel? Stereo direct connection is almost always cleaner sounding. Ditto for my VA7 Model 1 Genesis. The RF, as well as the mono audio DIN output, are terrible. Sound grungy like it's being fed to a distortion amp. The stereo headphone jack set at half volume (5)? Pristine... :-"

[Mgridgaway]

AV out the back. RF doesn't look too bad, but it's really red. Composite looks nice enough, but I want to get some component going.

[rxmage]

Have you tried another TV yet?

My guess would really be that your TV is the culprit.  Capacitors can cause audio issues in bass, but most often this is seen in the amp section where larger voltages are required to drive bass frequencies.  Given the age that CRTs are getting to, you could have an issue in the audio amp section of the TV or it could be the old age of the speaker.

I am not an expert by any stretch, but I have recapped over 20 TurboGrafx now.  Of those about a third truly had sound issues due to bad capacitors.  None of the units exhibited roll off of bass frequencies.  You generally see a decline across the full frequency spectrum.

Given the fact that TurboGrafx seem to have a pretty "quiet" audio pre-out, one generally has to increase the volume on the TV above normal listening levels.  Driving the amp section of the TV this much harder could result in the amp section clipping lower frequencies due to failing capacitors or simply causing a bad speaker to crackle. 

Now, if your TurboGrafx hasn't been recapped, it would be a good thing to do anyhow given how notorious the units are for leaking caps.

[StarDust4Ever]

i cannot speak for everyone but my Turbografx still has virgin caps and has pristine audio/video. Even the RF circuit is extremely clean when direct connected to the TV. I recently popped the top shield for the first time to install LED logo backlights, and I can assure you the bottom shield on mine that houses the components has never been opened. My NES still has all it's original caps; so does my SNES and Model 1 Genesis. I replaced the "Chiclet" filter cap and 7805 on my Atari 2600A (4-switch), but besides that all my consoles still have stock components in them.

It appears most 80s consoles still have good working capacitors in them 30 years later, and it was really a period from early to late 90s that most of the "plague capacitors" were produced. Nintendo used only Japanese manufacturers for it's console parts up until the 6th generation so was largely unaffected. Most of the capacitor plague afflicted electrolytics originated from Taiwan or Indonesia or somewhere, resulting from a stolen formulation recipe which did not have the proper additives. Many of the stockpile of "bad" caps continued to be used in consumer goods into the early 2000s. For instance, I had a PC power supply with a bad cap that went BOOM unexpectantly one day. The motherboard was unharmed and $30 and a new power supply later I was back in business.

Many of the original US Turbografx consoles, as well as most PC Engine and Coregrafx units from Japan were largely unaffected as they were manufactured before the "plague." The CD ROM and Duos were manufactured during the beginnings of the "plague" era and thus have a high failure rate of the electronics, "rotten" gear issues aside. Another advantage to going hucard only is the higher reliability and affordability of the hardware. Perhaps the CD units are so much more expensive due to their high failure rates and people discarding hardware when it broke down.

[rxmage]

StarDust4Ever,

The TurboGrafx16 units do not have as bad of an issue with caps as the Duos.  The Duos are sitting time bombs if the caps haven't been replaced.  While it is not the best sample size to make judgments by, only one-third of the 20 or so TurboGrafx16s that I have replaced caps on actually had issues caused by the caps.  The two-thirds that didn't really needed the caps replaced were done so just because people like the idea that the caps have been replaced.  I think some of it is paranoia carried over from the Duos.   So, I don't think the cap issue with the TG16s is at an epidemic level...just something cheap and easy to do if you are inside working on one at the time.

You are dead on with the NES, SNES and Genesis.  I haven't seen those needing to be replaced too often.  My own Atari, Coleco Gemini, Colecovision, Genesis, and PSX all have their original caps and show no sign that they should or need to be replaced.

You are lucky with the RF connection.  I have a pile of RF modulators that I have removed to perform A/V mods.  Most of those don't work or don't work well.  The material that they made the RCA jack from is the cheapest material I think they could find.  They are either so oxidized or corroded that they fail to work.  I am sure that what part of the States they were in and the humidity levels there probably had a lot to do with the oxidation and corrosion.

I also keep thinking I want to do the LED mod to the logo.  Did you use an LED strip or just single LEDs?

[esteban]

Original Poster: I think the "popping" you hear = the slight "imperfections" that result from ambitious use of samples + PSG. Blazing Lazers / GunHed has a fantastic soundtrack, even with the the snap/crackle/pop.