PC-Engine and Converter question. and more.....

[Official Ninja]

I'm a long time Turbografx owner/player. I've been out of the scene for a while but I've started playing my Turbo again recently. I found that the gear in CD-Rom drive dried out and cracked when I tried to play a game. So this leaves me with a bunch of CDROM games I cant play. (besides in magic engine emu).

So, looking at the price of a working CD system, or USA Duo, I thought it might be better to just get a Japanese Duo.
Question is, I have 2 of these purple adapters to play japan hu-cards in the tg-16. They look like the WH-301 I see pictured at this site. Will these work in the japan system to play tg-16 hu-card in the PC-Engine?
(Its a long shot but I thought I would ask!)

While I'm typing let me also ask these questions:

Speaking of playing only CD-ROM games, is the Japanese DUO the best solution?

Also, I thought I had seen years ago, an adapter that would allow you to use a turbo pad on your PC. An adapter that converts the pad to a usb device. Is there such a device being sold and where?

Thanks!

[Necromancer]

Question is, I have 2 of these purple adapters to play japan hu-cards in the tg-16. They look like the WH-301 I see pictured at this site. Will these work in the japan system to play tg-16 hu-card in the PC-Engine?
(Its a long shot but I thought I would ask!)

Kind of.  They'll swap the HuCard slot pins as needed, but you'll still need to ground a pin on the inside; and if you're going to open it up, you might as well put in a switch and stuff your Barneys in a drawer.

Speaking of playing only CD-ROM games, is the Japanese DUO the best solution?

The Duo-R and Duo-RX (functionally identical to an R, but more expensive and with a 6-button controller) are the best way to go; the original PCE Duo suffers from the same problems as the US TurboDuo (dead caps and laser issues), so they're best avoided.  That said, I wouldn't pass up a good deal on a refurbished TurboDuo or PCE Duo, as a properly repaired Duo should be equal to a Duo-R in reliability, if not more so.

Also, I thought I had seen years ago, an adapter that would allow you to use a turbo pad on your PC. An adapter that converts the pad to a usb device. Is there such a device being sold and where?

I know of no plug-n-play adapters, though you can make your own (clicky).  They sell adapters and controllers for other systems, but nothing for PCE/TG-16.

[Official Ninja]

Necromancer,

Thanks much. I ordered that kit from retrousb. If I make a nice adapter box with it I can play all my CD games on my PC with Magic Engine and a real PCE controller. 

[spenoza]

If you're going to play CD games use Ootake, Mednafen, or PCEjin instead of Magic Engine. Magic Engine has some weird issues balancing the volume between chip, ADPCM, and redbook audio and just doesn't sound as accurate.

[Arkhan]

If you're going to play CD games use Ootake, Mednafen, or PCEjin instead of Magic Engine. Magic Engine has some weird issues balancing the volume between chip, ADPCM, and redbook audio and just doesn't sound as accurate.

The problem is that the MagicSystem card is like a ghetto System Card 3.0.   It doesn't do anything right really.

The fastest, modernest approach to CD games in an emulator is definitely Ootake.   You get the comfort of a windows style interface, since most people are like "f*ck the command line"

and it's really not all buggy/inaccurate/crap like everyone says.   Insanity was mostly tested in Ootake.

[Official Ninja]

Thanks.

I just tried out Ootake and it is better with cd audio than Magic Engine. ME has drop outs in the cda for me.

Magic Engine has the better looking display though, and ME is much easier to use. User friendly I guess.

Still I think I'll be playing Hucards in ME and CD games in Ootake. 

[Official Ninja]

Still I think I'll be playing Hucards in ME and CD games in Ootake. 

I take this back. I adjusted some settings in the ME config file last night and now the cd audio is rock solid. So for me with its much better display and nice easy interface im sticking with ME all the way.
Also, you dont have to use the Magic Sytem card for cd games, If you have trouble with a game (like Spriggan doesnt display all the graphics with the MS card) you can just use the system card 2.0 or 3.0 and its always worked for me. (so far)