PC Engine DUO-R sound issues

[Shompola]

Hi,

I have very recently bought a DUO-R with box etc.
Hu-Cards load just fine, so do CD MUSIC and CD Games. No issues with the cd unit making weird noises or not loading properly. No issues with cd music, i.e. the heat issue. But there is one problem that is pretty annoying. Some games, in particular Shinobi Hu-Card has this background interference/hiss sound. It is worst in the title screen or other parts of the game where sound is completely silent. The sound is also present in the actual game but less so as it is hidden among the sound effects and music. But you can clearly hear the sound when you die and sound/music stops.
The sound can also be described as the sound you get with bad cables cut in and out, the "bzzzt" sound but much more gentle than that. The sound is also present in Aero Blasters HU-Card but only in the intro when they present the two different space ships. It is however not present in the actual game at all no matter how hard I try to listen for it. The sound is not present at all in R-TYPE HU-Card, be it in the title screen or actual game. Some CD games can also produce the sound, for example the KONAMI logo when it animates, at the end of the animation you can slightly hear that sound and then it fades out completely. You can also hear it in Dracula X when some particular sound effects are heard, but it is very uncommon and well hidden when you actually hear it. Shinobi is by far the worst here. Why is it that some games have the sound issue louder and more often than the others? Can it also be a video issue? I discconnected the video cable and nothing has changed. Tried to swap around white/red audio cables, removed one of them and the sound is still present. Connected the white/red aucio cables to the stereo receiver that I have and the sound is still present. Tried the DUO-R on two different tv's aswell with no success of eliminating the sound. The AC adaptor and video cables are original and look to be quite new. Also I am using a step down converter as I am residing in Europe. The step down converter is also making a constant "bzzzt" sound, although it isn't loud and you can only hear it if you're close to it.

Anyone has experienced a similiar problem with PC Engine's or any other console?
What should I do? Live with it or is there a fix for it?

Thanks in advance!

[GUTS]

That sounds like problems you have when you use an aftermarket ac adapter or one with a slightly wrong voltage.  I had the same problem with my genesis for awhile until I got an actual sega AC adapter, although you say you have the original NEC adapter so that probably isn't the problem.  Maybe it's the converter you're using?

[esteban]

But there is one problem that is pretty annoying. Some games, in particular Shinobi Hu-Card has this background interference/hiss sound. It is worst in the title screen or other parts of the game where sound is completely silent. The sound is also present in the actual game but less so as it is hidden among the sound effects and music. But you can clearly hear the sound when you die and sound/music stops.
The sound can also be described as the sound you get with bad cables cut in and out, the "bzzzt" sound

OK, let's assume that the regional differences (Europe vs. Japan / NA) aren't the issue. And let's assume it's not the AC adapter or A/V cables themselves. Two things come to mind (I live in US, I use both TG-16 and PCE hardware, all original accessories):

1. Some games utilize less-than-perfect samples in the music / sound effects.  Perhaps this accounts for some of the odd noises you are hearing. If this is the case, there is no solution.

2. On my old TV (NTSC, mid-eighties), there is sometimes a noticeable "aural distortion" at some points in games / watching movies.  I'm not a technical person, but it certainly seems related to the video signal generated by console / displayed on the screen: for example, when there is a lot of WHITE displayed on the screen, I hear things (sometimes a hiss, othertimes a "buzzzz" and other times a high-pitched,  barely audible whining tone).  It happens at other times as well, though I've never really tried to figure out if there was a discernable pattern to it all. This has occurred via RF directly to TV, RCA jacks directly to TV, and RCA jacks --> VCR --> TV. Eiither the console itself, or the signal generated by the TV screen, seem to create interference.

Perhaps testing the console on a newer TV / LCD monitor would help.

I'm sure someone here might have a more-informed explanation of your problem. Otherwise, it shouldn't be too hard for us to test some of these ideas.


3. Tangent: The awesome song for the first stage in Valis II is imperfect, and has a noticable hiss / high-pitched whine ruining it. It's one of my favorite songs of all time, and it's a shame the Redbook audio isn't in better shape.

[Shompola]

Thanks both of you for replying!

I am also suspecting the converter(it isnt an uber cheap but not much better than those), or atleast something that has to do with power. The house that I am testing the unit is quite old, 40 years or so and the cables have not been exchanged since the house was built.

But the problem seems to be related to video aswell, as some games tend not be affected by the problem, or less than others like R-Type Vs Shinobi.
The problem does resemble the bright white picture problem, but is not quite the same though as in Shinobi you can hear the sound when you boot up shinobi wich is only a company logo in red color.

The TV's that I tried the unit on are both quite new. The SONY TV is 6 years old, and the Philips one was purchased 2005 brand new.

[esteban]

Thanks both of you for replying!

I am also suspecting the converter(it isnt an uber cheap but not much better than those), or atleast something that has to do with power. The house that I am testing the unit is quite old, 40 years or so and the cables have not been exchanged since the house was built.

But the problem seems to be related to video aswell, as some games tend not be affected by the problem, or less than others like R-Type Vs Shinobi.
The problem does resemble the bright white picture problem, but is not quite the same though as in Shinobi you can hear the sound when you boot up shinobi wich is only a company logo in red color.

The TV's that I tried the unit on are both quite new. The SONY TV is 6 years old, and the Philips one was purchased 2005 brand new.

I wish I had the Shinobi HuCard to see if I could re-create the situation you described.  

Try the Ninja Spirit HuCard (if you have it). If my memory serves correctly, this game had a lot of "imperfect" (less than clean-sounding) music and sound effects... to the point that their was never any true "clean silence"... there was always some background noise.  I suspect this has to do with the PSG itself, and not a "problem" ....

[Shompola]

Hi again,

Unfortunately I don't have Ninja Spirit. I also tried the DUO-R with a different AC Adaptor, a SEGA CDX/MultiMega one rated at 9.5v 1.3A. Unfortunately it did not get rid of the sound. Atleast I know now that the converter is not responsible for the sound. But still it can be power related, as mentioned before the cables in the house are quite old and not shielded properly. I am only temporary here(parents house) under the summer and I will eventually in a few weeks test the unit in my own apartment. I will also purchase a new A/V cable and see if it reduces the sound.

[cozzie]

I have a pc engine unit white model and that makes the sound also in Shinobi it dosent worry me though.

[Shompola]

Hello again all of you,

cozzie, do you also hear it in other games?

Found something interesting... Lets say a game has that annoying buzz sound in the background, I soft reset the game to the PC Engine Super CD ROM boot screen with pressing RUN + SELECT BUTTON.... If I do this sometimes the annoying buzz sound will get stuck in the Super CD ROM bootscreen! aswell until I boot a new game and the game hopefully depending on how it utilizes the sound chip resets the sound completely, and if it doesn't reset it completely it will get stuck in whatever game aswell. So this is an indication of a shielding problem?

[cozzie]

I have only noticed it in this game near the end of a level the music carries on with one note and all so when it says Asmic at the start it makes a buzzing noise!!

[Shompola]

I see. My problem is that the buzzing sound at the logo is not completely eliminated when the game loads afterwards... It stays there until something completely kills it. Unfortunately there isn't anything in Shinobi that can kill it it seems, thus Shinobi being the worst of the bunch. I need to shield the cable and see what happens. There is definitely interference from the console carried out to the sound output... annoying.

[Shompola]

Btw I have recorded the buzz sound from Shinobi if anyone is interested.
http://www.csd.uu.se/~shma7099/pce.mp3

[esteban]

That sound is quite familiar -- that's what I hear on my old TV sometimes, as I noted above.

[Kaminari]

Is this your first PC Engine? This sounds like normal to me

The PC Engine is a noisy console. Some games, especially those displaying high brightness values (read: white screens) will produce the kind of buzz you're hearing. The buzz is more or less audible depending on the quality of your TV set and speakers, but it definitely comes from the console and this shouldn't be a cause of worry. My white CoreGrafx produced more buzz than this!

[Keranu]

"White CoreGrafx"? Did such a console exist!?  

[nodtveidt]

I've never had these noise problems with a PCE/TG and I believe the problem comes from either RF interference or AC line noise. Try plugging the console into a noise filter, that might help. Unfortunately, I don't think NEC made a shielded A/V cable...but if they did, that might help as well.