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Man I really like the look of the console, the price, the concept and even the look of the controllers. But damn it! Of course the catch has to be a crappy NOAC with PC10 looking colors and inaccurate sound. Is there some way, possibly, to swap the NOAC on it with a good one? Or is there absolutely no way to desolder a "glob top"?
https://youtu.be/R5R85MuAJhc
Ugh, that sound really is rancid. I imagine that if it was possible, people would offer an NOAC swap service. To compare, this is Super Mario Brothers (a very early effort of ROM conversion) on the TG16:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_H6HnJWDwM
Genesis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CikUGpUpj-A
I was trying to find one that demonstrated the Retron HD without some doofus talking all over the gameplay, but no dice.
Oh wow, I didn't know there was a SMB conversion for the TG16. Sounds pretty bad though. I've played the Genesis SMB on real hardware, and it actually doesn't sound too bad and of course plays perfectly. Yeah, I kind of hate most of the review videos out right now on the HD Retrons since all the reviewers basically try not to say anything bad about the console because they were sent to them by HyperKin. I can't stand that he tries to say "It sounds a little off, but not bad". Are kidding me?!? He's playing SMB on it for crying out loud, the one game that you can EASILY distinguish how bad the NOAC sounds compared to a good NOAC or real hardware. And then he plays Castlvevania 3, which is pretty cool that it plays it, but it sounds awful too. A lot of things were done right for the Retron HD, but yeah, ugh! That bad NOAC sound....Quote:
Originally Posted by Raijin Z
I wouldn't care if putting a decent NOAC on it would raise the price a bit, say $10-$20 more maybe, I would very much consider buying it if it wasn't for that damn NOAC. Such a shame. Oh well, it probably has the usual crappy clone console cartridge connector as well.
If the RetroN HD is made like the GamerzTek 8-Bit HD, good luck swapping out the NOAC. Already, you can't swap out existing chip-on-board NOACs because they're directly stuck onto the motherboard and covered in an epoxy blob. Such a swap would necessitate a complete motherboard replacement.
Then comes the issue of the type of NOAC used in these HD Famiclones. Again, basing myself off what I've seen in GamerzTek's 8-Bit HD (and datasheets for the dreadful OneBus variety of NOACs - yes, datasheets exist for these), HD Famiclones use non-standard NOACs that have what I presume is some sort of digital RGB output intended to be used for TFT LCD screens, but repurposed to be output to an HDMI transmitter instead. In the first revision of the 8-Bit HD, the Composite output from the NOAC doesn't go anywhere near the HDMI transmitter while in the second revision, the NOAC's Composite output goes completely unused, instead using what looks like an encoded Composite output from the digital RGB going into the HDMI transmitter. It appears that transmitter doesn't just take a digital RGB input, upscale it and put it out over HDMI, it's also able to encode a Composite signal from that digital RGB input. It looks quite a bit different from the typical Composite output of even an original NES, looking more like the encoded Composite output of the NESRGB.
I'll be getting a RetroN HD soon and will be testing it out myself. Expect some more information when I have the system in my hands.
Wow. As usual Ace, I always learn a heck of a lot of new things from your posts. Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ace
UGH why can't these clone console companies just suck it up and make accurate NOACs? :fit: How much do they really save by not putting a decent NOAC on them? You don't have to answer those questions, I'm just ranting.
Looks like a cheap alternative the the AVS. I'll be interested to see comparisons.
I'll be getting one to test alongside my current GamerzTek 8-Bit HD Version 1 and Version 2. Expect such a comparison on my channel when I get the system.
Oh, and I will get the AVS whenever those f*ing things are restocked for a proper comparison too.
This thing just pipes composite video through a cheap Chinese upscaler and outputs HDMI. Otherwise it's the same as the old NOAC.
^ This. It is possible. Figure out the pinouts \signals (shouldn't be that hard) it can be done and install a much better NOAC. On this thread there are pics of the Gamerztek HD NES for example showing all that is made of: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260...-tek-8-bit-hd/ .Remove stock NOAC signals ,inject new NOAC signals and bam.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Redifer
It's not a rant... it's common sense. Spend more for a quality product, and sell at a premium. Get good word of mouth from brand ambassadors and early adopters. Build positive brand recognition and a dedicated audience. Sell more. Economies of scale will eventually allow for the price to come down.Quote:
Originally Posted by roadkill
Instead they just knowingly ship inferior crap out. Their marketing folks regurgitate falsehoods in order to sell more. Most of the bigger Youtubers who get free product "overlook" flaws or just give the fluffiest overviews (masked as reviews) possible, and repeat ad nauseum until folks eventually catch on.
I'm glad that Bob of RetroRGB gave an actually useful review.
What's your channel? I'd like to check that out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ace
This is an old video of the Gamerztek HD compared to the AVS, and a Super Retro Trio with an HDMI upscaler that I did a while back if that helps. It's only about a minute of footage, but the difference between the AVS is night and day. You'll also see that the SRT + external HDMI via composite looks almost identical to the Gamerztek HD. Skip to 1:46 to get right to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by StuOhQ
https://youtu.be/k00hUKdEXIA?t=1m46s
I have that Gamerztek thing. I haven't removed it from the box yet. I also have their Genesis thing (which does not have HDMI).
Probably best to leave the NES in the box. If you ever get around to the Genesis clone, that I'd be interested in watching that as I respect your opinions on hardware.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Redifer
No it does not. In fact, if the GamerzTek 8-Bit HD is anything to go by, Composite goes NOWHERE near the HDMI transmitter. I have both revisions of the 8-Bit HD and this is what I found:Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Redifer
-On the first revision (the one with correct duty cycles but a broken APU), Composite video goes from the NOAC to the yellow RCA connector, and ONLY the yellow RCA connector
-On the second revision (this one gets the sound wrong as the NOAC was switched to one with reversed duty cycles), Composite video is actually ENCODED FROM THE HDMI TRANSMITTER! The NOAC's own Composite output goes nowhere.
It's hard to believe, but there is a dedicated Composite output from the HDMI transmitter, and let's be honest... look at videos and screenshots from the 8-Bit HD and RetroN HD taken over HDMI. Do you seriously believe an image that clean to be Composite? If I were to guess, and NOACs like this do exist, there is a digital RGB output on the NOAC as part of a TFT LCD screen interface. Don't believe me? I can attach the datasheets I found to such NOACs.
Don't be so quick to say that a hardware clone puts out Composite over HDMI, especially if the Super Retro Trio+, RetroBit's HD 3-in-1 clone, is found to have analog RGB taken straight from the Super NES chipset and sent to the HDMI transmitter.
^Did you mean the RES+? To my knowledge, the SRT+ was teased but has no release date as of yet.