Sega Genesis Model 1: (Slightly) Broken Headphone Jack

[Diablo Griffin]

Hello, everyone. This is my first post, so I'll try to get the hang of things around here. Anyway, so I have a Model 1 Genesis (HDG) with a semi-working headphone port. The problem with it is that the right speaker plays somewhat quietly with most sound channels intact, while the left speaker only plays the PSG (and quite a bit louder than the right speaker too). Strangely enough, when I use the Sega CD, only the Redbook audio plays correctly in both speakers, so it's obviously just the Genesis itself. I'd be happy to just use the mono sound with my TV's headphone jack, but my Model 1 is a VA2, so it has "fake" mono with the right channel in both speakers. My question is this; is there any way to fix the headphone port? If so, maybe I could send it to someone to get it fixed? I don't have the skills to fix it myself so that's out of the question. Oh, and don't tell me to stick with my Model 2, since its one that has horrible sound...

P.S. I have a copy of Super Thunder Blade that will not work on any of my Genesis models. I cleaned it too. Broken contacts I presume?

[Lastcallhall]

Off the top of my head the following could be your reason(s):

1) Dried up/leaky caps.
2) Broken headphone PCB and/or jack
2) Failing YM2612 (although this is unlikely).
4) Any combination of the three.

Your copy of Thunder Blade could have a failed ROM chip.Have you tried it in any other systems? Nevermind, I see you have.

Yeah, it's gone. A reflow of the solder points could fix it, but that's about it.

[MaxWar]

Sounds like a cap issue for the model 1. Pretty typical symptoms. Could be something else but really a recap would be first thing to try.

[Diablo Griffin]

Sounds like a cap issue for the model 1. Pretty typical symptoms. Could be something else but really a recap would be first thing to try.

Hmm. Any way it can be fixed without me trying to do so (again, I'm no tech expert and lack experience

[Salduchi]

Do all va2's have messed up
Mono? I thought I had heard this before but then the board said that is not true.

My va2 has a crackling headphone port (apparently they have that especially when the volume slider is turned down) and I always thought the mono sounded great with an A/V cord.

[MaxWar]

Hmm. Any way it can be fixed without me trying to do so (again, I'm no tech expert and lack experience

There is no shortcut around replacing caps. Beside maybe changing only a few caps and getting lucky. But I usually do the full job.
This can be a bit hard if you have never soldered and/or lack the proper tools. Removing the old caps is the worse, it is fairly easy to damage your console while doing it.

You can purchase a cap kit for cheap on Console5.com but then find someone to install them would be more expensive I think. It is a fairly long job and I expect someone would charge at least 25-30$ for it ( and that is a friend price I would say ) . If you ask a professional repair store They will probably charge 50$+ even if you provide the caps.

[4Runner]

Agreed with Max on this. When I do a recap it usually takes 3-4 hours and some of the caps close to the volume slider are the worst because they are so close together. I've recapped 4 of my consoles and while it is worth it, it is laborious.