SNES analog audio quality upgrade

[Drakon]

Here's something I tried for fun. I did the snes digital audio mod on my snes jr. Then I connected the digital audio into one of these cheap ebay spdif to analog audio adapters:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Opt...=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item4605f869e0

Here's the video comparing the default system audio to the audio coming out of the system I just modded. Both of these recordings are analog so there's no need to have a digital audio system to experience this setup:



I much prefer the audio from the digital signal converted with a cheap modern digital to analog converter.

And for the sake of hilarity here's a picture of my snes jr in its current state:

The breadboard in the back is a cxa2075 video encoder circuit wired with the outputs going to the multi av port at the back. The breadboard in the front is the digital audio mod chip. The rca cable is what's connecting the digital audio output to the external digital audio to analog audio converter. I'm going to TRY to get everything to fit under the hood including the digital to analog converter. I'm not sure if the console will have enough amps to power the digital to analog converter but I guess I'll find out.

 

[Tchay]

Looks really nifty, but I honestly could not notice any difference between those two audio tracks :/

How are they supposed to be different?

 

[Prog]

Probably just a placebo, but I notice less distortion and more treble in the latter.

 

[ttsgeb]

Looks really nifty, but I honestly could not notice any difference between those two audio tracks :/

How are they supposed to be different?

 

[Drakon]

Probably just a placebo, but I notice less distortion and more treble in the latter.

Like progmetalman says, there's less distortion, more treble, and also less muffle.

 

[Metroid fan]

The low end was sounding nice and crisp to me. I'm digging that, I love quality improving mods.

 

[Drakon]

The low end was sounding nice and crisp to me. I'm digging that, I love quality improving mods.

Thanks. For any quality improvement you need to tap signals at their source and build an improved circuit to convert them into analog signals your hardware can use. For video I tapped rgb, sync, and colour subcarrier at the inputs of the built in encoder, the signals at that point are the same as when they come straight from the ppu. It turns out that the sony cxa2075 video encoder suites the snes the best. I recommend you watch this video in 720p to see what I mean:



Not only does the cxa2075 produce sharper quality s-video, the cxa2075 also gets rid of the translucent bar in the middle of the screen (I have no idea why this was an accidental discovery).

The same method applies to this audio mod. The audio signals get tapped before they're converted into analog and amped by the snes circuit. The cirrus logic chip converts the signals in a standard spdif digital signal and then the cheap ebay spdif to analog circuit converts the digital into stereo analog. Even though the hardware I'm using for this rebuilt audio circuit is cheap it's still a noticable improvement which is more than I expected.

 

[Drakon]

*bump*

I fixed the hissing sound in the audio completely yay!

*updated with a better video*

 

[grossaffe]

Took me awhile, but I can hear the difference now.

Your SNES mods are always so tempting to have done to have the best SNES experience.

 

[Drakon]

Took me awhile, but I can hear the difference now.

Your SNES mods are always so tempting to have done to have the best SNES experience.

Thanks. I know the difference isn't massive but it's definitely enough to notice. Anyway I made a better video this time where I get the stereo the same with with both recordings haha: