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Model 1 VA6.x Sounding Worse Than VA7. How can this be?


Treg

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I just got my Model 1 VA6.x (not sure if it's 6.5 or 6.8) recapped with new capacitors from console5.com. Got them soldered by a local PC repair shop. But I'm pretty sure it's not suppose to sound like this. It's pretty loud and drowns out alot of detail in the music and the treble seems high and shrill sounding depending on the instrument playing. My original childhood VA7 however sounds great in comparison, with punchier bass and percussion. It's much more balanced sounding. And the VA7 is supposed to be the "stinker" model 1s.

 

What's the deal? Is there another component on the board bad on the VA6.x? Something to do with the low or high pass filter? I pretty much don't know anything about electronics/circuitry. Any idea what the problem could be? Thanks!

 

 

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I gotta be honest, I can't even hear the audio loud enough to try and compare this. But as an owner of a va2 model 1 and having owned the other variants, I'm pretty familiar with how the earlier units should sound. So if you can provide some better quaility audio vs what I mainly hear ( Just background hiss...).

 

Okay, if I crank up the volume on my PC here to near max I can hear it but I'm not familiar with which game this is right off hand? The music sounds familiar but I can't place with game. But what I can do is record the audio straight from my va2 and my va6.5. 

 

The main differences I can hear between my va2 and the later models is that the highs will distort on the va2 if the volume of the instruments peaks out. But this is a known issue that was fixed in the va3. But as you increase the revision, the biggest thing I notice with the audio is that it becomes less bright with less overall bass and begins to sound muddier or more muffled compared to earlier units. The va6 series sound more or less the same as a va3 but with a lower overall volume from the amplification. The va6 units are about 10db lower in volume compared to the earlier units. I do own a va3. It is a Jpn megadrive but aside from the locking cart switch and the lack of RF shielding the rest of it looks and sounds the same as its US counterpart internally.

 

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8 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I gotta be honest, I can't even hear the audio loud enough to try and compare this. But as an owner of a va2 model 1 and having owned the other variants, I'm pretty familiar with how the earlier units should sound. So if you can provide some better quaility audio vs what I mainly hear ( Just background hiss...).

 

Ok. I hope you can hear these. The volume slider is at max.

 

I still think this VA6.X sounds really unbalanced. I've heard other recordings of supposedly the same revision and sound much better than this. The VA7 is quieter but more balanced. This is recorded straight from the Genesis Headphone jack to my PC's microphone port. Once again, I ask: Does my VA6.X sound normal to any of you? Thanks.

 

The game the sound is from is Shinobi III

VA6xSoundMAXVOLUME.wav VA7SoundMAXVOLUME.wav

Edited by Treg
Didn't realize I could actually upload the files to the forum
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To my ears the VA6 has better separation of the instrumentation where as it might sound more balanced on the va7 but I'm not able to hear the individual instrumentation as well as I can. Also through my computer speakers the va6 version on your recording was hitting my sub more than the va7 indicating to me that that va6 has lower freq response vs the va7. So in the case of the song you have picked, it is really close and as Shinobi III was a later made game, it might be possible it was developed with the ASIC version of the model 2 sound in mind vs the earlier model 1 units. I would record the track from my va2 but it wouldn't be accurate as I have both a M1 Mini Mega amp and an M1 Double Mega internally installed into my Genesis. So mine already has more cleaned up sound than even the va2 and va3 units to begin with along with the sound being slightly different as the M1 double mega has the 3438 chip that I'm using vs the normal 2612. I can switch them, but that switch is internal in the console and not something I can do easily on the fly.

 

And I did all of that because in many cases I prefer the way some sounds and music come across on the newer 3438 which includes, better instrumentation separation and much improved stereo separation as well.

 

 

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23 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

So in the case of the song you have picked, it is really close and as Shinobi III was a later made game, it might be possible it was developed with the ASIC version of the model 2 sound in mind vs the earlier model 1 units.

Interesting. I never thought of that! I might test them on an older game and see how they compare then.

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Wow! Well, it's pretty easy to tell that the VA6.x sound is better when playing music from Shadow Dancer (1990) and Rocket Knight (1993). I guess that really was it. Shinobi III must favor the VA7+. I never would have thought. Now I'm not sure what to do lol I think I may just keep both of them. Thanks for the help.

 

This Rocket Knight song is a good example. I can hear distortion with the piano on the VA7 while the VA6x is very bright and clean.

RocketKnightVA6x.wav RocketKnightVA7.wav

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That's a big bummer, sorry to hear it. You can make back at least some of that on eBay. Recapped units (especially if the shell is in good shape) usually get up close to $100. Most of the recapped units up there right now are $130+ but I doubt anybody buys at that price. Price it lower than the rest and recoup what you can, I guess. 

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On 9/8/2020 at 8:30 PM, Treg said:

Unfortunately, I've discovered the VA6x causes me literal ear pain at any volume. Seriously. Maybe something to do with the frequency it's putting out. So I guess that's 110 dollars down the drain. I'd never make that money back selling it.

You using headphones? I've never had any console literally give me any pain unless I was using headphones. I have all of my systems piped into my AV receiver. That is another option is to have a slight mod done to pull the audio as line level that isn't controlled by the volume slider any longer and have separate RCA jacks installed for provide that or an alternate 1/8" headphone jack installed. In fact, you can even have the modification done and use the front headphone jack but it would require external amplification at that point in mose cases.

 

Could also look into having an M1 Mini Mega amp bypass put into it and combined with a Double Mega that allows you to install a 3438 chip and use that instead? That would give you the same basic sound as the model 2 units but at the highest quality exceeding even the original model 1s sound. Not cheap to do all of that though.

 

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