While most games consoles come and go without receiving any hardware upgrades, the Sega Megadrive received not one but two such upgrades during its lifetime. The Sega CD or Mega CD gave the machine access to affordable mass storage and the 32X was intended as a cheap upgrade to next generation type specs. Each of these add-ons requires a separate power supply, meaning three AC adaptors in the wall if you have all three upgrades; unfortunate, but usually unavoidable. When I first found out about Retro Game Supply’s all in one power supply for the 32x, Megadrive and MegaCD, the word that would best sum up my feelings was “cynical”. Having tested other solutions, such as the disappointing Keene DCHub, it seemed unlikely that such a cheap AC adaptor could truly deliver power to all three accessories with no compromise in picture quality.
One for all
The All-in-One adapter shipped promptly from Retro Game Supply’s store in France. The unit itself certainly doesn’t look like much, a simple “Made in China” power adapter with the three power connectors for each bit of Sega hardware. To plug it into the mains, a simple figure of eight (IEC 60320 C7/C8) cable is required. Retro Game Supply can supply the unit with or without a power cable, since different countries use different plugs it’s usually better to buy the unit without a mains cable then simply source an appropriate cable locally. The power supply is also rated for either 110 or 240 volts, meaning you can use it anywhere in the world without worrying about the local voltage differences.
Keeping in mind the unit uses a mains cable without a direct earth connection, it came as quite a pleasant surprise that there was no added interference or noise on the picture when using the multi adapter. At the time of writing we’ve only tested the unit with the Megadrive and MegaCD, due to a missing patch cable for our 32X. Picture quality really was no different whatsoever from using the two separate AC adapters.
DC delivered
For those of us with bigger retro gaming setups, anything that can reduce cable clutter and particularly the number of AC adapters in use has got to be a good thing. Of course, we would never sacrifice convenience for quality, but it really does seem that with the Retro Game Supply unit you can have both. While the unit may just be an adapted, generic PSU, it’s clear Retro Game Supply have tested it and found a unit that performs well.
Screenshots
Since we like to be thorough here, we took a few screenshots to compare the picture when using the All-in-One power supply and the picture when using the individual, Sega branded AC adapters. As you can see there’s really no difference. The left image shows the Megadrive using the separate power supplies, the right shows the All-in-One.
[image-comparator left=”https://videogameperfection.com/support-files/md-psu-compare/colour-bleed-orig.png” right=”https://videogameperfection.com/support-files/md-psu-compare/colour-bleed-multi.png”][/image-comparator]
The All-in-One power supply is available now from Retrogamesupply.com.
any idea on if this all in one power adapter will work with a usa model 1 genesis model 2 sega cd and a sega 32x combination setup?
There is a model for that combination, yes.
there is absolutely a visible difference when comparing the two. it might be negligible to the average gamer but videophile’s would say it’s not worth it. thank you, though, for the thorough comparison.
Where is this difference you can see? I shall have to update this page with the new image comparison tool.
do you really not see any difference? look, for instance, at the comparison of the flying creature’s dotted-patterned wings, or look at the white dots in the first image; in both cases, the second hovered-over image is softer, fuzzier, blurrier, and less defined. you can see this with the green dots or the left edge of the red-dotted rectangle.
i can understand some people being satisfied with the compromise, but grading the picture quality as 10/10 is a very unfair assessment.
Nope sorry, can’t see it, I’ll scrutinise the originals and update the comparison plug-in.
I’m with you and i’ve had my face to the screen for the last few mintues sliding back and forth. Any difference is down to tiny differences in screen capture accuracy. The first shot is literally exactly the same. Looks good to me. Visual differences are null and especially if you game on a PVM.
i’ve reviewed the comparisons today and i think the two for the top look identical; the two sonic ones also appear identical save for the slightly different placements of the graphics. the fact that, two years ago, my assessment was wildly different suggest to me that there is something amiss with the testing presentation, either then or now. i say that because i’m confident that i would never think “absolutely a visible difference” + two years later = now appears identical. something else is going on.
Agreed. It’s easier to see in the first comparison, but can also be seen in the second when looking at certain areas, like the wings mentioned above.
I wonder if this would also work with a MultiMega (UK) and 32X (US) combo? While I would need the Megadrive 2 version (due to the power fitting I wonder if its 9V output would still work with the MultiMega which I think needs 9.5V.
It can work because there is no difference between 9V and 9.5V, just contact the guy and it can make you a custom power adapter.
He made me a PC Engine SuperGrafx+Super CD-Rom² for the same price as this model : http://en.retrogamesupply.com/products/power-supply-all-in-one-for-nec-pc-engine-coregrafx-1-2-super-cd-rom2