[SOLVED] Noisy picture and no sound from Megadrive

[raina]

Aww, man.

I’ve had my PS2, SNES and Megadrive model 1 hooked up via component through a Dynex switch and it’s been an OK setup apart from my 2014 Sony TV not handling 240p perfectly. I thought I’d finally fix that with the RT2x v3.2 I just received and get those flicker effects looking right (which I did). But the overall picture quality from all consoles with the RT2x is noticeably more noisy compared to running component straight from the switch to the TV. And to make matters worse there appears to be no sound coming through from the MD. No such problem with the SNES or PS2.

I’m using the HD Retrovision cables for SNES and MD and it doesn’t seem to make a difference whether I have the stereo audio from the headphone jack connected to the HDRV cable or not. Neither does connecting the MD headphone jack directly to the RT2x help. And yes, I checked the volume slider.

Am I missing something obvious that could help? Pretty bummed about trading one issue for two new ones.

[raina]

Ok, an update on this. I returned the RT2x in question and Matt tested it only to find it to be working identically to his own unit. That relieved me to troubleshoot elsewhere once I got it back. He sent me a replacement unit anyway to ease any lingering doubts I might have since the initial knee-jerk reaction.

So, the noise
This seems like an issue that is only visible

a) when the screen goes black, like it’s amplifying the signal when there’s nothing there really
b) up close to the TV and certainly not while sitting on the couch

So, while interesting, it’s a non-issue in practical use.

The silence of the Megadrive
This may be an issue with my console but in case anybody else is experiencing the same, I was able to work around it with one of these deleyCON HDMI audio inserters. I’ve used one previously to mirror my computer’s video and audio to the TV without having to switch audio devices (which is a hassle) or software route the audio (which is prone to breaking on its own). So, the deleyCON gets HDMI video from the RT2x and analog audio directly from the YbPbPr switch and mixes the two together to an HDMI out. Plugging this to the TV then works.

[James-F]

Hi raina.

I have tested a Genesis Model1 and I have no issues with image or sound from both rear output or front headphones jack.
Some TVs will not output audio if the TV doesn’t sync to the HDMI clock properly, do you have another TV to test the RT2x + Megadrive?
Did you say that you use a PAL Megadrive? What about the other consoles?

The Retrotink2x v3.2 does not amplify because it has fixed gain, are you sure it’s not your TV doing some dynamic contrast?
Does it happen only with the Megadrive or will all signals? Can you test other black screen signals?

[raina]

Hi.

Everything you say is in the realm of possibility. I’ve disabled just about every setting on the TV I can and while I have a tiny CRT TV and a 15 inch VGA monitor with integrated speaker which will be fun to try at some point, the main TV will remain the primary setup and I’m happy I got it to work the way I did. I also forgot to mention that the RT2x does alleviate the MD’s jailbaring so all in all it’s pretty good. The other consoles I tested, SNES and PS2, had no issue with the audio. All my consoles are unmodded PAL.

[Author]

Posts