It absolutely kills me to see people with all the consoles and goodies and yet they are using the speaker on their P/BVM or TV.
I used my PVM mono speaker for quite a while with no shame. I finally ‘upgraded’ to my old PC speakers…which create a temperamental mofo with the RCA to 3.5mm adapter (Are they all shit? Yes, they are. Genesis is best though because I can go straight to 3.5mm with the front audio jack on my og model 1)
I’d run stuff through my receiver, but for retro stuff on my PVM I would be sitting several feet right of the right speaker. So I don’t think it makes sense, at least not to me.
We’re planning on moving this year so hopefully there’s a room that allows me to create a better setup. Maybe I should join the 21st century…checks forum name…and get some wireless headphones so I could go through the receiver.
In like 2000 - 2001 I got my first receiver and surround setup and I haven’t looked back since. I ended up replacing that initial set up a couple of times over the years, and I’m currently on a 5 speaker set of Athena MKII.5s that have been going great now for years. I’ve been considering replacing my current receiver (a yamaha) but not sure about it.
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Absolutely. Audio is just as important as image quality in my opinion.
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I have a Pioneer A10 stereo amplifier that I used in my setup, unfortunately I don’t have the space in my current setup, I love it but it’s a big beast of a thing.
I’m currently using a monitor (with awful built in speakers) so I have a 3.5 audio lead from the monitors headphone socket into a Bose mini speaker, this works fine because I can also connect my PC to it via Bluetooth but it’s not not the same as my amp, I wish I could find a good quality amp that’s smaller (about the size of an Xbox one S)
Audio adds so much to the experience for me. At my retro setup I’ve got 4 tower speakers stacked beside the TV a few feet from my face!
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Oh yeah, I agree. I’d love to route everything through my receiver but my current setup doesn’t really allow for it in a good way. I’m hoping after I move I can set it up better, or maybe I’ll source a cheap 2nd hand receiver and some speakers/sub exclusively for retro gaming.
It’s so worth it and expecially relevant in the Genesis OT !
The moment I leave apartment life I’m upgrading my 2.0 Infinity bookshelf speakers to surround of some sort.
I used to have a surround system I saved for in high school (a surprisingly decent HTIB from Onkyo) and really miss playing that way. Sure the individual speakers weren’t as good or clean as what I’ve got now, but the immersion of surround plus the subwoofer makes such a huge difference for video games and movies.
Good to see some sound setup appreciation here. Too often audio gets ignored in retro gaming setup discussions as people fixate entirely on image quality but it absolutely deserves to be part of the conversation.
And yeah the mix cable for the Mega CD is a must. It’s nice being able to balance the music/sfx to your taste.
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My 8BitDo Genesis wireless controller is on the way. Says I’ll have it tomorrow. Woohoo!
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I definitely put audio on the back burner while I was living in an apartment. Had to keep it so low it wasn’t worth investing in anything but a good pair of headphones.
I use an Onkyo SA-205HD.
It’s small yet packs a punch. Has 2 hdmi in puts as well as 7.1 surround including the HD formats such as Dolby True HD and DTS-HD. It may be a Japanese only model though. I can’t find an English spec page. Here’s the Japanese page which you can run through Google translate
https://www.jp.onkyo.com/support/audiovisual/discontinued_products/sa205hd/index.htm
It’s now discontinued but can be bought quite easy over here between 5000 and 15,000 yen depending on condition. Mine is mint but didn’t come with any speakers. Not a problem though since I already had a Sony set.
A good pair of headphones still count. You can get some great sound from headphones when Retro gaming.
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Looking forward to impressions!
The high school basketball team is in the District final so I might not get to it until late if at all today. Maybe not til Saturday! This school stuff always conspires against my retro gaming.
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Saw this article posted on reset:
Impressions are really positive for the 8bitdo M30
That’s a nice article, but I chuckle when I see authors talking about how comfortable it is for the thumbs to get to the ABC XYZ buttons. If you’re using your thumbs on those, you’re doing it wrong. The six-button controller was made for the thumb under with index, middle and ring fingers on ABC and moving to XYZ as needed. Two buttons at the same time, as required in some games, is far easier that way.
I got a little bit of time to try out the 8bitdo on my CDX and it is WOW. The feel is excellent. The d-pad rivals the original 6 button controller for Genesis. You can tell someone played Streets of Rage 2 on this thing. I was doing the Axel double tap forward special move perfectly every time as well as the two button back punch.
I am very impressed. I may order another with bluetooth for the PC. It is a godsend having no wires but also precision button pushes. Wow.
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This sounds great, will be picking one up I think!