tablebeast
Well-known member
I'm currently planning a mod project with an original grey Gameboy. I want to make some chiptunes on it. The unit I have is a nice and clean original unit, so of course I need to hack it up! These original models supposedly have the best bass response and the most "authentic" sound of all the Gameboys, but it is a noisy bastard! The power supply regulator board is weak, the headphone amp is garbage, and the wiring/routing is not set up for audio quality. Plus, best case scenario, the caps are cheap AND ancient!
Being such a common and well loved device, especially one used by musicians, you'd think there were a lot of these modded for audio use with documentation, but I'm not seeing much. At least not to the level I want to take it. There are a million pages on the web dedicated to vintage gaming and even dedicated to making music with different Gameboy carts like LSDJ, Nanoloop, and mGB. But they all talk about bypassing the headphone amp and call this vaguely a "prosound" mod. "Pro Sound" is a funny way to describe the noises that come out of this toy, but they are interesting enough to me, so I want to get the best audio quality I can out of it, "Pro" or not. So anyway, here is my initial plan for an ultimate DMG Gameboy made specifically for music and performance.
1. Recap the whole thing and bump up the values and quality of the caps in the audio path. (I'll probably roll my own here and avoid using a "gamer" kit)
2. Put in a new regulator board with better filtering and capacity (I'll try to figure out the best kit with the lowest noise, but I'm open to DIY)
3. Backlight mod for the original screen that has the quietest operation.
4. Actually shield the audio wiring.
5. Install a 1/4" output jack (or two) connected directly to the line amp BEFORE the volume pot and headphone amp.
6. ClockxControl mod that replaces the original crystal with an adjustable clock.
7. Convert to a smaller, 6v, rechargeable battery pack.
There will be likely be more mods done to it, like CV/MIDI, but these should get me started. I've included a pic of the insides and the schematic for your perusal.
Anyone else mess with one of these?
Being such a common and well loved device, especially one used by musicians, you'd think there were a lot of these modded for audio use with documentation, but I'm not seeing much. At least not to the level I want to take it. There are a million pages on the web dedicated to vintage gaming and even dedicated to making music with different Gameboy carts like LSDJ, Nanoloop, and mGB. But they all talk about bypassing the headphone amp and call this vaguely a "prosound" mod. "Pro Sound" is a funny way to describe the noises that come out of this toy, but they are interesting enough to me, so I want to get the best audio quality I can out of it, "Pro" or not. So anyway, here is my initial plan for an ultimate DMG Gameboy made specifically for music and performance.
1. Recap the whole thing and bump up the values and quality of the caps in the audio path. (I'll probably roll my own here and avoid using a "gamer" kit)
2. Put in a new regulator board with better filtering and capacity (I'll try to figure out the best kit with the lowest noise, but I'm open to DIY)
3. Backlight mod for the original screen that has the quietest operation.
4. Actually shield the audio wiring.
5. Install a 1/4" output jack (or two) connected directly to the line amp BEFORE the volume pot and headphone amp.
6. ClockxControl mod that replaces the original crystal with an adjustable clock.
7. Convert to a smaller, 6v, rechargeable battery pack.
There will be likely be more mods done to it, like CV/MIDI, but these should get me started. I've included a pic of the insides and the schematic for your perusal.
Anyone else mess with one of these?
