Hello, with my Famicom that works with the Everdrive N8 I tried to play the Japanese FDS version of Metroid to check if it worked properly (I've played a lot of the real FDS version). I noticed that, while the FDS extra audio channel is indeed implemented, it seems to be too quiet. I've recorded the item recovery jingle from both the real and the ED emulated version of the game as best as I could (I'm not a professional) using my PC's line-in jack. You can find both versions of the jingle there in .wav format (if you can't open it use VLC): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xqva8g55ezfdxv6/7ejDBIMmoE As you can hear the ED N8 jingle sounds more like the NES version of the game because the extra channel is too quiet. I'm posting this here so that both Krikzz and everyone else can see it, and I'm hoping that he can fix the sound emulation. I'm going to try this with other FDS games that I own in the coming days to check if it's only Metroid or not, I'll update this post once I do. Please note that since I only tried this with one game (although I've tried several ROMs of the Japanese Metroid) and one console, I'm not entirely sure for now whether this issue is in every game or even if it affects every Famicoms. I'd be glad if others with all the required equipment can test this too.
I hope it's alright that I ask this here, since it's related. If I use a Famicom Everdrive with an AV-Famicom, will I get expansion audio? I remember seeing someone soldering between two pins, but if I recall that was when using the Famicom Everdrive with an adapter in a toaster NES
The Famicom EverDrive should have expansion audio on any official Famicom. That means the original Famicom, AV Famicom, Twin Famicom, Titler Famicom, and i think that covers it. Soldering between pins is related to getting the audio while using a NES system.
The sound emulation for FDS is pretty bad. Original Famicoms and the AV Fami have different levels on the expansion audio and there's a Hi/Lo setting on the Everdrive you can play with. I made some recordings of my own a while back if you wanna check them out https://soundcloud.com/emil-nyrj/sets/famicom-sound-tests
I've recently decided to get a FDS system for the heckuvit, but have settled on getting only the Ram cartridge after I learned about the FDSstick and FDSemu, two plug and play devices that plugs into the cable that would plug into the actual disk system itself. I wonder which I should buy, since both are comparable prices, but it seems the latter is better due to the easier to use software.
Nice recordings. The Everdrive Low setting seems to be useless. The Hi setting is closer to the original, but still too low. I was going to buy an Everdrive and mod my US toploader, but the quality of that sound mix is pretty bad. I believe on the toploader, that resistor values on the mod can be changed to better match the volume on the channels, but it would concern me if I matched the volumes and the firmware changed to output a higher volume on the expansion audio.
For those interested, the NESRGB board for the famicom has a built in volume boost to handle this issue. I haven't got one myself (yet), so can't speak on how well it works, and in any case it is a rather expensive fix, unless you really want rgb.
I'm guessing you've got one by now. I have several FDSs and drawers of disks but I also recently decided to get an FDSStick. I happened to see it was on sale for $15. Works great. Software is simple enough. As close enough to drag and drop as you could get without actually being drag and drop. If you didn't already pay $35 for one or the other grab the $15 one now.
