So I've been meaning to do this sound upgrade to my Nomad for quite a while, the stock speaker is pretty meh. I've had a couple little speakers I took out of a battery powered speaker system that looked to be the right rize. After I trimmed the plastic around the speakers, it turned out to be a perfect fit! So after it fit so well and the test with just plugging it into the stock amp went so well, I got kinda excited and just kind of went for it, even though I'm not ready to wire in the amp yet. Here's the speaker Not my cleanest job, but it works. Might be able to clean it up more when I take it apart again. It sounds so much better, even though it could be louder since I'm using the stock amp. It does sound a lot cleaner, and with much more depth than the stock speaker. Now here's the amp I want to hook up As you can see, it needs 5 volts. So I was wondering if anyone knew a good place to take 5 volts from somewhere in the Nomad? Any direction would be appreciated.
Is there a 7805 regulator u could tap 5V from? If not, just get out your multimeter and check the power regulator circuitry for 5V.
Going from memory here, so hopefully, I'm not wrong... LCD Mods tap a 5v source. Here's an example (with nice clear solder points) http://portablesofdoom.org/?p=126 Sidenote: I've done a couple LCD replacements on the Sega Nomad - Sourcing video from composite is meh to good. I'm hoping McWill is going to make a proper screen for the Nomad. Would be excellent.
Thanks dude! I tried a grill, just didn't work out Lol, actually I was thinking about that. Right now it's not actually in the way, I can easily play without touching the speaker (and I honestly I kind of like seeing the speaker =P) The final plan though will be to put a grill of some sort on. I'll make a video today to show how good it sounds, the speaker really does well with the Genesis sound chip. Of course some games are just quieter than others, so the amp will help bring the volume of those games up, but the games that are just naturally loud sound awesome as it is. Thanks for the tips! I hope you're not wrong too, dibmem I will be looking into an LCD mod in the future, but for now the stock screen works.
Thanks! As I posted above, not planning to just yet. I will eventually though. Here's a video of it in action. You'll never guess what happens next!!11!1 (Oh wait, I'm supposed to put that in the video title, aren't I) I never addressed why I decided not to put the speaker behind the existing grill. The new speaker is about twice and deep as the stock speaker, so I needed to sink it in as deep as I could, bringing it closer to the surface of the front of the Nomad.
When you do do the screen mod, look up LCDDRV. It allows the same display thay comes with the back up cam to use RGB! Trying to score one to swap the composite driver out of mine. Can't wait!
Cool idea! What amp are you using? Watch out for shitty Class D amps - many of the ones out now that are "super low power" sound flat and dry. +1 for testing with SOR. sounds nice!! -Segasonicfan
I looked this up and found a board that Norix put out? He's hard to get stuff from, last thing I bought required a wire transfer to Japan... Is there another source for this? Would love an RGB Nomad screen upgrade. -Segasonicfan
Thanks! The amp isn't installed yet, but the one I have is just tiny amp i got from ebay a couple years ago, they were cheap and I got them in a 5 pack. Looking it up, this is the closest I can see on ebay, even though this is like a set with something else, it's the amplfier included that I got.. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/MINI-USB-Nan...hash=item3af4fd85f6:m:mHV1BpK41TI6vceTchpVH3w I'm still doing some research on where to find a 5V power source. Looks like the LCD screens which people attach to this pin need 12V, so I'm assuming it's a 12V pin I guess what I really should to is temporarily hook it up to another 5V source to test it before installing it, makes sure it all sounds ok.
There's +5v all over the inside of those - most all the ICs need it to function. Dont grab it near the power plug, thats all before the DC-DC converter. The controller IC in the middle (its a SOIC, 16pin I think) will run off +5v, as will the CXA1645. There's a bunch of spots.
Time to get your multimeter out and check points on the board for 5V. Check IC202 or the ribbon connector port for 5V. There's 2 traces at the edge of the connector that look like they are coming directly from the psu.
