Arcade Cabinet Audio
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I recently had to return a monitor that would not mount properly in my cabinet so I ended up going with this AOC G2260VWQ6 http://aoc-europe.com/en/products/g2260vwq6.
Turns out it looks to have an AUX out, so I can run HDMI audio from RPi and then use that to my components. This should allow me to have the audio back to the way it was. I will post results here when I have it up and running. This was a nice bonus I thought.
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I'm slowly building a cab and I have my stereo amp hooked up via USB audio.
I had audio issues using the 3.5 mm jack that I suspected was caused by a ground issue. The USB audio didn't actually help, but I have read that it provides better bass and treble than the 3.5 mm jack. Anyway, what did clean up the sound 100% was running a wire from the amp to the HDMI input on my TV so that the ground signal no longer goes down the RCA cable.
I've reread your posts so I don't really understand what audio issues you're having. You already say you got rid of the hiss, so what is the problem?
If that monitor converts the digital audio to analog, then that does solve some problems. Just be aware that the conversion isn't instantaneous, so it would add some audio lag. Doubt it's noticeable, but worth noting.
USB audio dongle is like 10 bucks, so might want to add that to the ol' amazon cart and experiment with it. Then choose which option works best.
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@Concat For what it's worth, I have had lots of issues with USB audio on the pi--not so much about getting the sound to work, but getting the ALSA configured exactly how I want it to work. For example, I can get USB audio playback working fine, and for most cases, everything appears normal. However, with my dongle, the mixer device is named "Headphone" instead of simply "PCM" which makes setting volume level digitally a challenge. Many applications and indeed, the front-ends I have tried all want to use the built-in mixer method for volume adjustment--and why wouldn't they? Well, with the USB dongle, I would get errors on the screen because my setup had no "PCM" mixer control. Note that this is NOT PCM audio, it's ALSA. Anyway, as much as I enjoyed the higher-fidelity, I ended up going back to the 3.5mm jack because of the configuration challenges. My display doesn't have audio, or else I'd be using HDMI audio. YMMV, but I thought I'd throw a few words to the wise here about USB Audio.
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@rbaker, my new monitor has the AUX out jack so I can do the HDMI sound to the monitor and AUX out to the amplifier. I say it sounds a lot better and I removed the dithering line from my config. I have a question though, isn't there a way to access sound drivers in the EmulationStation UI (through the RetroPie menu) instead of going to retroarch.cfg and typing in the driver I want? I thought I stumbled on it through menu surfing.
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@GreenHawk84 Not sure about EmulationStation but I found that there might be options Settings>Audio Options in the Retroarch GUI?
"RetroArch supports loading audio DSP plugins to add effects such as reverb to the audio output. This has been in RetroArch for a long time, but was recently reworked to be easier to use and more accessible from RGUI, and are available in the main RetroArch repository now. Now you can load DSP filters using RGUI under Settings\Audio Options\DSP Filter, where you can load a DSP preset with .dsp extension, which is a text file similar to a shader preset that lets you chain DSP filters and specify their options. The DSP filters themselves are dynamic libraries that are loaded according to the .dsp file. Each DSP filter has a standalone preset that documents the default options, and there are some example presets that combine more than one filter."
....Souce of this -
@rbaker
Hi rbaker,Could you provide some info on how you got into the Z120 speakers. I bought a pair a while back to put into the bartop cabinet I am making by doing the exact thing you mentioned. Any tips you may have about dismantling the speakers without damaging them would be gratefully received.
Thanks.
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@jollster101 Yes, no problem. I was shocked when I got them because I was inspired to select those by the instructable that I followed. It looked like they came apart easily when I looked at this from the comments sections of the instructable. After looking carefully at how to get inside, I managed to get it apart but not to the same degree as shown in that picture. I found that it came apart but the main speakers stayed in the pastic housing which is fine and actually looks quite good as they sit back slightly from the speaker grills. Take a look at mine here.
Now to get in them, you will need a junior hacksaw and some bulky side cutters. A thin sharp chisel is also useful.
Start off by sawing a groove carefully anywhere along where the black front is attached to the cream back. The idea is to make a groove so that you can get the side cutters in. You can then carefully chip away a hole so that you can see inside and avoid damage. You carefully cut around the profile as you go with a bit of sawing then a bit of cutting. Sometimes, the chisel can fit in and you push bits apart by waggling the chisel carefully and slowly to get the two sections apart. It's all about slow working and not forcing anything. If it's stuck, saw it a little. Eventually, it will come apart. Also, you can pull the volume dial clean off at the beginning and put it somewhere safe. The circuit board comes out easily and can be mounted anywhere. Good Luck!
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Thanks, appreciate the help. I will get onto it and see how I go.
Small world as I have just managed to look at the links you provided and my bartop is modelled on that exact same instructable (with a couple of minor mods here and there).
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Hi..
I am a noob at all this and am going to attempt to make an arcade cabinet for my 10 year old Grandson.
Hes mesmerized with all the old retro stuff...I have all my bits I need apart from the speakers..
I have just read this thread and saw that @RBAKER has used some Logitech Z120 speakers..
I do have a set spare which I will attempt to dismantle soon but was wondering about the 'pot'.
I am thinking of attempting to mount the pot in a hole inbetween the speakers pointing down from under the marquee.
The wood I am using is 18mm so can you tell me if the pot is long enought to fit thru that or did you mount is somewhere else that was more managable?? Or would I have to countersink a hole so it would sit lower.
Many thanks for any help...
Hustler66 -
@Hustler66 I would say that the original pot is not big enough but you can easily swap it out for a longer one if you have a soldering iron. The other solution is to countersink the 18mm wood to make it fit. Get a larger drill and drill through 12mm. The pot can then poke through with enough to attach the dial.
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@rbaker Thanks for that...
I can also see that where you mounted your speakers behind your marquee you have attached a couple of pieces of small wood inbetween the marquee front and your speakers with a piece of perspex and led lighting.
I presume you did this so that the speakers are behind the led lights and you get no shadows from the speaker shapes on your marquee picture..
Is that correct??
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@Hustler66 They aren't related to the speaker position and are there so that the LED strips do not sit directly behind the marquee. If they did, you would see each individual LED glowing. The position was trial and error to get a well lit marquee without actually seeing dots.
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