AV mod: stereo vs mono

[Atari-Collector]

I'm planning on finally getting around to doing the AV mod to my 2600 Jr this weekend. Going to do the simple one transistor mod since I have all that parts already laying around. But I've noticed there's also a av mod that has stereo, and I've read the NTSC model are stere down mixed to mono. So why haven't I seen the basic one transistor mod done in stereo, only in mono, often with the single audio channel connected to both right (red) and left (white) jacks...

 

And wondering if anybody has a link to a simple stereo version of the one transistor mod?

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

[mkiker2089]

Owning a stereo model I can perhaps say why you don't see it. It sucks donkey privates. Ok, not really but the games are not meant to be in stereo. Rather than having a left and right it's two sound channels that are meant as one being split into stereo. That means that in a game like Combat you may hear the tanks out of the left and the missiles out of the right.

 

The console is mono so the games were made in mono. Barring somebody being creative with a homebrew stereo is worse that sticking with what was intended in my opinion.

[iesposta]

There is info here about that.

You need to lift 2 TIA pins, and capacitor them to ground (with +5V?), I don't recall all of it, but it is simple.

Medieval Mayhem homebrew is in stereo.

Some games are ok being separated, others sound bad.

Just use your TV Menu or your AV Amp remote and select mono, bad sound fixed.

[Atari-Collector]

OK.. so I'll still with the single channel output. That's why I asked, I figure better to be sure now then decided to redo it later.

 

Thanks

[mkiker2089]

Well, I would if I had it to do over. Stick with mono that is. I have a modded NES top loader and went with dual mono on it as well despite some NES games actually being in stereo for some reason.

 

It's really not as bad as I made it out to be though. It's just not something worth worrying about either and splitting the channels is in no way what the game devs. intended.

[Rob Mitchell]

in a game like Combat you may hear the tanks out of the left and the missiles out of the right.

For most of the two player games, the left player sound effects come out of the left channel and the right player sound comes out of the right channel. In Combat the left tank sounds including missile fire comes out of the left .. So connect this to some big stereo with speakers and it is pretty cool! Of course put a switch to convert back to mono for other games ..

[+SpiceWare]

I modded my 2600 back in March of 2004. I've never had an issue with the sound being in stereo. Possibly it helps that its been hooked up to a C= 1084S as the speakers are fairly close together (as opposed to the 5.1 setup I have for my HDTV).

 

Back in the 70s a lot of the dedicated game systems (like the pong units) had an internal speaker. When they designed the Atari they originally planned to do the same thing, but were going to use 2 speakers instead of just one. You can see where the speakers were going to be by looking at the top cover of a 6 switch Atari:

 

In the heavy sixer the supports for the speakers are still in place.

 

Before they started to sell them, Atari decided to drop the internal speakers and route the audio to the TV instead (I image that saved a lot in production costs). All TVs were mono back in 77, as stereo broadcasts didn't start until the mid 80s, so they had to merge the channels together when they did this.

 

The early games like Air-Sea Battle, Outlaw and Street Racer were written before the speakers were dropped, so they utilized the split channel sound. Besides early games like those, some homebrew games utilize stereo - A-VCS-Tec, Medieval Mayhem and Skeleton+ come to mind.

 

I would recommend you do the stereo mod as you can easily merge the channels for mono if you later decide you don't like how it sounds.

Edited April 26, 2014 by SpiceWare

[Atari-Collector]

I got the AV mod done on my 2600 Jr finally... I've had a sore arm for 3 weeks now, so I haven't felt like working on it, let alone playing. Built the 1 transistor mod from scratch since I have the parts in stock normally. Being in to electrons and ham radio I tend to keep a fair bit of parts around:)

 

I did it as mono sound, and I'm very happy how it looks on my LCD TV now. Sharp graphics and clean sound, no RF interference, what more could I ask for... Except the world to dump the modern consoles and realize 8 bits is all you really need to game:)

 

Now I just have to wait til my arm feels better to get back at it. or start hunting for paddle based games..

[ApolloBoy]

Owning a stereo model I can perhaps say why you don't see it. It sucks donkey privates.

If you want, I can fix your SVA II so it has mono as opposed to stereo...

[Jinks]

Has anyone know what exact speakers they were going to use on the h6?

It Would be cool to have a h6 with speakers installed.