AV Cables

[Genesis Knight]

I'm looking for the RF-to-AV cables advertised in the Peripherals and Acc. guide, but they're not at any of the local Radio Shacks. Where can I find these?

[Mel]

I've never seen anything like that. And I used to work at Best Buy... I don't see why it wouldn't exist though...

If its for the genesis they did make AV cables for it, and they work well...

[Elusive]

I think these may be what you're looking for:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3642&item=8202896276
^ AV-Out to RCA cable for Genesis I

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3642&item=8202897302
^ AV-Out to RCA cable for Genesis 2/32X/CDX etc. etc.

The above cables link from your console to the yellow-white-red RCA jacks you should find on your VCR or TV set. They're generally easy to find on eBay US.

[Mel]

I think these may be what you're looking for:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3642&item=8202896276
^ AV-Out to RCA cable for Genesis I

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3642&item=8202897302
^ AV-Out to RCA cable for Genesis 2/32X/CDX etc. etc.

The above cables link from your console to the yellow-white-red RCA jacks you should find on your VCR or TV set. They're generally easy to find on eBay US.

Ihave the ones for the gensis 2, if that' what you're looking for. Check out my sale thread!

[Genesis Knight]

Yes, that's it! I have a model 1, though. >.>

[Vicman]

I can't seem to find Model 1 AV cables that have both left and right audio plugs, i.e. 3 plugs (red,white,yellow). WTF?

[Genesis Knight]

Just got some. These things are great! Is it just me, or do the games move faster now?

[lordofduct]

I can't seem to find Model 1 AV cables that have both left and right audio plugs, i.e. 3 plugs (red,white,yellow). WTF?

Because the A/V jack on the genny 1 only puts out mono (they use the Amiga standard pinout and jack, the 9 pin din) The only way to get stereo is through the head phone jack or if you have a Sega CD hooked up. I know a couple kids including myself who have done a mod to pull stereo off the head phone jack prior to the headphone amp...

[Drixxel]

If you wanted to get stereo goodness out of your Genesis 1 without having to risk butchering it with a mod, it would be as easy as one more cable.

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/4259/usefulcable2jx.jpg

Plug that beauty into the headphone jack, and then connect it to the white and red RCA inputs on a television. You'd still obviously need to provide video, so an RF switch or something.. whatever you were using before. I don't see why it shouldn't work to achieve blissful stereo.

Oh yeah, I was wondering - what are the specs for the Genesis 1 AC adaptor?

[David J.]

http://www.sega-16.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=281

^ Genesis 1 AV cable link there.

It's only $1.75 for a cable, but the shipping is $6... a ripoff there. But it's a lot cheaper...

[Vicman]

"a lot cheaper" Eh, not really. If you include shipping that's the norm on ebay ($6-8).

[David J.]

Well, I haven't looked at those on ebay in ages, as theres no real need for me to, so that's why. :)

[Vicman]

Coolness. :)

[Zebbe]

Plug that beauty into the headphone jack, and then connect it to the white and red RCA inputs on a television. You'd still obviously need to provide video, so an RF switch or something.. whatever you were using before. I don't see why it shouldn't work to achieve blissful stereo.

Oh yeah, I was wondering - what are the specs for the Genesis 1 AC adaptor?

What's the name of that cable? And can you use it with an RGB-SCART to get video?

[Joe Redifer]

1/8th inch stereo minijack to stereo RCA. You can find them at any Radio Shack, Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal*Mart, Safeway, Goodwill, or McDonalds. You can use it with ANY kind of video setup you want. For years I had my Genesis hooked up via RF to my black and white TV. I was pimpin'! But I had the stereo come out of the headphone jack to my ghetto blaster. Then I purchased a TV that had composite input. Still used the headphone jack stereo out. Then I got me a Sega CD. You can still go out the headphone jack and get all of the audio through there OR you can route a minijack to minijack stereo cable from the headphone jack to the Sega CD input and use the RCA stereo out on the Sega CD model 1. You can't just go out the RCA out on the Sega CD without a mixing cable going in if you have a Genesis 1. Later I upgraded to S-video and component (I switch every other day) and still have my Genesis and Sega CD hooked up with t he mixing cable. That way I can turn the Genesis volume down every time a Sega CD game starts up and Sonic is standing next to the Sega logo and does that annoying Sega chime.

[Zebbe]

Joe Redifer: Many thanks to you! I just wonder why people do this SCART-mod to get stereo sound if all you need is another cable.

[Zebbe]

Now I've tried the aforementioned cable and, unfortunately, it didn't really work. My MD-scart is plugged into my AV1-"hole" and the cable in the AV3-"hole". You can't play on AV1 and 3 at the same time. So I guess its my in all other ways great TV to blame. But there are other ways to get stereo sound with the Genesis/Mega Drive 1, right?

[Joe Redifer]

Huh? What is this "AV3" hole you speak of? Be sure to turn the volume slider all the way up.

http://pixelcraze.film-tech.net/crap/mdstereo.jpg

[Zebbe]

The AV3-hole is for the AV3-channel, but it doesn't have any scart hole. So I can play with scart video on the AV1 channel (with mono sound) or on the AV3 channel with no video but stereo sound. Tough choice there, great picture with mono or no picture with stereo...
Btw, I had the volume slider all the way up.

[Joe Redifer]

OH OK you're talking about your television monitor. If you can, route the Genesis/Mega Drive 1 sound to a different sound system like a portable radio that has audio inputs.

[Zebbe]

Now I bought a new cable:
http://i8.ebayimg.com/04/i/06/5d/e4/a1_1_b.JPG

This WILL give me stereo. Just wonder how many games which actually use it. Sonic 3D is at least one in my collection.

[Joe Redifer]

Most Genesis games are in stereo. This may sound extremely anal, but the over 550 games I played, I marked down each game that was in stereo. It would be easier to list the games that are in mono since there are far fewer of them.

PS - Damn lucky SCART capable sonofa.... :)

[Joe Redifer]

Ah what the hell... I'm a bit bored and making this list is easy. If a game is NOT on this list, then it is in stereo (or one of the few which I have not yet played).

Sega Genesis and Mega Drive games in MONO:

After Burner II
Air Diver
Al Michaels Announces Hardball III
Altered Beast
Arch Rivals
Ariel: Disney's The Little Mermaid
Atomic Robo Kid
Batman Returns (cartridge version)
Batman: Revenge of the Joker
Battle Master
Battle Squadron
Blaster Master 2
Boxing Legends of the Ring
Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
Burning Force
Cadash
Cal Ripken Jr. baseball
Centurion: Defender of Rome
Chakan: The Forever Man (forever to live in mono)
Championship Bowling
Championship Pro Am
Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool
Clue
Corpse Killer (CD) (32X)
Cross Fire
Crusader of Centy
Cyberball
Dark Castle
Darwin 4081
David Crane's Amazing Tennis
David Robinson's Supreme Court
Davis Cup Tennis
Deadly Moves
Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
Disney's Aladdin
Double Dragon
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Dracula Unleashed (CD)
Dragon's Lair (CD)
ESPN Sunday Night NFL (CD)
Fahrenheit (CD) (32X)
Fantasia
Fatal Labyrinth
Fatal Rewind
Ferrari Grand Prix Challenge
Formula One: F1
Gadget Twins
GODS
Golden Axe
Golf Magazine Presents 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples (32X)
Greendog: The Beached Surfer Dude
Ground Zero Texas (CD)
Hard Drivin'
Hardball!
Haunting: Starring Polterguy
Hit the Ice
INXS: Make My Video (CD)
Ishido: The Way of the Stones
James Pond II: Codename: Robocod
James Pond: Underwater Agent
Jeopardy!
Joe Montana Football
Joe Montana II: Sports Talk Football
John Madden Football
Jordan vs Bird: Super One on One
Jungle Strike: The Sequel to Desert Strike (what the hell else would it be a sequel to?)
Jurassic Park (cartridge)
King's Bounty
Klax (Tengen version)
Links: The Challenge of Golf (CD)
Lotus Turbo Challenge
M.L.B.P.A. Sports Talk Baseball
M-1 Abrams Battle Tank
Marble Madness
Micro Machines
Mig-29: Fighter Pilot
Might & Magic: Gates to Another World
Mike Ditka Power Football
Ms. Pac Man
Muhammad Ali Heavyweight Boxing
Mystical Fighter
NBA All-Star Challenge
NFL Football '94: Starring Joe Montana
NFL Sportstalk Football '93 Starring Joe Montana
NHL Hockey
NHLPA Hockey '93
Night Trap (CD)
Otsumatsu
Out of this World
Outlander
Paper Boy
PGA Tour Golf
PGA Tour Golf II
Pit-Fighter
Pro Quarterback
R.B.I. Baseball 3
R.B.I. Baseball 4
R.B.I. Baseball '93
Rainbow Islands
Rampart
Road Blasters
Road Rash
Road Rash (CD)
Road Rash II
Rockman Megaworld (aka Mega Man: The Wiley Wars)
Rolo to the Rescue
Shadow of the beast
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective (CD)
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Volume 2 (CD)
Shove It! The Whorehouse Game
Slaughter Sport
Soldiers of Fortune
Space Ace (CD)
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
Spiderman & X-Men: Arcade's Revenge
Star Control
Star Wars Chess (CD)
Star Wars: Rebel Assault (CD)
Starflight
Steel Talons
Stormlord
Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition
Strider
Super Off Road
Super Volleyball
Sword of Sodan
Syd of Valis (Valis II super deformed)
Tale Spin
Task Force Harrier EX
Technocop
The Aquatic Games: Starring James Pond and the Aquabats
The Duel: Test Drive 2
The Faery Tale Adventure
The Games: Winter Challenge
The Immortal
The Jungle Book
The New Zealand Story
The Simpsons: Bart vs The Space Mutants
Toe Jam & Earl
Tomcat Alley (CD)
Tony LaRussa Baseball
Top Gear 2
Toy Story
Uncharted Waters
Virtua Fighter (32X)
Wardner
Warp Speed
Wheel of Fortune
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego
Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?
Wrestle War
WWF Super Wrestlemania
X-Men
Zero Tolerance

[j_factor]

I never knew so many CD games were in mono.. how pathetic.

[Zebbe]

Many thanks for the list. I'm really looking forward to playing my games with this new cable. How come you can't use SCART?

[Joe Redifer]

US TVs do not support SCART. However I use it anyway. You can read all about it in my upcoming video article which will be posted in the next couple of weeks, hopefully. I just wrapped it up and will submit it soon.

PS - I'm not sure if Virtua Fighter 32X should be on that mono list. Need to retest that one.

[Zebbe]

Alright. No more questions 'til that article is read :).

[Joe Redifer]

Article has just been submitted. Start bugging Melf..... NOW!

[Elusive]

Ah what the hell... I'm a bit bored and making this list is easy. If a game is NOT on this list, then it is in stereo (or one of the few which I have not yet played).

Sega Genesis and Mega Drive games in MONO:

Shove It! The Whorehouse Game


Ho ho ho, nice one.

[Zebbe]

This cable I bought was kind of an disappointment. It gave me stereo sound and RGB-picture, but the screen was about 40% black, like when you see wide screen movies on a TV that doesn't support it. The difference between it and my old SCART was the pin connectors, which were all filled on the new one, while the old one had some pin slots empty. So maybe if I cut the head of both and solder the head of the old SCART to the body of the new one, I will get full size screen AND stereo sound... Or maybe I'll just do something else when I buy a Mega CD like mentioned above. This is really irritating!

[Joe Redifer]

Since you live in a European country, you probably have a PAL TV and the Megadrive only has 224 horizontal lines of resolution. So it's squished a bit to the center. Some games may run full screen. Doesn't your TV have a vertical size adjustment for something like this?

[Zebbe]

It has, but it doesn't seem to work. Oh well, I'll handle this problem in the future, I can live with it for a while :)

[Zebbe]

Now I've bought a Mega CD, which means I can get stereo sound the way you described earlier. I have the cable you put between your amp and the Mega CD, but not this mixing cable you have between the headphone jack of the Mega Drive and the Mega CD.

http://i16.ebayimg.com/02/i/06/aa/b3/98_1.JPG

I found this for $8 on eBay, but I wonder if you can get it cheaper in a regular tech stuff store. Are both endings suitable for headphone jacks, or is the other non-headphone jack ending some other kind of ending? What is the cable called?

[David J.]

It's a 1/8" mini to mini cable. You could find one for a hell of a lot cheaper at a electronics store.

[Joe Redifer]

You don't NEED that cable. You can get all of the CD sounds directly out of the Genesis headphone jack just as long as nothing is plugged into the mixing port on the MegaCD.

[Zebbe]

Yes, but I'm plugging the Mega CD's RCA-jacks into my vinyl player amp. I want to hear my games from those speakers it has.

[Joe Redifer]

You can hear it from any speaker in the world coming from the headphone jacks, but whatever.

[Zebbe]

Yeah, but then I need two extra giant speakers just for the Mega Drive... I want to have the same as for my vinyl player.

[Joe Redifer]

I don't understand. The cable that comes out of the front of the Mega Drive would hook up to the same exact inputs as the cables that come out of the Mega CD. No difference at all. Granted I have the mixing cable installed on mine and the output coming out of the Sega CD so I can lower the volume of the Genesis as the Sega logo with Sonic comes onscreen and it makes a pathetic and quite wimpy "Seeegaaa" synth chime. After that is over I restore the Genesis volume.

[Joe Redifer]

Hey Zebbe I have a question about this cable:

http://i8.ebayimg.com/04/i/06/5d/e4/a1_1_b.JPG

How long is the stereo cable (the one that connects to the headphone jack)? I am thinking of getting a SCART cable like this for my Neo Geo since it hooks up in the same fashion as the Mega Drive 1, but I want to make sure the sound cable is long enough to reach around to the front of the unit.

[Zebbe]

I don't understand. The cable that comes out of the front of the Mega Drive would hook up to the same exact inputs as the cables that come out of the Mega CD. No difference at all.

Yeah, but why do they (originally) give you one mixing cable and one 2-plugged RCA-cable for an amp if you only need one cable from the headphone jack to the amp?


How long is the stereo cable (the one that connects to the headphone jack)?

It's about 60 centimeters long.

[Joe Redifer]

Yeah, but why do they (originally) give you one mixing cable and one 2-plugged RCA-cable for an amp if you only need one cable from the headphone jack to the amp?
That I do not know. I guess if you want to adjust the volume of the Genesis itself without affecting the sounds coming from the CD unit. There are some games where the sound effects (produced by the Genesis/Mega Drive sound chip) are too loud compared to the music. So what I do is take the volume slider on the front of my Genesis and turn it down just a little bit. The sound effects are a bit quieter and mix with the music much better. You can only do this with the supplied mixing cable. Otherwise if you do not use it, ALL volume goes up and down with the volume slider.

[gearguy]

You might have trouble with that cable on your NEO-GEO... no?
Last I recall, the NEO GEO used a U-Shaped DIN connector where as the MD used a C-Shaped connector.

Also some RGB monitors (but RGB- TVs *should* not have a provlem with it) are sensative to the slight voltage differences on the sync line between the Neo and MD outputs... so you may need a resistor to get the picture to stablize.