GUIDE: Telling apart good Genesis 1s and Genesis 2s from bad ones.

[xbrinkx]

Not pretty, but the picture is great.

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/7/...2105/MD2_1.jpg
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/7/...105/MD2_mb.jpg
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/7/...MD2_svideo.jpg

[sasuke]

Thanks for the guide, Ace!

I figured out mine is most likely a VA2 Genesis 2. Its a full motherboard and the wire holes are blue. Also, I did notice that the FM sounds were louder than the others, but I did not notice anything out of tune in the sound department (I played the System of a Master VGM's on the console and they sounded 99% the same as the mp3 files).

Hooray!!! My Genesis is not (likely) the "worst sounding" model! (and I do not have to take apart the thing to get the Cristal Clear mod, though it isn't compatable anyway)

Edit: This might be a false alarm. I confused the blue wire with the blue holes that the wires go through. I will post a picture and a couple of MP3's to verify my model.

Final Edit: It is not a VA2, its a "<VA2". (See my third post for more info)

[Ace]

Try playing a game like After Burner or R-Type on the VA2 Genesis 2. Then you'll hear some REALLY out of tune PSG(After Burner's sound effects overpower the music, sound strains in R-Type).

[chessage]

How many VAs were made for the Nomad? How does its sound and video quality compare to the other Mega Drive/Genesis models?

[Flygon]

Never mind, got some confirmation from Tiido and it turns out every European VA0 has a Fujitsu encoder chip, have some pretty pictures.

[Ace]

Board pictures are nice, but what about taking a clear picture of the console with the cartridge slot held open?

[Flygon]

Trust me, it isn't worth it, my DSi's camera is too crap. Plus the post was originally asking how the heck I had a VA0 with a Fujitsu chip in it.

[Ace]

It's the most common video encoder inside the European MegaDrive II. North America is FLOODED with Genesis 2s containing the Samsung KA2195D, while most of Europe's MegaDrive IIs contain the Fujitsu MB3514.

By the way, where is your mother's MegaDrive II made?

How many VAs were made for the Nomad? How does its sound and video quality compare to the other Mega Drive/Genesis models?

This thread was mainly intended for the Genesis Model 1 and 2, but I believe the Nomad has much cleaner sound than the VA7 Model 1 and VA0-VA1.8 Model 2s. How much cleaner? I don't know.

[Aarzak]

There should only be one type of Nomad, as not many were produced. I bet Sega made only like a run or two of Nomads and that was it. They barely promoted it either.

[Baloo]

There should only be one type of Nomad, as not many were produced. I bet Sega made only like a run or two of Nomads and that was it. They barely promoted it either.

I think the Nomad only sold about 1 million units right?

[Aarzak]

I'm not sure.......considering it was released in the Fall of 1995, when the PS1 & Saturn were getting the lion's share of attention, and with nothing of interest apart from Madden, MK3 & Vectorman happening on the Genesis, it went mostly ignored. Plus it was quite expensive ($179), considering the Genesis was down to $99 by that point. People must've gotten wind of the battery life too.

[chessage]

This thread was mainly intended for the Genesis Model 1 and 2, but I believe the Nomad has much cleaner sound than the VA7 Model 1 and VA0-VA1.8 Model 2s. How much cleaner? I don't know.

Why not cover the Nomad and Genesis 3 as well? If you're going to cover the majority of Mega Drive/Genesis models, you may as well cover them all.

[kool kitty89]

From a previous discussion Ace mentioned that the Genesis 3 is practically identical in a/v quality to the VA-4 Model 2 (crisp, bright composite video and clean sound) except that it has only mono audio output (on both the left stereo pin and mono pins for compatibility with both a/v cables)
I beleive it's compatible with all Genesis games except Virtua Racing (missing cart slot connections), and all non-region locked Mega Drive games (cart slot fits JP carts unmodified as well). It also won't work with the Sega CD (no connector), 32x, and Power Base Converter. (the latter 2 due to missing cart slot connections, like with Virtua racing)

[Ace]

To answer simply: for one, I don't have a Nomad(but I want one... BADLY), and for two, it's pointless to show the Genesis 3 because the 2 motherboard revisions, VA1 and VA2, are identical in terms of sound/video quality.

[TmEE]

When it comes to sound, Nomad is about as good as TMSS MD1, if you mod it a little, it goes around to no TMSS MD1, and if more, it goes to CCAM MD2 level.