MiSTer FPGA Forum

Just messing around on a friday night in the north of England. I have owned a C64 Reloaded for a few years now. Thought i would put it to the test against the Mister.

https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/pro ... d-mk2.html

I used the exact same monitor side by side. JVC production CRT.

Reloaded is alot darker a little less crisp an image wheras the mister is just perfect in RGB. It also depends on the video chip i suppose as the reloaded takes original c64 chips. I was using an oldschool 6569r1 video chip. If you know C64 every chip gives off a different vibe. I am using dual sid chips originals. 8580r5 and a 6581. Obviously the mister recreates that sound. Its not bad but you would never beat an original 6581. Its a unique sound.

Anyway its not an exact science but here are a few pics. You should be able to tell which is which. Its just for your amusement more than anything.Its good to do stuff like this just to show what a different experience different hardware can bring. In my eyes and ears its always good.
Keep on searching for perfection.

The selectable filters on the MiSTer core help a lot to get closer to the real SID sound, they are really fun to experiment with.

I recently got a (Retrocastle) active composite adapter to use with MikeS's YC functionality (SVHS output in mister.ini) and the resulting composite image has the same color patterns as the original machines (caused by the correct color clock generated by each core). I was really impressed by that.

I have been impressed with the C64 core output using RGB scart via the Ironclad ITX. Its the cleanest analogue image ive seen

The 8580 SID is basically spot on in the core BUT i recommend grabbing the test build with the switchable digifix as the auto system in the main core causes extra noise with 8580 design samples and music that contain samples. It seems to apply the fix when it shouldnt
Lots of the scene stuff we hear these days can only be done on the 8580

Armakuni wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2024 10:34 am

I have been impressed with the C64 core output using RGB scart via the Ironclad ITX. Its the cleanest analogue image ive seen

The 8580 SID is basically spot on in the core BUT i recommend grabbing the test build with the switchable digifix as the auto system in the main core causes extra noise with 8580 design samples and music that contain samples. It seems to apply the fix when it shouldnt
Lots of the scene stuff we hear these days can only be done on the 8580

I hear you 8580 loud and clear. I have 5 original 8580 chips and they all sound different. Thats the beauty of real hardware. I understand what you are saying but i dont think you can recreate the sound even with a de10 nano or any other device. I have tried side by side and the original chips have this certain "twang" i really dont have another word to explain the sound. What i would like to see is an interface that allows you to plug in a real SID chip to the mister. Would you like to see that too?

mong00se wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2024 1:18 pm

Armakuni wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2024 10:34 am

I have been impressed with the C64 core output using RGB scart via the Ironclad ITX. Its the cleanest analogue image ive seen

The 8580 SID is basically spot on in the core BUT i recommend grabbing the test build with the switchable digifix as the auto system in the main core causes extra noise with 8580 design samples and music that contain samples. It seems to apply the fix when it shouldnt
Lots of the scene stuff we hear these days can only be done on the 8580

I hear you 8580 loud and clear. I have 5 original 8580 chips and they all sound different. Thats the beauty of real hardware. I understand what you are saying but i dont think you can recreate the sound even with a de10 nano or any other device. I have tried side by side and the original chips have this certain "twang" i really dont have another word to explain the sound. What i would like to see is an interface that allows you to plug in a real SID chip to the mister. Would you like to see that too?

All the 8580 SIDs sound roughly the same, the 6581 SIDs all sounded different though.
Due the variances in 6581 filters is why they are harder to recreate but there is an adjustable filter curve on the core so you can dial it in to your own liking
ReSID used in software emulation and SID replacement chips is pretty much spot on these days too

I have several 8580 and they all sound different. When you play Mister demo vs 8580 on a real SID its totally different. To my ears. Maybe I am out of tune? Roughly the same is not the same but i get you.

mong00se wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 11:54 pm

I have several 8580 and they all sound different. When you play Mister demo vs 8580 on a real SID its totally different. To my ears. Maybe I am out of tune? Roughly the same is not the same but i get you.

For 8580 SID I recommend the recent test build of the core as the digifix was causing issues and it's switchable on the test build

I have a Reloaded board and have never been happy with the S-video port's output and heard others say this too. Have you compared S-video output using the Reloaded's DIN port vs the S-video port? You may be surprised to see it vary more than just a little.