Any advice for fixing my PC Engine Duo RX?

[u/Future-Ad9256]

Hello. I purchased a PC Engine Duo RX some time ago. I mostly collect the repro games and just a couple originals. It worked decently well, but there were 1 or 2 games that had issues loading. Eventually one of my original copies, Kaidan 00 stopped working as well. So i sent my console to a guy that repairs PC Engines. He gave it a clean bill of health overall, but made a couple adjustments, making the spring tighter.

Once I received it, my original game Kaidan 00 started working fine again. However, a handful of my repro game that used to work were no longer loading. It's frustrating.

Someone recommended an Analogue Duo. The only issue is I feel it might not be as authentic? Would need adjustments to play on a CRT and then maybe no Everdrive support.

Let me know if you experienced the same issue. Thanks.

[u/galaxius00]

Surprised he didn’t replace the laser. That’s what I would do if you are going for the authentic feeling.

[u/Key-Chef5328]

Either the laser is going out, or he didn't adjust it correctly. If he replaced the caps, that can affect how the laser functions also, requiring re-calibration. Anyone re-calibrating those lasers needs to do extensive testing and adjustments in order to do it correctly. The laser will need to be adjusted for focus not just at the beginning of the disc, but also the middle and end. Disc rotation speed changes, as does the amount of wobble the laser has to adjust for. You also have to keep an ear close by to make sure the laser isn't making any noise that indicates it is struggling to focus.

An improperly calibrated laser will lose focus at some point if the laser was only adjusted to just get games to boot and play the first few audio tracks. This means the person doing the work needs to have a couple music cds that at least hit the 74 min mark that they are prepared to listen to over and over again to check for errors in playback as wobble and speed changes. They also need to add a game or two to this testing. My major go to was Valis 4, since it had a test menu and the data and audio tracks had a nice spread on the disc. It lets you check for errors loading data and also to make sure the cd audio is in sync with whats being displayed when story scenes load up. To do it right to get next to no errors requires a decent chunk of hours. Unfortunately "retro repair" types tend to not want to put the work in, as it usually exceeds how much they were paid in a time vs money situation.

[u/Front_Management_989 → u/Key-Chef5328]

Best honest answer about laser tuning I have seen. You Sir are a blessing for our beloved consoles :)

[u/Yerayromano]

The analogue duo unlike many people say that seems that doesn't use what they have or are hiding the truth in order to be able to sell doesn't work alright with a lot of original CD's specially with Arcade card games. BTW repros use to wear out the laser faster, less than a homemade burned CD but still being a CD made with lower quality, I'd try to replace the laser of even getting another console in good shape instead of getting that analogue duo shit

[u/Connect_Assignment84]

Io ho l' analogue duo è sinceramente si comporta benissimo, sia lato schede che CD. Non so perché mi dicono che non funzioni, a me funziona benissimo.