GameBoy DMG Bass boost:
A while ago I came acroos an interesting article of a modded gameboy with “Bass Boost”. The information was very small and there was no tests or audio samples in order to check this out.
Just for curiosity I have decided to do the mod in one of my DMG units and make some recordings of audio to inspekt it in a spectrum analizer what this upgrade does to the sound.
The mod is extremely simple and there is plenty of space inside that area of the GameBoy to install standard electrolityc capacitors, slightly bigger than the original ones.
All you have to do is remove The PCB from the enclosure of the GameBoy to access the back of the “Pro Sound Mod”. The two original Electrollityc Capacitors found there close to the Cartridge Slot, are the ones. Whatch out for polarity, as this Capacitors are polarized. You have to respect the position. We will be using 10uF (micro farads) instead of the original ones of 1uf. The originals are marked as 50V, I used 25V and 63V and both worked correctly.
The positive and negative are clearly marked in the PCB Silk Screen so no problem here.
BASS BOOST SOUND TEST:
Allright so the mod is done, unit closed and time to test this out.
Using a BassBoost unit with Prosound and a normal Prosound unit, I tryed different things like, playing game tunes, then 2 octaves on each channel, then all the channels at the same time…
At the end I decided to pick up a section with lots of frecuency content in the LOW END section. This take will let me judge propperly what changes are maded in this area as the mod doesn´t affect the upper frecuecny range.
At first and judging by ear, it didn´t sound different to me. In fact my suggestion started to make me feel that the modded one had less bass than the original with just prosound. I decided to rest my ears, take a break and come back after so I could judge the results better. First I decided to load a Spectrum analizer, in this case Voxengo SPAN, a free plugin highly recommendable.
When your ears or suggestion fail, there is nothing better than your eyes, here the Spectrum Analizer clearly shows a change in the Low End of the Frecuency content of the Bass Boost GameBoy mod. For what I can see in the samples recorded, the Mod is not really a Bass Boost but rather the new Capacitors are cutting less frecuency content. The Mod doesn´t add any Bass but it cuts less than the original ones resulting in a signal with more LOW content.
It´s important to note that the Frecuecnies that are being affected are bellow 50Hz. Unless you have propper monitoring system with rather big cones, you won´t be able to hear the difference. But in the other hand if you play in a gig with a propper sound system, and SubWoofer, ou yeah baby… those Frecuencies will say hello and hit your chest.
ConClusion:
As mentioned in some forums with users, I´m pretty sure this Mod won´t hurt any ears, or collapse any building… The frecuencies being affected are safe and allways bellow the rest of the content.
As somebody who masters electronic dance music, I´m used to sound material with way more Bass that this takes. If you experience rumble in some scenarios, use your EQ in the mixer tu cut frecuencies in the Low range, to prevent vibrations and other artifacts that may happen in any soundsystem.
I do the BassBosst mod to all my units, is simple, safe and I like it :)
If you are scared of causing trouble to any of your gear, don´t do it.
Hope you find this information useful!!
My DMG got improvements over the 60Hz, I swear! unfortunately I think this is too much, but I can always use a EQ if i’m not happy with it. Lot of thanks for the tip! Mod 101% easy-to-do
Hey Capitanspam, great! I actually never heard a huge difference apart on big systemas and using analizers… but as you say, a bit of EQ can correct any issues… Enjoy!