FINALLY! A DAC for the Analogue Pocket! Analogizer FPGA for crispy analog video to a CRT AND MORE!

RndMnkIII’s Analogizer came just at the right time. While CRT gamers STILL wait for the much anticipated support for the official Digital to Analog Converter (DAC), the Analogue Pocket gets an unofficial DAC of its own, WITHOUT needing to run through the official Dock. The Analogizer plugs into the Analogue Pocket’s Gameboy cartridge port, and outputs 15KHz (and VERY SOON, 31KHz!) RGB/YPbPr via a standard VGA connector, and with a separate converter that’s also used for the Mister FPGA, Composite AND S-Video. The output is sharp and vibrant when displayed on an RGB capable CRT/PVM/BVM, and the portable nature of the Pocket makes it a perfect portable test pattern generator using Artemio’s 240p Test Suite - move over Sega Nomad! Oh but the Analogizer is MORE than a DAC. It also has a port for Serial Native Accessories Converters (SNAC), which interfaces original controller pads from your old Nintendo at effectively no lag.
There’s a few quirks you should know, so watch the full video and see if the Analogizer is the FPGA Nintendo Switch many of us have been looking for.
This is not a paid promotion, I purchased the Analogizer privately.
Links
Analogizer GitHub (English version)
github.com/RndMnkIII/Analogiz...
Official Analogizer Store
analogizer-fpga.com/en
Open FPGA cores
openfpga-cores-inventory.gith...
(Available cores as of the release of this video: PC Engine, NES, SNES, Neo Geo, and Alpha Mission)
Pocket Updater for Windows OS
github.com/RetroDriven/Pocket...
Analogue Store
store.analogue.co
#Analogue #crtgaming #240p
00:00 Intro
01:27 Overview
11:15 Final thoughts

[@MarcoRetro316]

Edit: RndMnkIII is NOT pronounced as Random Kill, as I’m told from the man himself. Let’s see if the name sticks though 😅

[@Fattydeposit]

I came back to this (excellent) video specifically to comment on this, as I've been saying it as "Round Monk III" ever since first noticing the name in some MiSTer related credits.

[@MarcoRetro316]

lol I’m glad it’s not just me, at least you were closer. I thought there were 3 L’s at the end

[@MisakaMikotoDesu]

Some day we'll have our portable emulator that hooks up to CRTs. Guess it's not today.

[@coderkind]

Great review and video (as always). Thank you!

[@MarcoRetro316]

Thanks!

[@BambooShadow]

Cool review and cool product!

[@MarcoRetro316]

Thanks!

[@_BELMONT_]

Fantastic video as always! Really great content!

[@MarcoRetro316]

Thanks Belmont!

[@javivi2097]

Thanks for this great video.

[@jfroco]

Great video. Thank you! So you just demonstrated that the Pocket’s display has one frame of lag.

[@MarcoRetro316]

Yes either the screen, internal scaler, or both. And in the first frame it shows the screen refreshes right to left, to what significance that is I’m not sure.

[@siskavard]

I applaud the developer for making this but my god there are so many better ways to play games on a CRT than attaching a hulking mass to your Pocket

[@MarcoRetro316]

It’s a neat add on but not really suited for my gaming environment so I totally get the sentiment. At least I’m getting good use lately for testing and fixing a CRT I’m currently modding for RGB.

[@videobiginiletteraturaital7167]

Thanks!

[@PixelCherryNinja]

Great video 👍

[@MarcoRetro316]

Thanks PCN!

[@joshmiller887]

Thanks for the run-down. That’s quite the solution. For the money we pay for these things, this support should have been implemented by now.

[@MarcoRetro316]

No problemo. I too was hoping for the official DAC to be supported by now. I’ve got the Analogizer and means of downscaling the Dock so I don’t think I’ll be needing the DAC

[@wolf314v]

Lol, finally "it's been 84 years..."

[@MarcoRetro316]

lol I sprinkled a bit of drama here and there

[@Deltax5]

Enjoy the pocket.
The cores make it that much better on Openfpga. Neogeo is so awsome. cps 2 as well. has the retro consoles on there.
Hope the dock will support the dac. There is now a option in the dev mode to play it docked wile the screen is on with a usb battery.
Analogizer looks ok. the dock should of done all that. I wonder if the usb will support a controller without it being powered? On the go.

[@MarcoRetro316]

I love my AP with openFPGA, Analogue really delivered on the handheld. I do prefer the GBA AGB-001 style but my play sessions are short so the Gameboy form factor is still a good fit. Thanks for letting me know about the Dock Dev mode. It is a shame it’s taking this long for the official DAC support… hopefully soon 🤞

[@Deltax5]

@@MarcoRetro316 does a switch controller work on analyzer USB port without it being powered?

[@MarcoRetro316]

@Deltax5 USB controllers will not work with the Analogizer. That port is shaped like a standard USB but it’s wired for a connector to interface serial native accessory converters (SNAC). It only reads original controllers like the NES/SNES, but not actual USB controllers

[@domislegit1]

do we need that snac adapter on their website for the pcengine or can another brand work?

[@MarcoRetro316]

It seems like you need the adapter to route the pins according to what’s written in GitHub
“To use the PCEngine controls with the Analogizer it is necessary to additionally use a harness that modifies the USB3 wiring and connects between the PCengine SNAC adapter and the Analogizer.”

[@domislegit1]

@MarcoRetro316 thank you for your reply boss! Do you know if the pc engine snac adapter was for sale today and it just sold out or were they releasing it later?

[@MarcoRetro316]

@@domislegit1 I’m told they might have stock in 7-10 days

[@AnyBitsFTP]

Hello mate, Interesting add on but looks too clunky.
I am surprised you didn’t mention that the ossc pro makes the perfect companion to the docked pocket as a dac. I have been using 480p hdmi output down to 240p with the pro and voila! It solves all the issues you mention as you can access the menus on screen, but it does not give the same snac support. My 2.4g controllers paired to the dock are good enough for me.

[@MarcoRetro316]

Hello friend! I may be making a small follow up video on the OSSC Pro when Marqs adds some new downscaling features that are definitely worth mentioning. So I’ll revisit downscaling the Dock then, but this time I’ll make sure to set the scaling to integer 🤦‍♂️ Mike Chi if you’re reading, sorry again good sir.

[@brianstuntman4368]

@AnyBitsFTP Do you not notice any issues with smooth scrolling? If I use 240p test suite on the Pocket screen it's fine, but through the Dock the HDMI output is fixed at 60Hz rather than synced to the core refresh rate, and so scrolling jumps slightly every few seconds.

[@dpg2004]

is that Retro Tech USA?

[@MarcoRetro316]

Narrating? No, I pulled a favour from my friend Al

[@mutmut02_]

@@MarcoRetro316 I thought that your voice was diferent too ! Thanks for the run down.

[@seethruhead7119]

i mainly use my pocket with real carts, wish this could work with real carts.

[@MarcoRetro316]

Unfortunately no. The cartridge port will be occupied by the Analogizer for starters, and the device requires cores in openFPGA to be specially modified for analog output

[@jks7556]

why you have so many bottles of salsa?

[@MarcoRetro316]

It’s an annual tradition that we make our year supply of sauce. The excess bottles sit next to my excess CRT’s

[@Superdimensional]

Too many caveats, just buy a MiSTer

[@MarcoRetro316]

The MiSTer will always be the pillar of my setup

[@tylerd4884]

I read your comment before I started the video. I thought it couldn’t be that bad but holy shit you’re absolutely right.

[@thommccarthy1139]

anything good is perpetually sold out unless you are a vulture with no life

[@MarcoRetro316]

Had a look and they are in stock *just now* Act fast if you were wanting one

[@thommccarthy1139]

@@MarcoRetro316 coming in clutch thank you was able to secure!