FIX your Nintendo speaker "hum" or "buzz" sound - Now with video!

TheYeti

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FIX your Nintendo speaker "hum" or "buzz" sound - Now with video!

I'm currently restoring a DK and a Widebody Mario Bros. And as any Nintendo arcade game owner knows, these machines like to make a humming sound.

Since the amp is powered by the monitor, it picks up that interference and thus the speakers hum.

Some machines seem to hum louder than others. For example, my Widebody Mario Bros, hums louder than a pole-mounted transformer. While my DK, is much quieter.

Some people don't notice it, some find it charming, but it just drives me batty.

So I found a $10 amp on Amazon and hooked it up inside the machine. Thus, bypassing the original amp. The hookup is pretty self-explanatory but I believe I pulled power from the 7P portion of the power supply. I also just used long bread-board wires and plugged those directly into the PCB.

Bingo! No more buzz or "hum" sound.

And as an added benefit, I can mount it just inside the coin door and have easy access to volume control.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C4MT274/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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I actually bought this amp but haven't gotten around to installing it yet. Any deets or instructable on the wiring and PCB connection?
 
I capped mine and put the new transistors and it kinda makes like a space ship sound when turned all the way up. If you turn the speakers down it helps with the hum. Recapping your power supply also helps.
 
Any deets or instructable on the wiring and PCB connection?

Sure thing! I'll take some pictures and write up a description tonight. I'm pre-apologizing for the quality of the wiring. I have it jankelly hooked up inside my DK until I'm finished restoring fully restoring it.
 
Recapping your power supply also helps.

I thought the same thing so I re-capped my entire power supply with a kit from Ian Kellogg. Holy cow...that was no small task as you know.

Unfortunatly, that literally made zero difference in the volume of the hum.
 
My Vs Dualsystem has a bad hum too, it seems like it varies wildly in volume, going up and down with seemingly no relation to the volume pot. I'm gonna cap and clean the monitors and sound amps after work today. Hopefully that'll fix it, or at least calm it down.

Is there anything else I can do to isolate it?
 
I thought the same thing so I re-capped my entire power supply with a kit from Ian Kellogg. Holy cow...that was no small task as you know.

Unfortunatly, that literally made zero difference in the volume of the hum.

i have used my pp-7a and pp-7b cap kits on my games and i don't notice the hum after capping the power supply but i have all my caps are specifically rated for power supplies. i do make kits for all the other nintendo power supplies. maybe with old age i don't hear well but it sure made a difference on mine.... :D in saying that all my monitors and audio amps are always newly capped too.
 
I thought the same thing so I re-capped my entire power supply with a kit from Ian Kellogg. Holy cow...that was no small task as you know.

Unfortunatly, that literally made zero difference in the volume of the hum.

I just recapped my pp7b and it was hell but iankellogg's caps last so long I couldn't pass it up. Good way to insure my ps.
 
I just recapped my pp7b and it was hell but iankellogg's caps last so long I couldn't pass it up. Good way to insure my ps.

next time you have a chance check out mine i will bet you will be impressed with the caps, their sizes, and lead spacing, especially the extremely low esr caps with super high hour ratings. i sized everything to fit perfectly and even my filter caps were special ordered so they are 5mm smaller then original so you get as good or better air flow through the power supply to keep things cool since that power supply is like a sandwich with its two halves.

BTW: i have the nintendo pp-7a, pp-7b, pp-900a, pp-1200a cap kits all the same way.
https://www.arcadepartsandrepair.com/product-category/rebuild-kits/power-supply-cap-kit/

i have the smaller filter caps for those power supplies available to buy separately if anyone needs just those. (the original filter caps are 30x30mm and mine are 25x30mm instead of the 30x40mm).
 
next time you have a chance check out mine i will bet you will be impressed with the caps, their sizes, and lead spacing, especially the extremely low esr caps with super high hour ratings. i sized everything to fit perfectly and even my filter caps were special ordered so they are 5mm smaller then original so you get as good or better air flow through the power supply to keep things cool since that power supply is like a sandwich with its two halves.

BTW: i have the nintendo pp-7a, pp-7b, pp-900a, pp-1200a cap kits all the same way.
https://www.arcadepartsandrepair.com/product-category/rebuild-kits/power-supply-cap-kit/

i have the smaller filter caps for those power supplies available to buy separately if anyone needs just those. (the original filter caps are 30x30mm and mine are 25x30mm instead of the 30x40mm).

I'm going to get one once I buy my wife another dress or purse or some other stupid shit. We're about even on frivolous spending again.
 
The 4 Nintendo cabs I have all came with a real bad hum. Re-capping the audio amps cured it in all 4 cases.

I re-capped my audio amp...twice...and that still didn't fix my hum.

I even purchased a repo amp from twisty wrist and that didn't do anything either.

The only thing that fixed it for me was bypassing the original amp with the $10 amp from Amazon.

My Mario Bros Wide Body buzzes extremely bad. I'm going to try this fix on it this weekend and I'll be sure to do a before and after video for this thread.
 
I know my Mario Bros. cabinet buzzes, but I'm so hard of hearing that I don't really notice unless I really, really concentrate on the sound.

I may have to try installing a new amp though. Nice solution. :)
 
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