The Analogue Nt mini released in early 2017
and established Analogue as a dominant player in the FPGA gaming hardware market. Thanks to lead engineer Kevin “Kevtris”
Horton, it offered the ability to play NES and Famicom cartridges in up 1080p on your
HDTV, or high quality analog output on a CRT. Once out of production, the console began
to fetch extraordinarily high prices on eBay not only due to the quality of its official
functionality, but also because ROM loading and additional platforms, such as the Atari
2600, Sega Master System, and Game Boy were added via a so-called “jailbroken” firmware
branch. In early 2020, Analogue announced the Nt mini
Noir - a gunmetal black edition that would be available for “One Final Run” at a
premium price of 500 dollars. It was do or die time for anyone who missed
out on the original... and despite the sticker shock, Analogue claims that the Noir is their
best-selling console to date. In the nearly four years since the Nt mini’s
original release, the classic gaming landscape has been flush with changes. Not only have Analogue themselves released
several other consoles with better features at a significantly lower cost, but the open-source
MiSTer FPGA console project has also risen to become a central pillar of the preservation
community. So where does the Nt mini Noir fit in? Well, after pre-orders had already closed,
Analogue revealed that the Noir is hardly the same console that released in 2017 - offering
new abilities and feature parity with the Super Nt and Mega Sg. The big question is how extensive are these
changes, and does it still do everything that the previous version could? Let’s find out. [ "Principle" by Matt McCheskey ] From increasingly accurate software emulators
to a variety of FPGA-based hardware emulation devices, the past half-decade has brought
us so many new ways to enjoy the games of the past in ways that continue to bring us
closer and closer to perfectly recreated gameplay, visuals, and sound in the absence of original
hardware. But of course, everyone has their own preferences
and priorities, and it’s important to respect that. It’s not about arguing over whether playing
games for free on your computer versus investing in games and hardware is smart or stupid. It’s ridiculous to believe everyone must
play games in the same way or to assume you understand the reasons someone else has to
choose their method that’s different from yours. Because ultimately we’re all here doing
the same thing - enjoying classic games in our own ways. And of course, in this episode, we’re looking
at something that, in no small part due to its cost and exclusivity, falls squarely into
the “premium” side of the gaming spectrum. There’s no beating around the bush here
- at this point, you pretty much either have the Nt mini Noir… or you don’t. It was expensive, it sold out, and there won’t
be any more. So no one should be watching this video to
decide whether they should go to Analogue’s website and order one because you can’t. That ship has sailed, and it's extremely frustrating. The units in this episode were provided to
us by Analogue so that we could take an in-depth look at the system’s functionality and give
you our own independent analysis into how the Noir differs from the previous iteration
- and of course, we’ll also be showing how it compares to a variety of more readily available
alternatives like the RetroUSB AVS and the MiSTer. At a glance, the exterior of the console looks
identical to its predecessor, complete with a full set of rear ports. Despite the “Noir” moniker, it’s not
so much black as it is more of a dark gunmetal gray, which we do rather like. The texture of the aluminum gives it a sheen
that might make it look darker or lighter depending on where you’ve placed it. Some additional flourishes, such as the clear
plastic used for the controller ports are unexpected but nice touches. As with the 2017 model, power is supplied
from a barrel-style adapter rather than USB. One annoyance is that it seems to provide
power to the controller ports even when the system is turned off, which will cause any
wireless receivers to blink constantly, searching for a controller. If it were possible to shut off the controller
ports in standby mode via a firmware update, we would be pretty happy about that. It’s worth mentioning that the Noir ships
with 8bitdo’s newest wireless NES controller - the N30 2.4g version. We both bought some of these ourselves when
they released earlier in 2020, and find them to be a marked improvement over the Bluetooth
versions. Not only do they connect faster and have less
lag than Bluetooth, but 8bitdo has come a long way when it comes to the quality of their
Dpads. Some people still seem to have taken issue
with them, but for me, the gold standard test is always Contra, and I have no trouble with
holding diagonals or accidentally triggering a press in a direction that I didn’t mean
to, which definitely can be a problem on many alternative controllers. But of course, you can also use any other
third-party or official Nintendo controller if you prefer. After all, the most obvious distinction between
Analogue’s consoles and something like the MiSTer is that well, you can plug original
controllers and original cartridges straight into it. For some people, this means nothing, but for
others, it’s hugely important. And for me, this is the most frustrating aspect
of the 2017 Nt mini - on my unit, while the Famicom cartridge slot works just fine, the
NES slot is frankly… extremely unreliable. I had so much trouble that I cleaned my entire
collection and it still could only read games about half the time. At least Analogue knew this was a problem
because one of their first marketing points on the Noir was that it sports a redesigned
NES cart connector. Since NES carts are so tall and there’s
no “camel hump” similar to the NES Toploader, there is a lot of play in the fit around the
slot, but it doesn’t seem to have any negative impact on the system’s ability to reliably
read any reasonably clean NES carts… a huge improvement over the bad luck I had with the
previous NES slot. What a relief. Luckily, the cart connector also releases
games with minimal friction, much less than we’ve experienced with the Blinking Light
Win or AVS. Another minor but appreciated physical adjustment
is that the power and USB ports have been nudged just the smallest amount to allow for
a slightly more workable fit for the Famicom 3D System glasses. As usual, a full-sized SD Card slot on the
left hand side of the console is used for firmware updates, color palettes, fonts, and
whatever other… uh, types of files you might want to use with the console… more on that
later in the video. Personally, I much prefer the more compact
down-to-earth plastic shells of Analogue’s newer designs, and I’d love to see them
one day release an NES FPGA console that matches the Super Nt, Mega Sg, and Analogue Duo in
looks... and price. But for those who do enjoy the over-the-top
weighty metal body as an art and conversation piece, this may very well be the last game
console of its kind. But it’s what’s going on under the hood
that really counts, and the Noir is not the same machine that was released in 2017 - it
is noticeably upgraded, driven by a more powerful FPGA… and it has the features to show for
it. Which... yeah, is definitely exciting, but
it's also left some people feeling understandably unhappy. When the Noir was first announced, people
asked us a lot if we thought it might offer interpolation or any of the other essential
features that the Super Nt and Mega Sg have. Like everyone else, we had no reason to believe
it would be anything more than what we already had. But then Analogue revealed in July - long
after pre-orders were all sold out - that the feature set is much closer to the Super
Nt and Mega Sg. So yeah. While it’s awesome that the features are
here, a ton of people would surely have really liked to have known about all this before
they decided to pass on securing a pre-order. Feels bad, there’s just no other way to
put it, and we really hope that Analogue can take steps to ensure that situations like
this don’t happen in the future. But whether you’re lucky and do have your
own Nt mini Noir or you’re just holding onto hope that Analogue might release some
other kind of FPGA NES again in the future, let’s dig in and see how things have changed. The 2017 Nt mini was an evolution of the Hi-Def
NES, and as such they feel broadly similar in the way their menus are presented. But with the release of the Super Nt, a new
paradigm was set in terms of features and overall ease of use. The Mega Sg followed closely… and now, so
does the Noir. Browsing the system menu reveals many familiar
options, and anyone who’s become comfortable with recent Analogue systems will feel right
at home here. The menu options let you tweak various color
accents, fonts, and other assorted presentation flourishes. Hotkeys and controllers let you assign menu
and reset shortcuts. The default menu combo is the familiar down
and select, which is also mapped to the new N30 controller’s home button, which I rather
like... but if you change the hot key setting from its default combo, the home button will
stop working. You can also disable all hotkeys if you’re
going to play a game where you find yourself bringing up the menu by mistake during gameplay,
which is only a temporary setting - after you power down the system, you will of course
be able to bring up the menu next time. You can also adjust various controller settings
such as 4 player setups and swapping confirm and cancel - which is crucial because similar
to the Nt mini, the default confirm button in the menu is B, which is completely backwards
from the Nintendo standard. I imagine most people will swap this to A-confirm,
B-cancel. Like all Analogue consoles, you can also choose
if you want the system to boot to the menu first, or just act like a real NES and boot
directly to the game in the cartridge slot. As with the 2017 model, you can tweak the
front LED to behave in a variety of ways. Nothing really new here, but I do enjoy getting
to choose my colors. The Hardware menu has your region switches
- use USA if you’re playing American or Japanese carts, PAL if you’re playing officially
released PAL carts, while Dendy matches the hardware of a Famicom clone that was popular
in Russia. The Fill RAM modes may help manipulate random
number generators in some cases, but for behavior closest to original hardware, stick to the
default random option. As for the voltage toggle, you should only
need to use this if some reproduction cartridge seems to not behave correctly. According to Kevtris, the original Nt mini
was actually 3.6 volts on the cartridge bus, so it’s fine to operate original cartridges
this way too, even though they run on 5 volts on the original console.[b] But basically,
if you’re just playing official North American and Japanese carts, you should never need
to use the Hardware menu at all. Now there is still a bit more to talk about
regarding compatibility with various accessories, but since that relies in part on certain video
features, let’s go over that next. Anyone who’s been following Kevin Horton’s
work for a while will know that his hardware designs are reliably solid. He’s had a functioning NES FPGA core since
2004, elements of which inspired the Hi-Def NES mod kit, and was later released in a more
complete form with the Nt mini. It's safe to say that a portion of Analogue’s
success can be directly linked to Kevin’s talents, with his name becoming a selling
point in and of itself. Look no further than the video settings and
sure enough, things will feel pretty familiar. Resolution options run the usual gamut, topping
out at 1080p. Your basic screen size options offer several
horizontal and vertical scaling settings with square pixels and 4.5X height being the default. This is a good base setting thanks in part
to the Noir’s most impressive AND important upgrade - Interpolation. Just to refresh your memory on how NES output
has worked previously on these HDMI products, the Hi-Def NES mod kit and the original hardware-based
Analogue Nt can do 4X or 4.5X sizing at 1080p, but without interpolation. This means that if you use a non-integer scale,
you get uneven pixel sizing, which results in the dreaded scrolling shimmer. The only way to defeat the shimmer on those
systems is to use integer scaling, such as 4X vertical and either 4X or 5X horizontal
- which results in a picture that is either too skinny or a bit too fat. While the first version of the Nt mini did
not offer interpolation, it is capable of a 5X vertical scale, which may cut off a small
portion of the top and bottom of the image. Most games account for this in the screen
layout, since it's similar to what you lose in the overscan area of the CRTs these games
were designed for. Paring this with a 6X horizontal scale makes
for an aspect ratio that, while not exactly 4:3, is extremely close and works well for
most games. Starting with the Super Nt, using a more powerful
FPGA, Kevtris could develop a new scaling engine with superb interpolation, which slightly
blurs the uneven pixels, and at last it can be used with NES and Famicom games on the
Nt Mini Noir. While 5X vertical and 6X horizontal are still
fine options, now the image can be scaled however you prefer with no need to worry about
shimmer. Power users will want to enable Advanced Mode
to get the most of the Noir’s video capabilities - and let's not kid ourselves, this is a 500
dollar NES system. If you bought it, you can likely place yourself
in that category. Width & Height is where a lot of the real
fun is, and you can scale as granularly as you like, or you can quickly jump between
desirable sizing presets with the press of the start button. However, please note that the presets are
very much incorrect on the firmware that the system shipped with, which has 4:3 marked
at a value that nearly fills the screen! We know that semi-professional pixel peeper
FireBrandX has handed Kevtris the correct sizing values, so hopefully by the time you
see this video, it’s been resolved with firmware updates. Regardless, here are the settings we settled
on for a majority of the footage in this episode. If you’re using interpolation, then these
should also work well for anyone using 1080p output, as long as you aren’t also using
scanlines. While interpolation is new for the Nt mini
Noir, it's a bit late to the party for NES games. Horizontal interpolation was added to the
RetroUSB AVS with little fanfare in a firmware update over a year ago. Keep in mind that the AVS is limited to 720p
output, but take a look - pretty impressive for older and less powerful hardware, wouldn’t
you say? Likewise, the MiSTer also has several filter
options, including various takes on horizontal interpolation, so you can settle on a look
that meets your preference. The open source approach to the MiSTer is
a real boon to the platform, with key features and major tweaks appearing all the time - even
supporting higher resolution output like 1200p or 1440p if you have the appropriate screen
for it. But of course, the MiSTer is a very different
approach with a different appeal, and it can be a lot more complicated to get up and running
with it. As of right now, the MiSTer doesn’t give
you quite the same level of control over the image sizing as you get with the Analogue
products. The way you can manipulate the image in real
time on the Noir lets you dial in your preferred sizing - no matter how ridiculous. Cropping is of course nothing new - pretty
much every HDMI NES device offers this, and allows you to cut off some of the visual junk
that often appears near the edge of the screen, especially in games that use more advanced
scrolling techniques like Kirby’s Adventure and Mario 3. The Scalers menu was also available on Kevtris’s
previous NES devices, which simply add the familiar smoothing filters if you’re into
those. However the toggles for disabling vertical
and horizontal interpolation also live here. While we recommend always leaving horizontal
interpolation enabled because there’s no way to get 4:3 without a non-integer scale,
you may wish to disable vertical interpolation if you’re using a 4X or 5X vertical height,
which will give a very slightly sharper image. But for general use, you’ll still have a
very sharp image with vertical interpolation left on. However one situation where you definitely
will want to use a vertical integer scale is if you use any of the features in the Scanlines
menu. For the scanline spacing to look even, you
must use an integer scale - the interpolation cannot fix uneven scanlines. Hybrid Scanlines are new to the Noir model
and let you go a bit further by allowing you to set just how defined the scanlines are
over brighter colors. There was a time when we’d say that you
can get the best results by setting your system at 720p, but there's enough options here that
you can really dial in an excellent representation at 1080p. We’ll circle back to Analog Output in a
bit as that's its own beast to wrangle and instead, we’ll go directly to Extra Features. As is standard on these NES hardware emulators,
you can increase the sprite limit to reduce how often you’ll see flickery graphics. We’re not aware of any downsides to using
this feature, but leave it off if you need to represent the game graphics as authentically
as possible. You can also set your preferred color palette
here. This functionality is the same as on the previous
Nt mini - FirebrandX is always a safe bet, but he’s made many revisions over the years
- this one seems to be his “Composite Direct” palette. But if you go download any palette files from
the internet, you can simply load them from the SD card - you can find anything from color
palettes derived from official Nintendo products like the NES Classic Edition, or ones based
on the composite hues you’d expect to see on an old Sony CRT. Remember that the original NES has no defined
RGB color values, and while we all have our own opinions about how it “should” look,
there’s no truly wrong answer here. If you’re looking for a recommendation however,
we find Firebrand X’s “Smooth” palette to be the best option. It’s the culmination of all of his palette
work and is more up to date than the included FirebrandX palette.[c] While we’re on the subject, let’s skip
down to the Color menu. Here you can choose to Limit the RGB range
if your TV doesn’t work correctly with the default Full Range. If turning this on makes your black levels
look washed out, then you probably want to leave it off, but if not, then it might be
the correct setting for your equipment. You can also increase the gamma, which is
mostly useful for compensating video levels when using scanlines. The Buffer modes are another feature introduced
to Analogue products starting with the Super Nt. As you may know, in order to ensure the smoothest
possible and most highly compatible HDMI output, these devices output at 60Hz by default. But in order to match the game rendering and
the output, some adjustments are needed, and you get to choose how the system does it. While “Zero Delay” is not the default
on the Noir, it generally has been the default on Kevtris’s previous implementations. This means the game speed is very slightly
downclocked from 60.08Hz to 60Hz so that every frame is ready when the HDMI sends the next. This results in the smoothest gameplay and
lowest latency, but for those who can’t accept the speed discrepancy, the other options
are for them. “Fully Buffered” adds variable lag between
0 and 1 frame and drops periodic frames that may be more or less noticeable depending on
the game. “Single Buffer” is theoretically less
lag than “Fully Buffered,” but has very prominent screen tearing. These options are also important when it comes
to compatibility with certain accessories, which we’ll get to in a bit. Finally, it’s time to go back to Analog
Output. After interpolation, the second largest evolution
of the Noir from the original is the ability to output HDMI and Analog video simultaneously. This is great news for those who want to play
on a CRT while streaming and recording over HDMI. The key to unlocking this potential is the
different buffer modes available. If you are only using analog output, then
the Nt mini will always output lag-free video at the true original NES speed of 60.08Hz. However, if you want to use analog simultaneously
with HDMI, Zero Delay is not compatible in this configuration. You must first choose either “Fully Buffered”
or “Single Buffer” for the buffer mode. We’d recommend Fully Buffered.[d] Due to the built-in analog connections, the
Analogue DAC is obviously not required for analog output, but it actually is supported
if you have some use for dual analog output. Like the DAC, the VGA-style connector does
not actually provide a VGA signal - what you’re getting is true 240p 15kHz video just like
a real NES console. For all intents and purposes, the analog output
should be identical whether using the built-in port or the external DAC. The connector pinout is based on commonly
available cables which you can find on Monoprice.com. We went over the different connections that
you can use in our episode on the 2017 Nt mini, which include composite, S-video, component,
and a 5-BNC RGB cable. A number of settings have been added thanks
to the advances made by the DAC. Different Synch settings are needed depending
on what type of monitor or TV you’re aiming for… RGB and component look extremely similar to
the results you get from Tim Worthington’s NESRGB mod, which is great - after all, we
suspect that if you’re the kind of person who buys a $500 NES recreation, you’re here
for something better than composite video. But if you ever did feel like going for an
era-appropriate look, the 2017 Nt mini seems to actually have an advantage when it comes
to composite video, weirdly enough. While the signal appears to be a touch brighter
than composite from a real NES, the 2017 model behaves very similarly to authentic NES output,
which is great for the earthy lived-in vibe of games like Faxanadu (Fuh-zan-uh-doo). The Noir may also seem similar at a glance,
but the composite noise seems to move through the image more quickly, which feels neither
as pleasing nor as accurate. [e]Regardless, S-video remains an excellent
analog option for those whose CRT might not have component or RGB. Both composite and S-video are unaffected
by your choice of color palette - they use the same YUV colors the NES generates natively,
which gives us an interesting peek into what might’ve been if the NES had a native S-video
connection. Chroma Filters and the 7.5 IRE Black levels
are Composite and S-Video specific features which have to do with the way that digital
video systems are designed to handle legacy content and how bright it is... while the
700MV RGB Level will lower the brightness level if the signal is blown out when using
a RGB cable. Perhaps most importantly, there's the Dejitter
toggle under extra features. Both the NES and Super NES emit a short scanline
every other frame at the top of the image, which could break compatibility or cause a
sync drop when using an upscaler such as the OSSC. Even if you’re using HDMI output, you might
want to turn this setting on to clean up the top row of pixels. It should be noted that a MiSTer equipped
with an IO board is also capable of delivering simultaneous HDMI and analog output. You can even muddy up an RGB or Component
signal to look like composite if you want to. Well that’s pretty much the gist of it as
far as video options are concerned when it comes to playing NES and Famicom games. While it’s been a pleasant surprise to see
all of these features integrated into the Noir, it’s equally unsurprising because
it’s so similar to what’s on offer with the Super Nt and Mega Sg. But the bottom line is that if you’ve got
a Noir, you can easily enjoy some of the absolute best visuals possible with NES games on a
modern display. Back when we made our episode on the 2017
Nt mini, it was kind of an eye-opener to me in terms of how I’d been taking NES sound
reproduction for granted. I mean sure, systems like the Sega Genesis
and TurboGrafx are well-known for having sound that’s difficult to emulate well, but most
people would probably take any emulated version of NES music and assume it’s authentic enough
- but there are challenges there too. When I put recordings from a real Famicom
against the Nt mini, I knew some things were different, but I don’t have the ear to zero
in on why, or the know-how to do anything about it. But in the time since, we’ve gained new
tools and information that have allowed even someone as musically inept as myself to take
better advantage of the audio adjustments in both the 2017 model as well as the more
advanced capabilities of the Nt mini Noir. The big breakthrough comes from MD Fourier
- an open source project by Artemio Urbina - which has finally made it possible to get
scientific data on how video game console audio signatures vary between console revisions,
or how close an emulated version is to matching the real thing. Notably, contributors to the MiSTer project
have taken results from MD Fourier to significantly improve audio accuracy in their cores, including
the NES and Famicom core. So now in 2020, there’s a much higher bar
to clear. But before we get any deeper, I’d like to
point out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with using the Noir’s default audio
settings if this segment seems overwhelming to you. It’s not like it’s way off or anything,
and a few years ago, I’d have probably left it totally alone myself. But in part due to MD Fourier, there is a
rising call for emulator authors to go that last mile for audio accuracy, so this extra
scrutiny has become expected. Artemio himself came up with his own set of
recommended audio adjustments that apply to the 2017 model, based on the audio signature
from his front-loader NES. Keep in mind that at present, MD Fourier only
gives us the tools to measure differences between the NES’s five native sound channels
- the five listed at the top. Various Famicom expansion audio channels are
listed below, and may or may not be accurately balanced in this shot. So then, what about the Noir? MD Fourier plots how two signals differ - the
closer all plots are to a flat line at the center, the more similar they are. Compared against a front-loader NES, the default
audio settings give us this - Triangle seems to be pretty good, but the others need to
be brought down a bit. With this knowledge, we can go to the Audio
settings and then Channel Levels, where we can make educated guesses for adjustments
on Square 1, Square 2, Triangle, Noise, and DPCM, which are all defaulted at 64, at least
on firmware 1.0. After a few attempts, we came up with this
- but don’t be afraid to download MD Fourier and run your own analysis - it’s actually
kinda fun. Be sure to have the system set for “Fully
Buffered” so that it runs at the same speed as original hardware, which ensures the timing
and pitch will be a closer match. The settings we settled on give us this result
when compared against the NES front loader - as you can see, it’s really close, but
there’s a bit of a drop off toward the right. That means that the Noir is applying a lowpass
filter to mitigate some of the frequencies that might be considered subjectively less
pleasing. If you go to Advanced Filter Settings, you’ll
see that the sound channels we’re dealing with currently actually don’t have the lowpass
filter turned on by default, which means what we saw on the graph is a secondary lowpass
filter that cuts off a bit earlier than what exists on a real NES. In other words, even though we’re really
close, we cannot get data on the Noir that exactly matches the NES within the margin
of error. So it would seem that the goal with the Noir
audio here is attenuating the highest frequencies for a subjective improvement, rather than
absolute accuracy - but what do you think? Let’s put what we’ve dialed in to the
test and listen to how an unmodified NES, a 2017 Nt mini, an Nt mini Noir, and the MiSTer
sound. [ Mega Man 4 sound comparison ] Things get a lot more complicated when it
comes to expansion audio, which has way more variables to consider. As you may know, the Famicom Disk System and
many other Famicom game carts have extra audio hardware inside that is processed within the
cart and passed as analog audio through the cartridge pins to be mixed with the console’s
native sounds. To use this feature as intended, the Enable
Cartridge Audio toggle must be turned on. With firmware 1.1, the default volume level
for cart audio was changed to 45, and audio experts we’ve spoken with seem to agree
that this is the sweet spot. If you have the real cartridges for games
like Akumajou Densetsu - the Japanese Castlevania III - this means you get to enjoy using the
cart’s actual sound hardware, and it’s glorious. It’s pretty harmless to leave Cartridge
Audio on unless you have a reason to turn it off. But what if you don’t have the real cartridge? If loading a ROM that supports expansion audio
from a flash cartridge like an EverDrive, instead of cartridge audio, go to Expansion
Chips and select the appropriate one. This does assume you have some knowledge of
what hardware is used by each game, so for example, you’ll need to choose VRC6 for
Akumajou Densetsu, VRC7 for Lagrange Point, and Sunsoft 5B for Gimmick. Even if you save your settings, this is a
one-time setting - these are always disabled upon boot-up, so re-enable it next time you
play the game. If this sounds like a hassle, don’t worry
- considering the size of the entire library, not all that many Famicom carts overall even
have expansion audio. Also, if loading a ROM via the Nt mini Noir
jailbreak that supports any of these chips, the correct chip will be selected automatically
- more on the jailbreak later. At any rate, what you will hear with the appropriate
chip selected is a hardware emulation of the intended sound. Even if you are using a real cart, you still
have the choice here to use the Noir’s version by choosing the appropriate chip and leaving
Cartridge Audio disabled. In fact, EverDrives also use their own FPGA
in the cart to recreate expansion audio in a similar way. Please remember, we are not audio mixing experts,
but you do have the power to adjust the balance of individual sound channels from the various
expansion chips when using emulated expansion audio. If you’d like to hear the Noir’s replication,
choose the appropriate expansion chip... or if you’d prefer to use the EverDrive’s
FPGA audio, enable cartridge audio to hear that, just like with a real cart. Now, the EverDrive sounded a bit low there,
didn’t it? That’s not to disparage the EverDrive’s
sound emulation, but you may need to raise the volume level from the EverDrive menu - the
default of 100% seems to not be as loud as a real cart, but it can go up to 200% - and
your experience may be different with an N8 Pro. You might’ve noticed that we didn’t compare
against a real Famicom because well, my Famicom is an AV Famicom, which is widely considered
to mix in expansion audio at far too high of a volume - in which case, the settings
we’ve got on the Noir here may match the intended expansion audio mix better than the
1993 Famicom revision. The last point I want to look at regarding
expansion audio is the Famicom Disk System, which even I could tell sounded way off the
mark on the 2017 Nt mini. Listen to this comparison from the episode
we did on that model. The Nt mini’s smaller FPGA did not have
enough room to add a lowpass filter that is necessary for replicating the warmer sound
heard with an actual Famicom Disk System. If you go back to the Advanced Filter Settings,
you’ll notice that FDS and a special Namco chip are the only ones with the filter applied
by default, and unless you want to muffle the other sound channels for any particular
reason, you should probably leave it this way. At the moment, we’re only interested in
how it attenuates the emulated FDS channel. You have a good deal of control over how the
filter works, but without MD Fourier to assist, I’m kinda shooting in the dark here. Firmware 1.1 moved the default cutoff from
3000 to 6000, so I’ll have to assume that was an informed decision on Kevtris’s part
and that’s what we’re using in the third clip on the following comparison. So it’s clear that there have been challenges
when it comes to mimicking FDS and possibly the N163, but for all intents and purposes,
the Noir’s audio is a triumph by our reckoning, especially when using the audio adjustments
we showed earlier for the 5 native sound channels. However, community members who have really
dedicated themselves to the nitty-gritty of game preservation have identified some anomalies
that people like us will never notice, and we know that they have suggested to Kevtris
some additional toggles and phase inversion adjustments that would help the Noir come
closer to its stated goal of preserving the Famicom hardware. It’s worth noting that certain EverDrive
expansion audio sound channels may not be completely in phase either. So while we do have to acknowledge that at
present, the Noir may not be exactly reference-quality enough for preservation in the academic sense,
any differences in audio quality will likely go undetected by a large majority of users,
including ourselves. And for those more concerned with the result
than a one to one replication, the Noir gives audiophiles plenty of granular controls to
adjust and mix sound channels to suit their own personal taste - not necessarily targeting
an authentic sound signature, but perhaps something that they personally prefer to listen
to. A few returning audio features that are really
more just for fun or personal preference include the channel panning, which some people like
to use to turn the NES’s mono sound into a sort of custom stereo setting -
and under “Audio Toys” is distortion, which maybe could be used for fun effects
by musicians, but in the wrong hands, it just sounds like your NES is a bit inebriated. Two more audio adjustments are hidden outside
the Audio menu and are under “Core Options.” Disable Looped Noise is a feature meant to
mimic a flaw in very very early Famicom systems, while the purpose of “Disable Square Reload”
is to fix playback for some NSF files that may have been built using older, less accurate
emulators, but normally both of these should be left alone. Speaking of NSF, that is indeed another welcome
returning feature from the first Nt mini. It’s tucked away under “Tools” all the
way back at the top menu, alongside the Cheat Codes, which is, you know, basically a Game
Genie. NSF stands for Nintendo Sound Format - a format
Kevtris actually made himself way back in the day - and plays raw Famicom sound data
as a soundtrack, if you download the appropriate files. So there’s improvements all around - graphics,
sound, and even a few esoteric hardware behavior tweaks are all possible with the Nt mini Noir. But the question remains - with so much changed
from the previous model, does it still deliver on what the people buying it expected it to
do? As Try already mentioned, the Famicom 3D System
now connects much more easily, but since the timing of the shutters relies on a CRT display,
don’t expect for the effect to work very well if running 3D capable games out via HDMI. To be honest, this is the only accessory either
of us have for the Famicom expansion port, but we suspect virtually everything should
work. Similar to the 3D glasses, the NES Zapper
does work, but as usual, it’s meant to be used with analog output. Anything from composite on up to RGB will
work just fine. One tricky accessory is the Famicom Disk System. For the uninitiated, the black thing that
connects to the cartridge slot is called the “RAM Adapter,” while the big red box is
more or less just a disk reader that sends data to the RAM Adapter. If loading games from Loopy’s FDS Stick,
the RAM Adapter is actually the only part of the system that is needed. This is a very reliable method for getting
FDS games to work correctly. Something that Kevtris recently informed us
of is that apparently some RAM Adapters had trouble with the first Nt mini. As far as we know, this is no longer a problem
on the Noir, but there’s a quirk - because of the nature of how the hardware works, you
cannot use a Famicom Disk System RAM Adapter in “Zero Delay” mode, and must choose
another buffer mode - preferably Fully Buffered. This allows the Noir and the Disk System to
work together in harmony and is similar to how analog output must adhere to the original
60.08Hz video timings when using analog video. Similarly, there may be issues with some EverDrives,
particularly if their firmware is not up to date. For instance, we tried playing Rad Racer on
an N8 with older firmware and spotted glitches in the sky, but this was cleared up with the
latest firmware from Krikzz. In general, you should expect the EverDrive
N8 and N8 Pro to work without issue. Likewise with the retroUSB PowerPak. Of course, using flash carts is all well and
good if you already have them, but as we’ve hinted at a few times in the video already,
the Nt mini Noir does not disappoint with its jailbreak firmware. You can read instructions and download the
latest version of the jailbreak from the SmokeMonsterPacks GitHub - but just like installing the official
firmware, you simply drop it in the root of your SD card, pop it in the system, and then
let the system do its thing until the LED finishes blinking. There’s no downside to using the jailbroken
firmware, and all normal features will behave the same as usual. As with the previous model, the jailbreak
allows you to load NES and Famicom ROMs directly from the SD card - no flash cart required. Before loading games onto your card, be sure
to carefully read the instructions on the GitHub and format your card in FAT32. If your card is larger than 32 gigabytes,
I personally like to use the free Minitool Partition Wizard to allocate all space properly. The blog Nerdly Pleasures has a great post
comparing the mapper compatibility matrices of the Noir, the previous Nt mini, the MiSTer,
and various flash carts, revealing that the jailbroken Noir may overall be the most highly
compatible ROM-loading hardware for NES and Famicom to date. Keep in mind that there are some mappers that
may be supported by the EverDrive N8 Pro and not the Noir, and vice-versa, but most incompatibilities
revolve around hardware used in homebrew or pirate games, not officially released software. Even still, you’re likely to find that most
homebrew and pirate ROMs should work. And beginning with the second jailbreak firmware
update, Famicom Disk System games also load natively - they just have to conform to the
allowed byte sizes listed in the jailbreak Readme - depending on how you got them, some
ROMs may be padded with 16 byte headers, which can be removed easily with a hex editor. When a Disk System game is running, you’ll
discover a new feature under Core Settings called FDS - this allows you to set how disk
swapping works. The default is to hold select when prompted
to switch sides. But of course, there is much more to this
jailbreak than simply offering a convenient way to play NES games without the carts. One of the big reasons the previous Nt mini
became so sought after was because unlike the Super Nt and Mega Sg jailbreaks, the jailbreak
added many of the 8-bit FPGA cores that Kevtris had made for his own learning and amusement
over the years. In the time before MiSTer took off, this was
a really big deal, and even today, it offers hardware emulation for some platforms that
MiSTer still doesn’t. There are 20 extra game platforms and several
additional fun tools included with the Nt mini Noir jailbreak. This includes major 8-bit platforms like the
Atari systems, Colecovision, Game Boy Color, and Game Gear, alongside a smattering of obscure
“who cares” stuff like Video Brain and Game King, but that’s what makes it so interesting
- it’s stuff that you’d otherwise probably never dabble in, and it’s awesome to see
it here in a hardware emulated form. New to the Noir jailbreak are Intellivision,
Mega Duck, and perhaps most surprisingly, the Sega Genesis. At a glance, this seems to work just like
the Mega Sg’s implementation. Genesis games are actually quite playable
with an NES controller - C is mapped to select, which may be bad in a lot of cases, but since
Genesis games tend to let you remap controls, it works surprisingly well. Notably, the Noir jailbreak features over
10 platforms that are still not yet supported in MiSTer - Intellivision, Arcadia 2001, Creativision,
Game King, RCA Studio II, Atari 7800, Adventure Vision, Channel F, Gamate, Supervision, and
Mega Duck. After launching any core, pressing the menu
hotkey will bring up the file browser so you can go through the ROMs you’ve installed
to the card. Pressing start will then allow you to access
settings, which are saved on a per-core basis. So if you want to use different scaler settings
for Master System and Game Boy than NES - and you should - then you don’t have to worry
about it affecting your NES core settings. The biggest advantage here over the 2017 Nt
mini is of course that interpolation is now available for all cores when outputting HDMI,
allowing for free scaling and more precise aspect ratios with no shimmer. Do keep in mind that some cores are more polished
than others - a few of them definitely need more work if they’re ever to be a prime
feature on a future device. As of right now, the HDMI scaling engine is
not particularly well implemented on some cores, which can make it very difficult or
impossible to get ideal sizing and centering. Keep an eye on FirebrandX’s YouTube channel
for content detailing how to get the best-scaled image and appropriate aspect ratio for the
various jailbreak cores. We can’t get into all of the settings on
a per-core basis, but options do vary by core, and include very specific stuff like enabling
the CRAM dots on Genesis, to toggling FM synth on Master System and other audio adjustments. When using analog output, composite video
characteristics vary by core - for example, Genesis has plenty of rainbow artifacts, but
much like with the Analog DAC with Mega Sg, the character of the composite doesn’t perfectly
match a real Genesis regardless of the chroma filter chosen, and dither blending doesn’t
work quite like many might hope. Regardless, it’s funny to think about how
even composite video is an upgrade for many of these consoles, since the original hardware
for pre-NES consoles tends to be RF only. Naturally, S-video, RGB, and component for
any core all look as excellent as you would hope. As usual, many platforms do require BIOS files
to run - check the text file in the BIOS folder to learn which ones are needed and what to
name them. You can change BIOS files per core if needed
through the Core Options menu. If you really want to take full advantage
of some cores, you may need to use a different sort of controller, such as a simple SNES
to NES controller adapter, which can even be built by hand. For example, Atari 2600 toggle switches can
be worked more easily from the controller rather than through the Core Options, and
the Colecovision’s number pad can be used through various SNES button combos as needed
- or even the NTT Data Pad if you have one. The Intellivision core actually requires this
controller for full input functionality. A random core that’s not exactly a game
platform is Kevtris’s Mandlebrot Viewer, which he wanted to include in the first Nt
mini, but it wasn’t powerful enough. Basically it lets you zoom in infinitely on
a visualized Mandelbrot set - not exactly useful, but definitely an interesting bit
of nerdy fun. When using the jailbreak, you’ll find the
NSF Player in the Cores list, in addition to an SPC Player - that’s for Super Nintendo
music files. Back under “Tools,” in the NSF Player’s
place is “CopyNES Mini.” This FPGA version of Kevtris’s own groundbreaking
NES dumper hardware was also available in the 2017 jailbreak. This lets you create your own ROM dumps of
your own NES carts, with the only caveat being you must know what kind of mapper hardware
it’s using to get a good dump. You can also check the box for whether the
game supports saves, which will let you also dump your save data. Hey, many NES save batteries do still work,
so this could be your chance to back up your childhood save games. The only catch is that you can’t write the
save files back to the cart - a feature that is possible with the RetroUSB AVS’s scoreboard
application… although that doesn’t always work reliably. While making your own dumps of ROMs that are
readily available may not seem very interesting to most people, we’ve heard that the ROM
dumper included in the Super Nt jailbreak made a situation where previously undocumented
ROMs and game revisions were discovered at a rate not seen since the 90s. So if you happen to have any carts in your
collection that you believe may be unusual for any reason - prototypes, pirate games,
and so forth - then the CopyNES Mini gives you an easy opportunity to contribute to the
cause of game preservation. The Nt mini Noir is a device that is equally
as surprising as it is unsurprising. We went from assuming it would be no different
from what it was in 2017… to wondering if the totally revamped firmware precluded it
from having the same unadvertised multi-console potential that made the original so sought
after… and then being surprised all over again when the jailbreak offered everything
it had and more. And yet, the advancements are largely predictable. I really do hope this is not the last time
we see Analogue release a Famicom system - I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’d
prefer something more affordable that fits in better with their plastic systems - and
it would truly seem like wasted effort if all of these features live and die on a system
that no one really expected to be upgraded like it is. The Noir is most certainly not completely
perfect and still needs some patches if it is to achieve its advertised goal of true
reference quality, but in most regards, it should be clear that it is extremely close. And even in a scene where MiSTer continues
to gain steam, it offers its own set of features and unique perks, and stands tall alongside
the likes of the AVS and of course original hardware mods as one of the best ways to experience
the NES and Famicom with real cartridges and real accessories.
