2022 was the yr I made a decision to get severe about my retrogaming setup. I used to be bored with having a 104lb CRT dominating half my laptop desk and a PlayStation 2, MiSTer, and no matter different consoles I used to be at the moment excited about all the time in peripheral imaginative and prescient. After a little bit of thought I concluded that the TV and all of the consoles could be higher off on a wheeled cart. A retro cart, in the event you would. It may stay in my closet, or be wheeled out to wherever appeared enjoyable. So I began speccing that out.
The perfect type issue ended up having two decrease cabinets—for the consoles, a smaller TATE-friendly/PAL-compatible PVM-1354Q CRT a pal had just lately bought me, and bookshelf audio system—with the big-ass 29” TV up on the third, high tier. Each CRTs may settle for RGB or YPbPr/part video…which to standardize on? Element appeared simpler for a pair causes, so I went with that. Then I simply wanted a switcher to not solely flip between MiSTer, PS2, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Wii, and Xbox, however to route any of these sources to both of the 2 screens.
That’s six in, two out. I wished optical audio switching, too, for MiSTer, Xbox, and probably PS2. Mixed, these necessities take us far past the function set of any primary switcher you’ll discover on Amazon or Ali as of late. Thus I turned to the intense, shining previous of the mid-aughts, when part video adoption peaked and specialty A/V merchandise catered to the extra esoteric YPbPr-wrangling wants of the period’s dwelling theater fanatics.
Just a few promising candidates surfaced. One high-end mid-2000s switcher was very fancy certainly and will really transcode between analog and optical audio (wow!). However finally I used to be received over by the still-fancy however barely extra modest Impression Acoustics Deluxe Element Video / Digital Audio 6 In / 2 Out Matrix Swap, aka the “40697″. You possibly can see it above. Not solely can it route these six inputs to both display, it may output to each screens concurrently…the identical supply, or two completely different sources. Oh expensive, am I blushing?
After per week or two I managed to snag a NOS (new outdated inventory) one on eBay, and it proved simply as performant as hoped: Any console on any show is now only a button-push away. The cart venture remains to be in progress as I search a working Xbox, look into applicable Wii hax, and transition to a brand new show up high (kinda wishing I had gone with RGB now, really!) however I’ve already been having fun with having all my beloved outdated video games in a single, self-contained, no-compromises tower of energy. Even bought a beanbag! Hell yeah.
Alexandra Corridor, Senior Editor