2022 was the 12 months I made a decision to get severe about my retrogaming setup. I used to be uninterested in having a 104lb CRT dominating half my pc desk and a PlayStation 2, MiSTer, and no matter different consoles I used to be at present considering at all times in peripheral imaginative and prescient. After a little bit of thought I concluded that the TV and all of the consoles can be higher off on a wheeled cart. A retro cart, if you happen to would. It may dwell in my closet, or be wheeled out to wherever appeared enjoyable. So I began speccing that out.
The finest kind issue ended up having two decrease cabinets—for the consoles, a smaller TATE-friendly/PAL-compatible PVM-1354Q CRT a pal had just lately offered me, and bookshelf audio system—with the big-ass 29” TV up on the third, prime tier. Both CRTs may settle for RGB or YPbPr/part video…which to standardize on? Component 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 presumably PS2. Combined, these necessities take us far past the characteristic set of any fundamental 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 lovers.
A number of promising candidates surfaced. One high-end mid-2000s switcher was very fancy certainly and will truly transcode between analog and optical audio (wow!). But in the end I used to be gained over by the still-fancy however barely extra modest Impact Acoustics Deluxe Component Video / Digital Audio 6 In / 2 Out Matrix Switch, aka the “40697″. You can see it above. Not only can it route those six inputs to either screen, it can output to both screens simultaneously…the same source, or two different sources. Oh dear, am I blushing?
After a week or two I managed to snag a NOS (new old stock) one on eBay, and it proved just as performant as hoped: Any console on any display is now just a button-push away. The cart project is still in progress as I seek a working Xbox, look into appropriate Wii hax, and transition to a new display up top (kinda wishing I had gone with RGB now, actually!) but I’ve already been enjoying having all my beloved old games in a single, self-contained, no-compromises tower of power. Even got a beanbag! Hell yeah.
Alexandra Hall, Senior Editor
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