America's Most Haunted - PCM5102 External DAC
The audio in the game has always seemed a bit "off" and had a good bit of noise in the background.
I think I even heard Ben mention once the possibility of using an external DAC to improve over the Propeller's internal one.
Well, that's what I did.
I recommend starting with the firmware update. That way, if you run into issues, you'll know it's only software. The stock audio will still work. Choose one
of the following 3 options that matches your game.
1. SD card files for users with a stock XPin DMD
Download the standard v23 SD update files
Unzip and delete the DMD/PROP_023.BIN file
Download external DAC AV firmware for use with stock XPin display
Unzip and copy PROP_070.BIN to the DMD/ directory where PROP_023.BIN used to be
Format the SD card. Do NOT simply erase the files from it. Put the files on an SD card (SanDisk Extreme Pro highly recommended) per Spooky's instructions
2. SD card files for users with one of the Chroma-Color LCD displays I built
Download indexed SD update files
Download AV firmware for use with Chroma-Color Display
Unzip and copy PROP_088.BIN to the DMD/ directory
Format the SD card. Do NOT simply erase the files from it. Put the files on an SD card (SanDisk Extreme Pro highly recommended) per Spooky's instructions
3. SD card files for users with a Pin2DMD with v3.0 or greater firmware
Download indexed SD update files
Download AV firmware for use with PIN2DMD
Unzip and copy PROP_094.BIN to the DMD/ directory
Format the SD card. Do NOT simply erase the files from it. Put the files on an SD card (SanDisk Extreme Pro highly recommended) per Spooky's instructions
How to recover the AV firmware if you mess it up
1. Connect a mini-USB cable to the Propeller port. It's the one of the upper right section of the board.
2. Download and install the PropellerIDE.
3. Download the recovery project from my website.
4. From within PropellerIDE, open the project file, av_kernel_23.spin
5. Select the COM port that shows up when the mini-USB cable is plugged in.
6. Click on the Run button.
This should build the code, transfer it into the game's RAM, run the code, read the SD card, and update the Propeller EEPROM to the code that's on the card. If you are unable to get this to work, contact me. I have replacement EEPROM ICs that have a good AV firmware load on them.
Hardware modifications
What you'll need:
PCM5102 DAC board from Amazon or elsewhere
Adapter PCB or small gauge wire (26 - 22 AWG recommended) to connect the DAC to the AMH PCB
Wire to connect 5V (22 - 18 AWG recommended) to the adapter PCB
Optional connectors, etc.
Note that if you install this, the volume will be a good bit louder than before. I decreased the volume in my game's menu so I would have a bit more range on the amp's volume knob.
Jumper 4 must be set to the H position. Remove the solder blob connecting to L and add a blob to connect H.
The easier option here is to use the adapter PCB. I hope to get pictures of that soon. Optionally, you can connect wires from pins on the DAC board to these locations on the PinHeck board.
Connect 5V DC to the VIN pin of the DAC board, and ground to the GND pin.
Here are example images from another guy's installation.
That's it! You can now move the audio cable from the stock port to the one on the DAC and power up the game.