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DSB Clone (Digital Sound Board SEGA)

Rom1

Rom1

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This is a replacement board for the SEGA Digital Sound Boards 1 and 2 used on several SEGA arcade games.
More infos & downloads here: https://github.com/Rolel/DSBClone

Historical background: the original boards
The SEGA Digital Sound Boards 1 and 2 are dedicated to playing music (the BGMs) on several SEGA games. The music is stored in maskroms specific to each game. It is a card separate from the main stack of the game, sometimes located in its own cage.
They bear the following references: 837-10084 DIGITAL AUDIO BD SEGA 1993, 171-6614B PC BD, Sticker: 837-12941and 837-12273 DIGITAL SOUND BD 2 SEGA 1995, 171-7165D PC BD, Sticker: 837-12273-92, Sticker: 837-13376.

These original cards are not very reliable and become difficult to find at a reasonable price.
They were used on the following games:
First version (DSB1):
  • Daytona USA
  • Desert Tank
  • Manx TT Deluxe
  • Scud Race / Super GT (Model 3 Step 1.5)
  • Sega Rally Deluxe
  • Sega Touring Cars (Model 2C CRX)
  • Star Wars Arcade (Model 1)
  • Virtua Cop
  • Virtua Fighter
  • Virtua Racing
  • Wing Wars
Please note that Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Wing War & Star Wars Arcade use DSB1 with an addon board in charge of playing sounds. The DSBclone doesn't handle this. As a result I suggest you avoid clone for such games.
Also, as DSB1 command set is conflicting with some DSB2 games, I disabled DSB1 support in latest releases. You cna still enable support from sources, or use an older release.


Second version (DSB2):
  • Daytona 2
  • Lost World Special
  • Sega Rally 2
  • Spikeout
  • Spikeout FE
  • Star Wars Trilogy
  • Top Skater


The DSBclone
The DSB Clone, a clone of DSB 1 and 2 solves this problem.
IMG-20210605-000305.jpg


The main features:
  • Playback of MP3 and WAV files stored on a microSD card
  • Plug'n'Play: no modification of the wiring
  • Track listing can be modified simply by renumbering the files
  • Output volume identical to the original DSB
  • Reprogrammable firmware: based on an Arduino
  • 24-bit DAC, DR 90dB, SNR 85 dB
  • Protection by fuse and polarizers on the connectors
  • 2 audio outputs with "JST SEGA" connector

In comparison with the original card:
  • There is a slight latency (a few milliseconds) when starting the music. This can be understood if you pay attention with a twin that contains a DSB Sega and a DSB Clone. We can play on the MP3 to reset everything, or simply put two clones.
  • The sound quality is much better: high quality MP3 / WAV replace the original 112kbits MPEG2.
  • Possibility to customize the game's BGMs.
  • Doesn't support addon board for Daytona USA, Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Wing War & Star Wars Arcade. As a result I suggest you avoid clone for such games.
    DSB1 support is disabled by default in code.


Installation
1 / Prepare the SD card.
Any microSD card will do: between 60 and 150MB of space is sufficient. If you have an old 128 or 256MB card that's fine.

The audio files are to be placed in the "MP3" directory located at the root. Each file is preceded by 4 digits corresponding to the track number.
Bonus: the "1000_xxx.mp3" file is automatically read when the card is started. A cool way to have a jingle, music on hold, etc. Personally I put the "SEGAAAA" jingle :)
dsb-scud.jpg
dsb-sr2.jpg


Several packs corresponding to the most common games are available. Here are those currently available:



2 / Connect
It's plug'n'play without modifying the wiring: 3 to 4 sockets to connect and it's good.
- the black 10 pin socket for the power supply
- the 6-pin white socket for MIDI
- the white 5-pin socket (s) for the audio outputs

DSB3.jpg

DSB2.jpg

IMG-20210306-164208.jpg




Get it
This is a manual production in (very) small series. You can send me PM here.
The package contains the assembled PCB, MP3 / WAV daughter board, already programmed arduino and 4 PCB feet. In other words, all that is missing is the SD card on which to place the sounds.
  • 1 card + USB cable: 95 €
  • 2 cards + USB cable: 180 €
  • 4 cards + USB cable: 350 €


Updating the board

Everything regarding the board can be found here: https://github.com/Rolel/DSBClone
The update procedure is here.
 
Last edited:
Hi
I would like 2 of these for my Sega Rally 2 twin please.
would it be possible for you to also do the sounds for me on SD cards
as that bit sounds a bit complex for me.
thankyou..
Garry.....
williamsg1330@gmail.com
 
Hi, The sounds for Sega Rally2 are ok.
I can share you the sound package => you just have to copy it on a SD card.
I can also provide a SD card pre-filled.
 
This is awesome and powered by arduino none the less, love it.
 
This is very cool! I was excited for this because I have a very rare game that uses a DSB2....

you're missing it on your list Sega Flash Beats. I've actually dumped it and it's in MAME now (though not playable): https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/drivers/flashbeats.cpp
more info/pictures here: https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/sega-flash-beats-restoration.7141/

The problem is, this is a rhythm game, so any sort of delay in the music would likely make it unplayable.

This game has a "training" mode with voice instructions in Japanese, one of the things I've wanted to do is somehow isolate and extract that track, re-record it in English and re-program it back on the DSB 2.
 
Out of curiosity what is the cause of the latency? Is it a result of the arduino not being 'fast' enough?
 
It's related to the MP3 player having a short loading time.
About rythm game, it could be easy to compensate by shortening beginning of the track. Some of the track have huge blank at the beginning.
 
Unfortunately no.
Tested many setup with wav, bitrates, etc. The code is optimized so play command is sent as soon as possible.

Better sd card too, it doesn't change this much.

For racing/fighting game there is no noticeable difference as it's only bgm.
 
Last edited:
I'm interested! Now, I just need to find the Daytona USA sountrack, lol
 
Rom1 said:
Unfortunately no.
Tested many setup with wav, bitrates, etc. The code is optimized so play command is sent as soon as possible.

Better sd card too, it doesn't change this much.

For racing/fighting game there is no noticeable difference as it's only bgm.
Click to expand...
What if you ported the code to an ESP12 or ESP32? by comparison they make an arduino look like a potato in terms of clock speed (would that reduce the delay?) although I realise they are have other subtle differences and limitations. You may of already considered that so apologies if i'm trying to teach you to suck eggs, you did make this thing after all!
 
Arduino is not the bottleneck, but MP3 decoder. Decoding on ESP32 make the whole thing more complicated and costly, without any guarantee of speedup.
Of course this short delay is something we would like to avoid but by the end when you plug everything in the cab you won't notice it. That's why it was considered as an acceptable flaw.

PS: every proposal and ideas are welcome !
 
Rom1 said:
Arduino is not the bottleneck, but MP3 decoder. Decoding on ESP32 make the whole thing more complicated and costly, without any guarantee of speedup.

Of course this short delay is something we would like to avoid but by the end when you plug everything in the cab you won't notice it. That's why it was considered as an acceptable flaw.
Click to expand...
Yeah fair enough mate. Was worth an ask as it may of been the make or break difference for some people.

I guess like you suggested above is the best compromise, trim the track length to compensate for the delay.
 
Now, what's the delay in time? a few miliseconds or 2+ seconds?
 
Hackcell said:
Now, what's the delay in time? a few miliseconds or 2+ seconds?
Click to expand...
a few milliseconds, tbh I would actually be surprised if you could even pick up on that
Rom1 said:
In comparison with the original card:
  • There is a slight latency (a few milliseconds) when starting the music. This can be understood if you pay attention with a twin that contains a DSB Sega and a DSB Clone. We can play on the MP3 to reset everything, or simply put two clones.
Click to expand...
 
Hackcell said:
so is not that bad at all!
Click to expand...
Oh not all this is awesome, as getting replacement sound boards is $$$$ I was interested from a technical standpoint if using an ESP over an arduino made any difference as I know when doing some things the arduino can slow to a crawl.
 
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