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Konami 054986A chip by Caius

caius

caius

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THIS IS A REPRODUCTION PROJECT MADE BY @caius ALL INFORMATION HAS BEEN POSTED WITH HIS PERMISION. CREDIT AND MERIT GOES TO HIM.

Raise your hand those of you, arcade enthusiasts/colectors, who have never dealt with the Konami ‘054986A’ and ‘054544’ audio modules?I think none…

This little project needs no introduction and technical explanation, we have treated this topic many times during our repairs.I simply reproduced (be careful, not reverse-engineered!So my repro still need ICs of original, especially the ‘054321’ ASIC) my way both modules with same results of original parts.I hope this will be useful for preservation purposes of our PCBs.

Konami_repro_bare.jpg

Konami_054986A_repro.jpg

Konami_054544_repro.jpg


Here's testing on a G.I. Joe PCB :


Contact me in private if interested, I have some PCBs left.
 
THIS IS A REPRODUCTION PROJECT MADE BY @caius ALL INFORMATION HAS BEEN POSTED WITH HIS PERMISION. CREDIT AND MERIT GOES TO HIM.

Some update.I finally assembled a '054544' repro from mine and I have successfully tested it on an X-Men PCB .



In the next days I'll do the final testing on Xexex to see if my design is working fine on this PCB too.As many may know, Xexex uses a part of circuit of the module that is not used by X-Men (specifically the OP-AMP).
 

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So you did a complete replacement including the custom(?) DAC and op-amp?
That would be a first and extremly helpful.
 
caius said:
Some update.I finally assembled a '054544' repro from mine and I have successfully tested it on an X-Men PCB .



In the next days I'll do the final testing on Xexex to see if my design is working fine on this PCB too.As many may know, Xexex uses a part of circuit of the module that is not used by X-Men (specifically the OP-AMP).
Click to expand...
Yeah - great news! Congratulations caius!

I will wait for further information and I will gladly buy a ready repro(for my Xexex)
 
PascalP said:
If these ever go up for sale I would take one for my Xmen board :)
Click to expand...
They will go for sale, just matter of organizing myself.Anyway, I'll recommend to you all who need to replace a Konami audio module (with an original one or a repro) to use some sockets on PCB.Personally for my repro I use some 1.778mm female machined header:

s128_20150107155995.jpg


They perfectly match with the male ones installed on repro.
 
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pulstarx said:
So you did a complete replacement including the custom(?) DAC and op-amp?
That would be a first and extremly helpful.
Click to expand...
Yes.I reproduced both '054986A' and '054544' Konami audio module.Be careful, I'm saying "reproduced" so my devices still need the same parts of an original module.Specifically they are :

-'054321' ASIC - you must obviously take this IC from an original module and transplant it on my repros
-AD1868R 18-bit DAC - still in commerce but quite hard to find at decent price.
-OP-AMP - you can use also a more common LM358 instead of the original JRC 4558 although bandwith unity gain is not the same (lower on the first) but it equally works fine as you can hear from my videos

Obviously, the best would be to do reverse-engineering of the '054321' ASIC which is the core of the digital circuit of module, in this way we could think of a new design of the module not strictly related to original parts.I know someone is working on.Technically the '054321' ASIC provides interface between the 68000 main CPU and Z80 sound CPU.I think a decap would be also useful to figure out its functions.For sure it generates some vital signals like Z80 interrupt and others as well.

P.S.
Actually there is already a '054544' repro on the market but it works only on X-Men, this is because the designer omitted the OP-AMP circuitry on the repro.As I said, this part of circuit is not used on X-Men while Xexex needs it for proper sound output (you will hear nothing on Xexex using his repro).
 
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This is...... AWESOME! :D

Would definitely be interested in a few (think I have 2-3 boards), love the idea of the socket as well. Would it be an idea to buy them in bulk and add them to the kits you're going to sell? Any idea about the pricepoint yet? :)
 
Awesome work on these repros, will help save so many boards from the scrap piles :)

could do with some repro's of the Sega Customs from the Outrun and Afterburner boards when you have a spare 5 mins lol
 
Brettster said:
Awesome work on these repros, will help save so many boards from the scrap piles :)

could do with some repro's of the Sega Customs from the Outrun and Afterburner boards when you have a spare 5 mins lol
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Doing revese-engineering of a digital ASIC requires a totally different approach and way more efforts than reproducing a simple custom with all parts visible. :)
 
Sp33dFr34k said:
This is...... AWESOME! :D

Would definitely be interested in a few (think I have 2-3 boards), love the idea of the socket as well. Would it be an idea to buy them in bulk and add them to the kits you're going to sell? Any idea about the pricepoint yet? :)
Click to expand...
Adding the rounded female machined headers to the kit?Why not, good idea.About prices, nothing has been yet defined, first of all I need to understand the possible demand and eventually work out the distribution.
 
Nice work on all these repro chips. I'm probably going to need at least one of these for my Xmen. I'm in the middle of rewiring my cabinet and have the board out currently. The sound was working but also looks like it has either been repaired or more likely starting to fail as its not looking too pretty. So yep count me in for at least one.
 
Beautiful work. This is going to bring a ton of Konami boards back into use :D
 
Yes, they use the same '054321' ASIC.They are pretty the same, same design, same ICs, only slight differences due different analog sound circuit used on the arcade PCB hence they are not interchangeable each other.
 
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