Hey everyone. So I've been looking around the web, and decided to take the plunge and mod my GBA. Before I go all in, I thought it would be best to reach out to the community,and see what they think, and how they feel about specific mods, especially with multiple choices for them.
First off, there's the display mod. IMO the most noticable mod you can make. As far as I'm tracking, there's 3 screens to upgrade to:
- AGS-101 if you prefer the more retro look, and want to be as close to original as can be. Also, better battery life.
- IPS for a higher resolution, warmer and more vibrant display, with faster response time (not a big factor for me). I've heard that there is some ghosting at times, but I also heard Funny Playing IPS v2 fixed some, if not all those problems. Not certain how reliable that is.
- ITA, the relatively new mod of slapping the bottom screen of a NDSi into the case. I don't know much about this, or how it compares, so I don't know in what way it would be better. Considering it's coming from the NDSi, I imagine it's similar to the AGS-101, but more updated.
Personally, I'm going with the IPS v2, but let me know what your thoughts are, and why.
Secondly, speaker mod. There's a few out there, and I don't know what's objectively better, and I hope someone out there can help me understand them. What I know of so far are the following:
- Retro Modding's Audio Amplifier v1.2 with their 1W speaker. Unsure the quality here, but I'm guessing it's not an issue.
- RetroSix's CleanAmp Pro and their 1W speaker
- Helder's GBA Flex Amp and their 2W speaker.
Personally, I chose to go with Helder's flex amp, because it a couple other things as well.
Finally, there's cleaning up the power. Since there is more power being used from the screen and speaker mods, I already know there will be more electrical noise coming from the console. The two that I know of are:
- RetroSix's Dehum & Dehiss kit
- Helder's Capacitor Kit & Power Cleaner
I also decided to go with Helder's kit here.
If there's any other options I forgot, it any other recommended mods I do, please let me know!
First off, there's the display mod. IMO the most noticable mod you can make. As far as I'm tracking, there's 3 screens to upgrade to:
- AGS-101 if you prefer the more retro look, and want to be as close to original as can be. Also, better battery life.
- IPS for a higher resolution, warmer and more vibrant display, with faster response time (not a big factor for me). I've heard that there is some ghosting at times, but I also heard Funny Playing IPS v2 fixed some, if not all those problems. Not certain how reliable that is.
- ITA, the relatively new mod of slapping the bottom screen of a NDSi into the case. I don't know much about this, or how it compares, so I don't know in what way it would be better. Considering it's coming from the NDSi, I imagine it's similar to the AGS-101, but more updated.
Personally, I'm going with the IPS v2, but let me know what your thoughts are, and why.
Secondly, speaker mod. There's a few out there, and I don't know what's objectively better, and I hope someone out there can help me understand them. What I know of so far are the following:
- Retro Modding's Audio Amplifier v1.2 with their 1W speaker. Unsure the quality here, but I'm guessing it's not an issue.
- RetroSix's CleanAmp Pro and their 1W speaker
- Helder's GBA Flex Amp and their 2W speaker.
Personally, I chose to go with Helder's flex amp, because it a couple other things as well.
Finally, there's cleaning up the power. Since there is more power being used from the screen and speaker mods, I already know there will be more electrical noise coming from the console. The two that I know of are:
- RetroSix's Dehum & Dehiss kit
- Helder's Capacitor Kit & Power Cleaner
I also decided to go with Helder's kit here.
If there's any other options I forgot, it any other recommended mods I do, please let me know!