[non-emulated jazz music]
Greetings and welcome to an LGR Thing all about the MiSTer Multisystem, an exciting
hardware expansion kit for users of the MiSTer Project.
It’s more than just a swanky 3D printed case, the main draw of the Multisystem is
a professionally-built PCB that adds a ton of functionality and quality of life improvements
to the main MiSTer experience.
So instead of having to purchase several add-on boards, adapters, and modules for the DE10-Nano,
now you can simply grab a Multisystem and a memory card,
and you’ve got a highly expanded MiSTer machine.
And in case you’re unaware, the MiSTer is an open source project for reproducing the
functionality of classic computers, game consoles, and arcade machines.
It relies on the Terasic DE10-Nano, a popular development board built around Intel’s Cyclone
V system-on-chip, with a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU
and a field-programmable gate array, or FPGA.
And it’s that FPGA that really sets this apart compared to other emulation options.
Heh, assuming you’re down with calling what the MiSTer does “emulation,” and that’s
almost a philosophical question depending on who you ask.
It’s more like hardware replication, or at least that’s the goal.
FPGAs don’t have a fixed architecture, and this allows them to be reprogrammed
on the fly to do whatever you like.
Which in this case, the MiSTer uses custom cores to simulate the functionality of old
hardware without traditional software emulation.
This means less processing overhead, along with the potential for higher accuracy and
lower input latency, as it’s simulating each hardware component in parallel.
If that doesn’t make sense don’t worry about it, cuz all you need to know is that
the MiSTer is currently one of the best options for playing old games on a small device
as accurately as possible.
[Donkey Kong Country gameplay plays]
And that brings us back to the Multisystem here, which makes it easier than ever to jump
in and experience the best that the MiSTer project has to offer.
It’s designed and manufactured in the United Kingdom by Heber Limited, in collaboration
with The Retro Group, aka RMC - The Cave on YouTube.
Huge thanks to Richard and Neil from the aforementioned outfits
for hooking me up with this complete Multisystem for review.
They haven’t paid me for this video,
nor have they given me any stipulations on what to say.
They simply sent it over so I could share my thoughts.
So let’s begin with my thoughts on the MiSTer itself!
My experience with the project is rather limited at this point, but I’ve monkeyed with MiSTer
enough to know that figuring which add-ons you do and don’t need
can be a bit of a hurdle for newcomers.
And even after you get all the basics installed, it’s still a bit of a fiddly setup
once you get it all on there.
Like a USB hub for controllers and peripherals, an I/O board for VGA video, shortcut buttons
and LEDs and stuff, and a memory module that’s required to run the cores for certain systems.
Now, you can buy all these and assemble your own setup,
like I did using the MiSTer Addons website.
And it works great!
But you still end up with an electronic component sandwich that needs multiple cables and dongles
plugged in on all sides for full functionality.
However, with the Multisystem board and a power supply,
all you need is a DE10-Nano and a MicroSD card.
And that’s it!
You end up with a consolized, convenient point of entry to the MiSTer ecosystem.
Or if you’re like me, it’s just a tidier setup than I had before
and I love the way it looks.
Especially with the 3D printed case they’ve made available,
with mine featuring this one-off LGR Edition woodgrain.
That’s real wood veneer too, not some shoddy vinyl sticker.
Mm, a delectable Atari-inspired look.
Let’s call it the MiSTer 2600, or no, how about the Video Computer Multisystem?
Ooh I like that.
So yeah, let’s take a closer look at this thing!
Starting with the case itself, which can be purchased alongside the Multisystem in several
colors, or you can 3D print your own since they’ve made the design available for free.
There are a few different designs available for the top and backplate, determining where
you want your external RGB SCART connection, or if you want one at all.
I opted to go without since I’ll be using VGA, component, and HDMI,
though they included one of the other backplates too.
This one has a hole in the middle so you can open up a SCART cable, string it through,
and connect it to the port inside the case.
I also like that this version of the case top features a mounting spot for an SSD, so
you don’t have to rely exclusively on MicroSD cards.
And each case comes standard with a whisper quiet 40mm fan for ventilation.
Which apparently does a really good job combined with the case design,
according to the testing by Richard and Neil.
There’s also a little bag of screws, buttons, standoffs,
and more for mounting the Multisystem itself.
Which is packed in its own separate box, alongside an HDMI coupler and two little USB and ethernet
cables for hooking up to the DE10-Nano.
And yeah, check this thing out.
What a fantastically put-together piece of kit this is, all neatly laid-out
and lookin’ gorgeous at 170mm square.
And with so many ports!
HDMI, VGA, and RGB SCART.
Audio out through 3.5mm jacks, digital optical out,
and even audio input for loading software from tape.
A powered 7-port USB hub, with five ports on front and two around back.
A dedicated Serial Native Accessory Converter, or SNAC port,
for controller adapters, including lightguns.
A power switch, three status LEDs, and three shortcut buttons on the front right corner
for controlling the MiSTer.
A removable 128MB SDRAM module preinstalled for the cores that need them.
Dedicated switches and jumpers for SNAC voltages, sync on green, aspect ratio and more.
An HDMI isolation bank to quickly bypass potential display issues.
And even a special add-on slot for modular upgrades and enhancements, so in the future
you can add things like an MT32-Pi, JAMMA harness, SNAC modules and more.
Truly well thought out stuff here, the attention to detail and consideration for different
hardware both present and future is impressive.
As is the documentation, which currently is only available as a PDF but is chock full
of setup and troubleshooting information, detailed photographs, and useful tips that
make building the Multisystem a breeze.
And with that, let’s get down to business and put this all together!
So in terms of building the Multisystem, it’s a fairly straightforward process.
The first part involves hooking up those little cables for USB and ethernet so that the ports
are passed through to the ports around back.
Then you plop down the DE10-Nano with heatsink installed to the middle of the board, being
careful to connect all the rows of pins on either side.
Takes a bit of pressure to get it all firmly in place but it’s no biggie.
A slight bit of weirdness is this HDMI coupler, which connects the DE10 to the main board.
Mine was ever so slightly off, so I just had to squeeze the two boards together a tad and
it connected fine after that.
Next you kind of balance these blue and yellow buttons on the front of the case
by tilting it forward.
Then you can slide the whole thing into place with the backplate removed, going right up
to those two buttons.
The backplate then goes in at an angle, firmly holding it in place.
Then the fan can be connected to the appropriate header for the voltage,
with both 3.3 and 5-volt options.
Then yeah, just screw in the Multisystem with four screws and that’s that.
The last part is the reset button, which has a little 3D printed stand that just kinda
plops down on the PCB and the button slots in on top of that.
With the top of the case holding everything in place after that.
Pay attention to that dark yellow thermal fuse, as it can easily bend and might prevent
the top of the case from fully closing.
There are two more screws that go into the exhaust fan on the right-hand side.
And then four more screws that go in the bottom of the case to pull the four corners together.
Lastly, they included these four clear rubber bumpers for the feet, but eh, we can do better.
A dark black system deserves dark black bumpers I think,
so I grabbed four of those and slapped ‘em in place on the corners.
The final piece of the puzzle is the cover piece for the expansion area up front,
and there we go!
Our MiSTer Video Computer Multisystem is complete and looking steller.
The black and woodgrain finish is excellent,
and the placement of all the ports makes a lotta sense to me.
There’s even a handy little spot for the MicroSD card on the top right, with an indentation
cut out that makes inserting and removing media a little easier, without it being too
easy to accidentally pull out the card.
The main three buttons all have a satisfying click to them as well
due to the tactile switches inside.
[buttons clicking]
About the only thing I’d swap out is the power switch,
I’m not a fan of this little slider.
It’s a minor gripe but I’d much prefer a nice clicky rocker switch instead.
[power slider sliding, rocker switch clicking]
And with that, it’s finally time to plug in a display with some speakers, a keyboard
and a controller, and systematically test the MiSTer Multisystem with multiple systems.
[MiSTer quietly powers on]
[monitor speakers pop to life]
-Ayyy! Nice.
Nice indeed, everything worked perfectly fine right out the gate.
All the buttons, the ports, outputs, sound and video.
All awesome stuff functioning as it should.
And it’s a seamless enough upgrade that I didn’t have to do any reconfiguring of
the MiSTer software itself, I’m just using the same MicroSD card from before.
The initial setup procedure is outside the scope of this LGR episode anyway, and there
are tons of excellent videos walking through the entire process
if you’re looking for that.
But I will say it’s straightforward stuff if you’ve ever installed RetroPie or similar
Linux-based emulation frontends.
The main difference of course is that the MiSTer doesn’t rely on bog standard emulation
software, and instead reweaves the FPGA fabric on the spot with individual cores.
Each system is a separate core with unique settings, files, and folders, that when loaded,
puts the MiSTer into a mode dedicated to replicating the selected system.
Each core still needs ROMs and other files for things like BIOS images, games, and programs.
So you can either find those yourself and drop them onto the card manually, or run a
script like “update_all” and have the machine itself
retrieve a good chunk of things online.
And that’s the jist of it!
At this point the MiSTer is ready to run dozens of computers and consoles,
and hundreds of arcade games with minimal extra effort.
The main thing to address are all the input and video options for each core, and what
needs adjusting depends on what you're running and what’s plugged in.
You’ll always need a USB keyboard to configure the initial options, but after that you’re
free to experiment with controllers, since a majority of devices
are compatible with the proper adapter.
I don’t have any of those tasty SNACs yet, but I do have a number of USB converters for
classic controllers, and so far each one I’ve used works well.
As for displays, I play on a CRT through VGA or component every chance I get, although
the MiSTer does famously well using a modern display that has decent response times.
With the right settings to reduce latency and pixel shimmer,
you can get highly pleasing results through HDMI.
And even without fancy SNAC adapters and using standard USB gamepads, the best cores provide
a measurable bump up in playability compared to devices like the Raspberry Pi.
Much as I enjoy all that that system can do for the price, the MiSTer’s reduction in
lag helps each game feel more authentic if you’re used to the original systems.
The ‘Mine Cart Carnage’ level in Donkey Kong Country is one of my go-tos for evaluating
response time, and yeah, I’ve had zero issues playing through the MiSTer, whereas I have
some trouble on a typical Pi setup.
An unscientific test, but it tells me what I need to know!
Perhaps response time doesn’t seem like the most important thing to you, but the difference
really is notable when comparing side-by-side.
Of course, the overall results you get are only as good as the core you’re using, and
there are a number of incomplete, immature cores
that don’t quite live up to their full potential yet.
Luckily, the MiSTer community are a buncha workaholics and something’s being updated
or introduced practically every day.
Most of the MiSTer’s capabilities pertain to 8 and 16-bit machines, which I’d wager
is partially a limitation of the number of logic elements in the Cyclone V.
But even 32-bit systems are beginning to see progress, with Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation
cores in the works at my current time of existing.
And computers, ho-ho man, there’s a smorgasbord of classic computers on offer.
And most of the big hitters I’ve tried work great, as you might expect seeing as the Mi
and ST of the original MiST project stood for Amiga and Atari ST, respectively.
So those cores in particular are quite mature
and play outstandingly well with all the software I’ve tried.
One where I’m left wanting though is the AO486 core,
which aims to mimic a 90MHz 486 DOS PC with 256 megs of RAM.
As you’d expect, I was psyched to see that it existed,
and I’ve had a lotta fun with it!
But while what’s here is entirely functional, a lot needs to be added or improved to begin
to compete with emulation options, it's just not there yet.
And I’m not a fan of how it handles upscaling, the slightly wonky setup process and VHD usage,
or how it performs with certain early 3D games.
That being said it’s still in active development and I’ll absolutely be keeping an eye on
it as it improves, because DOS is awesome to have in FPGA form at all.
The arcade cores were the other huge draw for me, since I’m a sucker for arcade-ing
at home with original PCBs and cabinets,
and I’ve used MAME so long I was ready to try new things.
And I am truly impressed by how well some of my favorites are represented, like the
Finalizer: Super Transformation core, as only one example.
I’ve got the arcade PCB I play on my JAMMA Supergun setup, and lemme tell ya.
The work that’s been replicating the game here, most importantly the sound, is commendable.
It’s one where the MAME implementation has been imperfect for years, so I love having
such an accurate version preserved for posterity like this.
[Finalizer gameplay plays]
Let’s wrap things up with some final thoughts on the Multisystem kit itself, because dude.
This thing is a treat.
It just sits there, running all cool and quiet, and basically blends into the background while
I enjoy the crap outta some good old games.
When a machine works smoothly and integrates seamlessly enough
that you forget it’s even there?
Yeah, that’s a solid system.
Other than its subjectively unsatisfying power switch,
there really isn’t much I’d wanna change.
Having more on-board analog video options would be cool I guess, like S-Video and composite.
And needing to plug in my own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters is a slight annoyance,
but eh, it’s fine.
Dongles are cheap and easy to come by, and they’ll be simple to upgrade down the line
if and when standards change.
But even as-is, the Multisystem takes the MiSTer to another level
in terms of a complete bundle.
It feels like a more fully-realized, console-like machine now,
and somehow that makes it even more enjoyable to use.
Plus it has all those nifty upgrade options with the modular expansion slot and SNAC ports
and things, so it should only get better.
I’d look into grabbing one if you’re in the market for an expanded MiSTer, or you’re
interested in beefing up your existing setup like I was.
The first batch of 500 that began shipping in November 2021 sold out quickly, but there
is a second batch of a thousand being produced.
Currently, a Multisystem board on its own costs just shy of 200 US dollars before tax,
and about $275 with a case, power brick, and video cables.
The folks behind it even provide a generous two year warranty, so yep.
I feel confident recommending this one,
and it’s easily earned a permanent spot under my TV.
[Galaga plays over downtempo beats]
And if you found something useful or entertaining here, then sweet!
I bet you'll dig some of my other videos too.
And feel free to stick around for new videos here on LGR.
As always, thanks for watching.