I don't know if it needs thirded or not, but I finally got around to testing/playing with my launch AVS after installing the updated 72-pin connector a couple of weeks back and can confirm that after updating to 1.3b6, there's definitely a lot of random crackling/popping going on audio-wise. If I had to guess, I'd say it might be related to some sort of memory access? The reason I think this is that while it was kind of random during gameplay (real cartridges or Everdrive ROMs), it was constantly noticeable and had a bit of a pattern to it anytime I was working within the OS/menus of my Everdrive. It reminded me a lot of noise you can/could get from RF interference with powered speakers and cell phone traffic and, in the distant past, old MFM/RLL hard disk accessing. I'll have to load a copy of 1.3b5 and see if it goes away.
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Need Stadium Events + Panesian titles, 6-in-1's, Menace Beach, Moon Ranger & Secret Scout to complete my licensed/unlicensed sets.
If you've got any of the above for sale, hit me up!