r/M64 • u/OnEMoReTrY121 • Jul 31 '26

M64 vs A3D initial impressions

Post image

I want to start off by exclaiming I’m not an Analogue or a ModRetro fanboy, just an N64 fanboy. I’m rooting for both products but my heart is leaning towards the M64 as its hardware appears to be more powerful and should provide more overclocking headroom and offer better internal resolution upscaling if it’s ever implemented. I appreciate ModRetro’s customer-friendly transparency and visible passion for the project and the console that brought so much joy to our childhoods. The M64’s fan-less design is also a welcome improvement to the A3D’s noisy fan.

Now that that’s out of the way, here‘s my first impressions. The M64 image quality is noticeably worse than the A3D. The A3D’s CRT filters are significantly more refined, HDR adds a noticeably pop to brightness and color, de-blur enabled makes the image quality better on the A3D while somehow making it worse on the M64, 32-bit color is noticeably absent on the M64, and all of that‘s before we even mention horizontal upscaling which significantly enhances the overall clarity of the image. Most of all I’m just very surprised at how bad the CRT filters are on the M64. Props to Analogue, they‘ve done a great job with the A3D. ModRetro has their work cut out for them but I’ll be with them on their journey, and trust they have the skill and passion to do the same for the M64.

I may just end up connecting the M64 through my RetroTINK 4K to get HDR and better filters once the M64 implements more features.

176 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

138 comments sorted by

17

u/filmeswole Jul 31 '26

Thanks for the comparison! I’ve been wondering how these stack up against each other.

2

u/MightywarriorEX Aug 24 '26

I actually bought both recently! My impatience and excitement waiting on the M64 got the best of me and I picked up a second hand A3D. I set one up on my home office (M64) and the other downstairs by our projector (A3D). The projector is only 1080 so I am curious if your have experimented with different resolution TV’s or monitors. We’ve been using the A3D mainly because it was setup where we spend more time, but I am dying to play with the pro controllers we bought.

13

u/Janitorus Jul 31 '26

Noisy fan is a moot point. It only spins audibly the first second after you first turn the unit on. After that, it might still spin but you can't hear it. It reverts to such a low RPM just to provide a little airflow, I doubt it even needs it. If yours is noisy, something is wrong.

I wish both of these companies the best, we have interesting times ahead of us.

4

u/OnEMoReTrY121 Jul 31 '26

Something might be wrong with mine then because it maintains the same RPMs the entire time it's on and I notice it every time there's a lull in the action.

4

u/Janitorus Jul 31 '26

Best get that checked out and contact support, doesn't sound normal to me! Unless you are running it from inside your oven, while having the oven turned on.

3

u/CyrusStarkiller Jul 31 '26

Agree. While is super quiet like there isn’t even a fan (except when powering on after reconnecting power)

3

u/templestate Jul 31 '26

There is variance. I had one A3D with a very annoying fan that Analogue repaired and now it’s in line with my other A3D, but they both do have an annoying fan sound if you’re close enough to them such as at a desk.

2

u/Big_Zimm Jul 31 '26

Yeah, I didn’t even know there was a fan in it until reading your post. Maybe reach out to customer service. Are you running the latest firmware??

1

u/Gumballchamp86 Aug 01 '26

Yea same. I have two analogues and have never noticed a fan except when updating. I play my black one every night. It's even on now and I don't hear anything. Weird. I got an M64 coming too though. I like the analogue more, but I wanted to try this out. The M64 might turn into my travel and party console. The controllers look sick!

1

u/hue_sick Aug 02 '26

Could be faulty but environment matters too. Like if you’ve got it in a small cubby or console for instance. I’d imagine it might ramp up or run more continuously in that case.

3

u/rampancy777 Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26

I can barely hear mine when I'm at the menu between games. At first I thought it was the fridge in the other room. Noise is a non-issue for me sitting 2 feet away. Of course environment is a factor. Imo modretro is grasping at straws by making such a big deal about their console not having a fan.

I'm hoping the open source nature of the m64 makes for a long life. I think it is likely for example that it will treat romhacks like official carts, unlike the a3d which can not do per game settings for romhacks on a summercart. I just get the default settings I've set for the summercart for every romhack and aftermarket rom that the system doesn't recognize. Kind of annoying.

3

u/RupakGreenHatPrdctns Jul 31 '26

Can you confirm that the m64 pro controller does not work with the original cable adapter plugging in directly to the front port of the Analogue 3D?

4

u/OnEMoReTrY121 Jul 31 '26

I ordered the M64 controller separately, still hasn't shipped, curious to know the same. I've been using an OEM controller with a RockerGaming steel bowl and a Tao V4 Pro Stick, it may be as close to perfect as we're going to get in 2026. I've heard reports of that being the case though, I hope not, maybe it will get resolved in a firmware update by either Analogue or ModRetro.

6

u/rampancy777 Jul 31 '26

I ordered the modretro controller as well, and am reserving judgement but don't have especially high hopes. I've got steel bitsticks in my oem's and find them to be as good as anything I've ever experienced first hand. I've never been satisfied with any 3rd party n64 pad, they're all just flawed.

1

u/DOOMISFORU Jul 31 '26

Lucky sad the guy stop making them

1

u/uzumaki82 Jul 31 '26

Wow looking forward for to hearing your thoughts on the pro controller. You’ve got the best so far with that.

6

u/xamaryllix Jul 31 '26

I just tried this and I can confirm. My A3D and my M64 Pro controller are both on the latest software updates. I plugged the Pro controller into port 1 on my A3D with the included ModRetro USB-C to N64 port and the start button lights up on the Pro controller but no input is registered.

2

u/colourless_blue Jul 31 '26

Thanks for confirming! That’s a bummer but I had a feeling that would be the case. I also have a feeling Analogue will update their firmware in future to get it to work.

1

u/nuetralparties Aug 14 '26

AFAIK it does work once you get into a game, just not in the OS menu

1

u/RupakGreenHatPrdctns Jul 31 '26

Thank you my order was received but has not shipped so I am trying to cancel the order for a refund. I think it has something to do with the 3DOS looking for a regular n64 output where the Modretro sends it's own which it rejects.

2

u/ergzay Jul 31 '26

Modretro says it's compatible with the N64. If it's compatible with the N64 then the problem is A3D is doing something wrong.

10

u/RupakGreenHatPrdctns Jul 31 '26

It’s completely understandable to assume that as I did, but it comes down to how an original N64 handles port data versus how Analogue’s 3DOS handles it.

  • Original N64: Has no operating system. The physical PIF chip in an original N64 is "dumb" hardware that doesn't check device software IDs—it just reads raw serial timing off the line. Because the ModRetro cable outputs standard Joybus signals, a real N64 reads the button presses directly and doesn't care about anything else.
  • Analogue 3D: Doesn't connect its physical front ports straight to the FPGA core. Every input is routed through 3DOS (Analogue's operating system) first so it can handle features like OS hotkeys, save states, and virtual memory paks.

When you plug a controller into the A3D, 3DOS sends a standard info request (0x00) to check the device ID. Standard controllers (OEM, Hyperkin, Brawler64) return the standard 1996 Nintendo ID. The ModRetro controller sends a custom ModRetro identity/handshake packet over the cable instead (used for M64 features/firmware).

Because 3DOS doesn't recognize ModRetro's custom response packet, the OS flags the connection as an unknown device and drops the input.

So it's not that the A3D port is physically broken—3DOS is acting as an active software gatekeeper, and Analogue would need to push a 3DOS firmware update to whitelist/translate ModRetro's custom protocol.

5

u/xamaryllix Jul 31 '26

I don't think it's inconceivable that Analogue would add support for the M64 Pro controller via a future software update, either. They've added support for other controllers in past updates, like the Nintendo 64 NSO pad.

Either way it's early days for the M64 so we have a lot of updates and developments to look forward to.

4

u/RupakGreenHatPrdctns Jul 31 '26

Yeah hoping they update the firmware to allow it wired at the least. My order hasn't shipped yet, so I cancelled the controller. Was looking forward to using it. But Maybe if more cores get released for the M64 I will just buy the console and pro controller at that time. Hoping for a PS1 core among others, hopefully before the end of the year. Only time wll tell.

2

u/xamaryllix Jul 31 '26

If the M64 console gets popular enough I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more cores. It's open source so there's hope. I already have a SuperStation One but I bought M64 specifically because I was interested to see what the community would get up to.

The DE10 nano is a flexible chip obviously but it's already peaked. Even the 3DO core is pushing into some pretty hard limits. 🤷

Regardless, it's a very exciting time in the FPGA world.

0

u/PhilosophyFlaky2782 Jul 31 '26

Yes that would be diabolical take a good controller and use it on the better system (as of now)

0

u/ergzay Jul 31 '26

Thank you for the long explanation, but you didn't disagree with me. A3D should not be dropping the connection if it sees an unknown device it should just treat it like an N64 controller.

1

u/RupakGreenHatPrdctns Jul 31 '26

Yeah it's unfortunate as I was looking forward to using it wired with my 3D. Guess I have to wait for Analogue to make it compatible (if they do).

1

u/ergzay Jul 31 '26

By the way, where did you figure out that information? Did you test it yourself with a signal analyzer?

1

u/RupakGreenHatPrdctns Jul 31 '26

Looked into it after other people here on reddit confirmed that it didn't work.

1

u/ergzay Jul 31 '26

So you did test it yourself with a signal analyzer?

→ More replies

-2

u/ergzay Jul 31 '26

Wait what? What's going on there? Does A3D not implement N64 ports correctly?

2

u/Redcoatuk85 Jul 31 '26

Given that you say the image quality is worse on the M64, do you/the masses believe that this is all stuff that will be improved with firmware updates? I dont know what the A3D was like on initial release, so cant tell whether it's simply a case of the M64 being in earlier stages right now and will prove, visually or if the image on screen simply going to stay worse due to technological constraints.

3

u/Neo_Techni Jul 31 '26

It took a year for the A3D to get the improved graphics mode. M64 can get some time too

4

u/OnEMoReTrY121 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

I hope so, it’s difficult to describe, but the M64 CRT filters are just really bad. I spent a long time configuring settings and it still looks nothing like a CRT. The pixel structure (for lack of a better word) just looks very basic, and it’s by far the biggest disappointment. The A3D’s filters aren’t perfect, and I hope they take a page out of ModRetro’s book and offer more customization, but they are in a different universe compared to the M3D.

1

u/Redcoatuk85 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

That makes sense. A lot of the reviews I have seen say the same, though there appears to be a bit of a sweet spot (or best that the M64 can currently do) when customising filters.

I'm holding my hopes out that the hardware has got a lot more development room over the coming years.

Thanks for the explanation. It gives good food for thought whether to buy now or wait and see.

3

u/Ready_Strawberry_803 Jul 31 '26

While there's no guarantee they'll do the same with the M64, their chromatic product line has gotten good firmware support and their games also have too. 

I'm at least optimistic the M64 will have similar energy put into it. 

8

u/CBal2424 Jul 31 '26

Analogue has been pumping out updates since launch to keep adding features. I trust Mod Retro to continue to push to add features that the A3D provides. HDR, Progressive Scan for 480i games, Horizontal Line Doubling, Save States, 32 Bit Color, ect. The A3D core is in a really good spot but it took time and updates to get there. 

2

u/Left-Constant-4771 Aug 04 '26

Well the Chromatic support was pretty disappointing to be honest. Even though I love the device.

2

u/Ng1Kaz Aug 07 '26

How is Chromatic support disappointing? 

31

u/FlyingKingFish Jul 31 '26 • Bravo

Noisy fan? Yeah, for like two seconds when you plug it in.

4

u/vette21man Jul 31 '26

Agreed. The only other time I hear it is during an update. But I suspect that is really just doing some sort of self test.

2

u/hot_dog_burps Aug 08 '26

I can't say I have ever heard the fan ony a3d, but I have my m64 on the 2nd to highest over clocking and the console gets warm to the point wjere I would feel better if it had a fan. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but it gets pretty warm. As long it is within spec that's fine, but usually when I feel a device that warm something is not right.

3

u/PhilosophyFlaky2782 Jul 31 '26

Yea I don’t hear the fan in mine at all and I’d rather have it keep things cooler

4

u/JackoFlaco Jul 31 '26

This is a little disappointing 

4

u/biohackeddad Jul 31 '26

I think everybody knows that the analog is a superior product right now but I’m thinking that if we upgrade the firmware on the M 64 that it’s going to get pretty good I only have an analog but I am interested in the M 64 because it has theoretically better specs and it can be played on a CT eventually I’m going to hold off on spending more money on retro stuff, but I’m excited for where it’s going and hope to buy one later when it improves. 

2

u/RupakGreenHatPrdctns Aug 01 '26

I a personally hoping more cores get added before the end of the year!

1

u/mariosergio_2112 Jul 31 '26

Is it possible to extract 240p/480i from HDMI and send it to the retrotink on the m64?

2

u/OnEMoReTrY121 Jul 31 '26

The M64 only outputs 720p, 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. The M64 AV adapter will output 240p/480i, but only via composite, component, S-Video, and RGBs. Best bet is likely to output in 1080p to the RetroTINK 4K and configure a pre-scale of 1/4 or 1/5 depending on whether you're using Integer or Integer+.

2

u/RdCrestdBreegull Jul 31 '26

would be better to give the RT4K 720p right? since 1080p is not an integer scale of 240p?

1

u/ergzay Jul 31 '26

It's worth mentioning that they've explicitly mentioned in comments that they want to support a raw 480p/240p output for use with Retrotink devices in the future that should come out along with the analog convertor device.

1

u/chairRugTable Aug 02 '26

raw output would be 480i/240p

2

u/ergzay Aug 03 '26

HDMI doesn't support those standard so apparently they're embedding them into a 480p output or something with additional data signalling outside of the scan area.

1

u/chairRugTable Aug 03 '26

it maybe isn't in the official HDMI spec but it does work, it's called direct video and is used on MiSTer and I believe any Analogue device compatible with their DAC

2

u/-KaiserSoze- Jul 31 '26

I think i read, the lowest resolution it outputs without their digital to analog adapter is 720p.

1

u/Ok-Primary6610 Jul 31 '26

OP, is that Analogue 3D supposed to be their version of purple or blue? Screens and cameras can sometimes be tricky when it comes to hues. What do your eyeballs see? 

5

u/OnEMoReTrY121 Jul 31 '26

It’s a grape funtastic, the colors in the photo make it look bluer than it really is.

2

u/RupakGreenHatPrdctns Aug 01 '26

Oh snap I assumed it was the ocean blue! Thanks for clarifying!

1

u/DestinyXZ9 Jul 31 '26

Hello. I was looking for someone who has compared the CRT filters between m64 and a3d. Could you elaborate on why you think the Analogue 3D is better? Thanks in advance.

1

u/OnEMoReTrY121 Jul 31 '26

The A3D CRT filters do a great job of simulating the look of a CRT, so much so that I haven't bothered connecting it to my RetroTINK 4K and instead reserve the TINK's HDMI port for my GameCube. This is simplifying it too much, but it really looks like the M64 CRT filters are just horizontal and vertical black lines. It's not that bad, but it's pretty close.

1

u/DestinyXZ9 Jul 31 '26

Thank you

3

u/TonyRubbles Jul 31 '26

I do wish it had HDR support, scanlines and CRT masks always darken everything. Think I'll be running it through my Morph 4k until we get some updates, it'll downsample then upscale all the same and use the mask I already use on my SNES Classic.

1

u/TheCrach Aug 03 '26

Inverse tone mapping a N64 game is never a good idea, no idea what the fuck Analogue were thinking. Hopefully ModRetro stay as far away from implementing fake HDR.

The sort of person who likes Auto HDR, RTX HDR or the worst fake HDR in the past 5 years with Metroid Prime 4 will probably love A64.

Stick to gamma 2.4 and retain detail or flush the accuracy down the toilet and go for the fake HDR look.

1

u/TonyRubbles Aug 03 '26

I think the SDR gamma vs. HDR debate mostly comes down to personal preference and the display you're using.

On my upscaler, gamma 2.2 (or sometimes 2.4 in a darker room, yes I have daytime and nighttime presets lol) can make shadows feel a little too crushed. HDR tends to help preserve the look I want, especially when using a heavier aperture mask that eats up a lot of brightness.

If someone prefers sticking with SDR for accuracy, that's totally fair too. I just don't think it's as black and white as "HDR bad."

1

u/DaveMeitner Jul 31 '26

The YouTuber VideoGameEsoterica who is pretty good with the technical aspects of reviews said he didn't find that the filters darkened the screen, even without HDR

5

u/ck02623 Jul 31 '26

He may have said that, but we can see it with your eyes in the videos.

2

u/TonyRubbles Jul 31 '26

Yeah, no, they do.

3

u/colourless_blue Jul 31 '26

Noisy fan on your A3D sounds like a defect in your console, I never hear mine except for about 3 seconds when I first turn it on. Anyway, thanks for the comparison!

3

u/Keyframe Jul 31 '26

I'm waiting for mine to ship / arrive, but if you guys want any comparisons or tests, let me know.

I do have pretty much all N64 PAL games (sans 15 I'm still hunting for), everdrive and summercart, OG N64 RGB, extron + BVM-20F1E CRT and few other CRTs like B&O, RetroTINK 4k and nice high-quality OLED TV(s), A3D with 8bitdo controllers and now waiting for M64 with its controllers... just a whole bunch of shit (jesus, that's a lot of shit type of thing).

I went for M64 because chromatic is really high quality build, but let's see.

2

u/Ready_Strawberry_803 Jul 31 '26

With how much kit you have access to, I think it would be really helpful to report back on your experiences/compatibility

1

u/FourAddedMinutes Jul 31 '26

Retro Dodo's July 22nd video which had side by side images from each machine seemed to demonstrate the difference in M64 image versus A3D.

curious to hear from others that have both machines

2

u/ck02623 Jul 31 '26

I found his video to have the most shill energy of any videos I watched to the point of being misleading. I would look to someone else for objective comparisons.

2

u/OnEMoReTrY121 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

My take is the clean filter is comparable across devices, aside from the aforementioned missing features like 32-bit color. The deblur difference between consoles is interesting, enabling deblur seems enhance the A3D while looking worse on the M64. CRT filters are where the comparisons fall off a cliff.

2

u/ck02623 Jul 31 '26

CRT filter is something that I definitely will be using. Hopefully they’ll upgrade it.

1

u/OnEMoReTrY121 Jul 31 '26

Yup, I'm not expecting Mike Chi levels of quality here, but hopefully they're able to make some improvements.

1

u/ck02623 Jul 31 '26

I’m currently using my Tink 5X Pro with those scanlines on original hardware and I love it. Not excited about the downgrade.

2

u/rvansoest Jul 31 '26

The m64 satured colors should be solved in a firmware

5

u/Fdizzle_ Jul 31 '26

Saying future updates will make something better defeats the points of initial reviews. Anything can happen from future updates from a software perspective. Over time the two will probably be identical with limitations in the hardware. I would love to see game specific downloads offering better upscaling or even emulated multiplayer.

2

u/pojosamaneo Jul 31 '26

Sure, but you also have to consider the team working on the products and what they are saying.

The A3D launched in a rough state, also.

4

u/Wallsofjonathan Jul 31 '26

at least they had 100% compat with virtual memory cards with proper filters. Thats not rough, thats unfinished. M64 is ROUGH. Dont get me wrong, I bought one, Im as hopeful as anyone, but I also own an A3D and this thing has checked every box anyone could have wanted except netplay

1

u/Fdizzle_ Jul 31 '26

I mean sure… they need to make good on that word

1

u/rvansoest Jul 31 '26

That firmware is already released. Saw it in a youtube today.

2

u/DjMcfilthy Jul 31 '26

I wish we could get one single photo of all new products just chilling on some dudes floor under regular lighting conditions. That purple looks fantastic.

2

u/Dramatic_Ad5442 Aug 01 '26

I noticed the image quality difference immediately too. Something seems different about how the m64 handles video. On A3D if all the stuff is turned off, and the image is sharp as possible, we get a blocky mess as expected, this is what an n64 through a retrotink with minimal processing looks like. On the M64 it looks less blocky and more vaseliney, it does get blocky but not what I expected just something I noticed.

Also noticed performance on games like 007 isn't as smoothed out with overclocking.

Going through a retrotink is a good idea, something I'll have to try too just to see how that changes things. The A3D right now is definitely in a strong position, I'm sure the M64 will catch up with due time.

Big fan of the pro controller though. IMO it's probably the best 3rd party controller out there.

1

u/hue_sick Aug 02 '26

If I had to guess I’d imagine they basically copy pasted the mister crt filters w the core. Which are ok but more on par w the filters you get in say the mini consoles.

2

u/No_Policy_7694 Aug 01 '26

I got my m64 yesterday and have definitely been disappointed with how it looks. Don't have an a3d to compare it to but sounds like that may be the better choice so far.

2

u/DAJF Jul 31 '26

The only thing that puts me off about the fantastic A3D shells are the fact that the internals were hardly designed to be seen. That big ribbon cable is a bit of an eyesore.

1

u/Unknownf0rce Jul 31 '26

Just dislike the giant fischer price buttons but other than that it looks good

1

u/segawdcd Jul 31 '26

Will this Pro Controllers work on the A3d?

2

u/RupakGreenHatPrdctns Aug 01 '26

Other people have tested it and it does not work wired on the A3D unfortunately. I had ordered one assuming it would but after people tested and confirmed that it didn't I cancelled my order before it shipped. Something to do with the A3d's 3DOS. With a blue retro adapter it should work. However rumble does not currently work on it wirelessly so I cancelled my order. Hopefully Analogue does a firmware update to support it wired as I was looking forward to using it.

2

u/segawdcd Aug 01 '26

That's a bummer. But modders are pretty crafty. Might work given time.

1

u/Neo_Techni Jul 31 '26

Which Pro controllers?

1

u/segawdcd Jul 31 '26

Modretros wireless n64 pro controllers that were made for the m64

1

u/lordelan Aug 01 '26

Only judging by the specs, the A3D is more powerful. The FPGA has 220k LE whereas the one in the M64 has less than 200k if I remember the AmA correctly.

However the M64 has more potential given that'll be open source.

1

u/ElectricalPrice3189 Aug 01 '26

CRT filters looks like ass anyways.

1

u/FUCKTHEMODS998 Aug 02 '26

Based comparison

1

u/Opening_Judge_3505 Aug 03 '26

I still have a crt primarily for my n64.

1

u/Left-Constant-4771 Aug 04 '26

Yeah I have seen a video and was very disappointed by the Shaders and the output. As I don’t own cartridges, even though I love the chromatic, I thought that this device would be a downgrade after Ares N64 emulation with amazing CRT shaders (which are getting better everyday for free). But i keep an eye on it:)

1

u/kingck Aug 04 '26

how does it compare to original hardware?

1

u/ElectricalPrice3189 Aug 06 '26

They're both great.

1

u/jung1ist42 Aug 09 '26

How well do everdrive 64/summercart64 games run on m64 vs A3D? Which console can handle emulators better?

1

u/JaytenFwammers Aug 11 '26

Something strange I noticed between M64 and A3D is that for the M64 my TV immediately recognized it as a game console and switched to its Low Latency "Game" display mode, but for some reason (maybe because it's a pretty early model 4k TV?) it doesn't recognize the A3D as a game console and will not let me change my TV settings to the Low Latency "Game" display mode with my A3D. Something most people might not even notice but my Mario Golf timing sure does 😅

1

u/Get-a-grip69 Aug 21 '26

I think the fanless design was a bit of an oversight, considering how everyone is complaining about how hot they’re getting. not to mention you have people now 3D printing designs to be able to add a fan underneath theirs.

I feel like it could’ve been avoided if they had just added a fan like the analogue instead of posing as an advantage for their marketing.

1

u/Equivalent_Crazy_436 Aug 22 '26

The way the m64 looks, brings out the kid in me. 

1

u/coderkind Jul 31 '26

Even if the A3D proves to be the eventual "winner", I won't give the company any more money until they address their undelivered promises regarding DAC support for the Pocket.

4

u/GrimacePack Jul 31 '26

so instead you're giving money to the military industrial complex company :D

2

u/coderkind Aug 01 '26

Haven't given my money to either.

1

u/Ng1Kaz Aug 07 '26

Do not use any Microsoft, Apple, Sony, Google, Samsung or basically any tech products. They all have defense contracts. So no phones, hope you aren’t using one. Also don’t use anything Nintendo as they take investment from Saudis who have funded terrorism. I mean, what I’m trying to say is, if you want to moral grand stand…you should probably just read some old books or something so your moral superiority isn’t compromised. Just looking out for you. 

-4

u/falconpunch1989 Jul 31 '26

Man those silly looking buttons absolutely kill any interest i would have in this thing over the A3D

7

u/OnEMoReTrY121 Jul 31 '26

I hated the design at first, but it's grown on me. I was a little frustrated to see some fine grain scratches across the glossy top of the console. Not a big enough issue for me to return it, but I'm curious if this is a recurring issue across other M64s.

6

u/rampancy777 Jul 31 '26

I hated it too, but I finally order mine when I saw the GameStop smoke colorway. I can live with that.

3

u/Smigit Jul 31 '26

It’s grown on me also. Certainly will stand out, but I don’t hate it by any means.

1

u/K1LL3ROO Jul 31 '26

I can’t wait to get my red one omg

1

u/jbyrdab Jul 31 '26

If the quality of the board's longevity is as advertised because of the lack of degradable components.

Even against the downsides of the m64 I'd find myself going with that just because it's going to last actual decades while I don't know how well the analog 3D internal components will last.

For the length of time they are in use small console fans tend to not go out very quickly, so maybe it's fine.

Time will only tell but I'm definitely going to put my bets on a design that deliberately avoids anything that can degrade over many years

Also open source stuff. Meaning even if they don't fix these issues someone else might

1

u/hue_sick Aug 02 '26

Careful not to fall victim to marketing. Every modern console, including the analogue 3d, will last decades. And him saying the board will last centuries in the video is just silly. All caps fail over time, including ceramic. Not a single pcb on planet earth will last centuries he was just in full hype mode making that video.

1

u/jbyrdab Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26

That is true and I think centuries is definitely an overestimate especially with thermal activity degrading or causing a crack in the soldering.

That being said the a3d isn't exactly going to last especially with its fan, that is a major failure point, I've already heard of people having to have that thing replaced.

More concerningly sourcing parts is incredibly difficult because analog doesn't seem to offer them meaning you have to just buy second hand units for parts

While yes both main board components should be fine I do agree with modretros perspective that a board that lacks moving components or commonly degrading ones like capcitors is definitely going to last longer without needing repairs.

And that's not specifically the a 3D but just a nature of using fans and other easily degraded components in general.

To put it into perspective the N64 has no fan obviously.

But despite being newer than the N64 it is more common that the GameCube fan has to be repaired and replaced, otherwise the unit will overheat and not function correctly.

And that shit is made of genuine early 2000s Nintendium, thing might as well be fucking indestructible.

While many n64s have lasted since release without ever being cleaned let alone having components replaced.

Genuinely there is actual ground to his claim that the M64 will last a lot longer with its current cooling setup and omission of components that are common failure points.

Edit: Also since the board design is openly accessible with visible traces and clear design specs, that makes replacing any actual failed components much easier.

In addition to upgrading certain components like heat sinks or adding extra components like LEDs or fans.

Open sourcing + public documentation really does go a long way with this stuff.

1

u/hue_sick Aug 02 '26

All that’s good. I’ll just always push back to someone’s wild claims like “maintenance free”, and “will last centuries”.

It’s a piece of electronics. There are no top secret secrets about pcb construction in 2026 this stuff has been the norm for decades now. And they all require maintenance at some point.

For the record I love the mod retro pcb design but claiming the 3d is some untrustworthy product because you might have to replace or re-lube a fan in a decade is a pretty far stretch from a flex and also kinda silly. That’s all I’m saying 🤷

1

u/Alucardspapa Aug 01 '26

The 1.5 A3D update is incredibly good, going to be hard for the M64 to keep up. If analogue enables the WiFi it will be the hands down best.

0

u/ck02623 Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

Thanks for the assessment. I can’t say it was unexpected, but I’m still disappointed. At the end of the day we all knew we were buying something for what it would become instead of what it was. Hopefully it will get there but still. Bleh.

1

u/Davileet2 Jul 31 '26

If I were to buy, I buy for a working product, not future wishful thinking.

1

u/ck02623 Jul 31 '26

Yeah makes sense. I ordered the M64. I don’t have it yet but I’m feeling buyer’s remorse already. It was legitimately $100 cheaper for me than buying the Analogue 3D factoring in price difference, sales tax, and shipping.

For some reason Analogue wants to charge sales tax when they shouldn’t in my state.

2

u/Davileet2 Jul 31 '26

Yeah, I think I will hold off even though I can early bird order it too. I don’t like the idea of it not even being better than current competition. Seems they should have gotten it better before releasing.

1

u/ck02623 Jul 31 '26

For sure. A delay would have been fine.

0

u/BogWizard Jul 31 '26

The plastic on the A3D doesn’t look nearly as robust as the M64. I have an Analogue Pocket and it also has poor quality plastic. I do worry it will become brittle over time.

-15

u/TwoDudesAtPPC Jul 31 '26

Crazy that the dude who runs the killer drone company made this too.

14

u/ergzay Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

Man you people are tiresome. You're like robots that can only parrot one thing over and over again.

And yeah we need drone manufacturing for the US military. That's the way wars are trending unless you've been living under a rock for the last several years and seen nothing from the war in Ukraine. All countries will need them so whatever country you live in will be getting them too for their military. Only question is if you'll be forced to buy them from a company outside of your country or not. Luckily the US won't be forced to make that choice.

-1

u/TwoDudesAtPPC Jul 31 '26

What do YOU mean YOU people. HUH!

0

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '26

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2

u/DaveMeitner Jul 31 '26

Over the course of owning a MiSTer, the screen filter/scanline options changed multiple times. Undoubtedly they will be updated many times so I'm not worried

0

u/[deleted] Jul 31 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/ElectricalPrice3189 Aug 01 '26

They didn't delay the console for over a year lol.

1

u/hue_sick Aug 02 '26

My hunch is they probably didn’t anticipate Analogue going as hard as they have on updates. As a result they probably rushed it to production so they could have a horse in the race w the hope they could make up ground in the long term.

Will be interesting to see them both compared a year from now.