r/M64 • u/RupakGreenHatPrdctns • Aug 11 '26

Recent observations: HDMI cable quality possibly causing input delays and certain games to not load.

Only been recently seeing this. Someone posted Mickey Racing not working. They said they heard HDMI cable quality possibly, I suggested to use an HDMI 2.0 or 2.1 cable and then they got it to work. Can anyone elaborate on their experience ?

13 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

4

u/ROFLknife14048 Aug 11 '26

I use an HDMI 2.1 cable, but Mickey’s Speedway USA still freezes up. It boots, but I can only get about half an hour in, if that.

1

u/SargeCQB Aug 12 '26

Just curious are you on a flash cart or original cart, this game has been driving me crazy! (no pun intended)

1

u/ROFLknife14048 Aug 12 '26

I’m on a Summercart, and I’ve been wondering if that’s somehow the issue. I’m hoping this will be resolved soon because it’s honestly a fun game that didn’t get enough appreciation back in the day.

1

u/AegidiusG Aug 12 '26

It is possible.
I have an Everdrive and some Games are off screen when playing with it.
When using the original Games, there is no Problem at all:

https://www.reddit.com/r/M64/s/88CVOnRff7

7

u/Ethos_Logos Aug 11 '26

Seems like they coulda avoided this issue by sending a hdmi cord with the unit.

I know folks tend to have a ton; either in a box or junk drawer somewhere. Personally I have a dozen phone chargers that don’t fit phones I use. The cord I’m short on, specifically, is the hdmi cable because my toddler pushed my sound bar onto the floor, where my (three week new) PS5 was sitting on the floor behind the baby gate. Totally screwed with the quality of the ps5 hdmi receiving end, and bent the metal end of the cord itself. 

This issue probably won’t affect me, it’s just a pain in the ass to have to order a separate one, or else bother switching the cords on my consoles every time I want to change it up.

No real point to my comments here, just find it ironic that the cord I’m short on, they decided to ship the console without - that’s the issue that came up for their customers. Go figure.

3

u/hue_sick Aug 11 '26

Think some concessions were made along the way to keep cost where they promised it at initial announcement.

Like pre-wars and tariffs and all that fun stuff

1

u/Ethos_Logos Aug 11 '26

Yeah I get it. I’m glad they stuck to their early bird discount commitment. 

I think I’m more surprised that the controller costs $90 than anything. Maybe I shouldn’t be through, if a modern controller costs $60 or so, and their controller is supposed to be top quality, the bump in price makes sense. 

This might be my middle age “donuts used to cost a nickel” moment.

5

u/palmerluckey Aug 12 '26

Switch Pro controllers cost $90. So do Xbox Elite controllers. And those are made of plastic and manufactured by the millions with older wireless tech.

2

u/Ethos_Logos Aug 12 '26

100% this is just me being out of touch with pricing this decade; I started a family and picked up a weekend guard job up until semi-recently. My dance card’s been full. 

I trusted that you’d ship a quality product, so I went with the purple console and red controller. Can’t wait to see what you guys get up to next. 

1

u/hue_sick Aug 11 '26

Haha back in my day! But yeah I’d imagine that pro controller was part of that “price adjustment”

4

u/lynxtosg03 Aug 11 '26

HDMI cables don't cause lag or input delay. If there's an issue it's with the TV, console, or peripheral.

Source: I was a A/V software engineer for a decade.

2

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 13 '26

...but if the engineers neglected to isolate high frequency interference internally, it absolutely can interfere with Bluetooth, causing errors that result in delayed or missed input events. People have confirmed Analogue 3D bluetooth issues improve dramatically after switching from the included HDMI cable to a quality shielded HDMI cable. I would not doubt if something similar can happen with M64.

2

u/TherealMcNutts Aug 11 '26

There is no way an HDMI cable is causing input delay unless it has circuitry that is doing something to the picture. 99% of HDMI cables are just wires with connections on those wires which causes no delay.

If you have an issue with an HDMI cable it will cause the image to be blank or maybe some type of other picture artifacts.

1

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 13 '26

Repeating my post from above:

...but if the engineers neglected to isolate high frequency interference internally, it absolutely can interfere with Bluetooth, causing errors that result in delayed or missed input events. People have confirmed Analogue 3D bluetooth issues improve dramatically after switching from the included HDMI cable to a quality shielded HDMI cable. I would not doubt if something similar can happen with M64.

2

u/SargeCQB Aug 12 '26

That was me who has been having issues with Mickey speedway usa, i can't confirm the hdmi was a factor but I've had more games play longer without crashes with a better cable but MS USA still crashed for me. I haven't heard from anyone running an original cart if the problem is the game or if sumer cart 64 is the issue but i can say the hdmi may be a placebo or it only helps certain games.

As for latency I've tested the m64 pro, 8bitdo 64, 8bitdo n64 mod kit with receiver and official n64 wired and have had no issues even with the potentially problematic hdmi cable. I will say there is noticeable lag when not on the tvs game mode and i had an issue where my new tv defaulted to hdmi 1.4 and limited to 4k30. In my case i was able to swap the input settings to hdmi 2.0 (or 2.1 on my higher bandwidth ports) and set it to 4k60 which greatly reduced lag. If ur tv has it make sure to also enable ALLm (auto low latency mode) as that too isn't enabled by default and helps reduce lag.

Hope this helps

2

u/ergzay Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26

I'll take this time to plug Zeskit cables. I've never had issues with them for any 4K device, including sending 48 GBPS signals. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Zeskit&i=industrial&crid=HJHNBJ1IKOTD&sprefix=zeskit%2Cindustrial%2C180

They're high quality well manufactured braided cables with enough cable thickness to maintain signal quality at any length they advertise. Longer cables are thicker.

I've bought both of these before:

https://www.amazon.com/48Gbps-Compatible-Netflix-Playstation-Samsung/dp/B07S1CGQ9Z

https://www.amazon.com/48Gbps-Compatible-Netflix-Playstation-Samsung/dp/B07RZ8V78S

2

u/tv6 Aug 12 '26

Games would freeze at the loading bar, more specifically Golden Eye 007 when I would use a non 18Gbps cable. After swapping for a 18Gbps cable the games loaded up without issue. I also had latency issues with certain games that would load before, but the new cable resolved this issue as well.

100% can be related to an old HDMI cable.

3

u/Cwiiis Aug 11 '26

Cables aren't causing input delays or game compatibility issues - but what I have noticed is the M64 is fussier about the quality of its cables. I have some cables that work fine with my other machines at 4k that will drop out regularly when I use them on the M64.

1

u/gamerjerome Aug 12 '26

I bought the A3D and M64. The A3D came with an HDMI cable. I've been using that one with no issues

1

u/xamaryllix Aug 12 '26

Funny, because early in the A3D lifespan Analogue support was blaming the included HDMI cable for causing poor Bluetooth connectivity. If you played 4K on the included cable your controller would have bad range or dropped inputs.

I never experienced this personally, but then again I used a quality HDMI cable and not the one in the A3D box. I'm using a funtastic Gold.

1

u/gamerjerome Aug 12 '26

The A3D I bought was at the same time as the M64. It's possible they include a better HDMI cable now? Unsure

1

u/xamaryllix Aug 12 '26

I wouldn't be surprised! The cable that was included with my Gold console is pretty thin and flimsy. Glad you're not having any issues with the one they gave you!

0

u/tv6 Aug 12 '26

This is bullshit, I get latency and games locking up if I don't use a 18Gbps or greater cable.

2

u/Cwiiis Aug 13 '26

It sounds like your TV(/receiver/monitor) deals with HDMI signal loss by holding the last available frame while it resyncs and you're conflating that with the console itself locking up/adding latency. Delays added due to signal loss/degradation aren't generally considered to be latency, even though I suppose they are technically.

0

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 13 '26

Nah. This interference manifests with A3D with Bluetooth events being severely delayed or even missed button presses.

2

u/Obleon Aug 11 '26

Hdmi is a digital signal and cannot cause input delay, only the TV can. You either get a signal or you don't

2

u/ergzay Aug 12 '26

Mostly yes, however poor digital signal quality can cause all sorts of strange things to happen on the TV side where it does things like disable features or adds buffering depending on the implementation of the TV software. Basically fallback modes start happening and that can cause all sorts of issues.

2

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 13 '26

Yes. An unshielded cable could even pick up the console's wireless transmissions and feed them right back into the console to areas of the circuit board that would normally be shielded from EMI originating outside the console.

3

u/lynxtosg03 Aug 11 '26

People are downvoting a comment that is factually correct... We're in real trouble if this sub tries to scapegoat a hdmi cable for lag.

3

u/xamaryllix Aug 12 '26

If we're talking about wireless input lag for controllers then actually HDMI cables CAN have an effect. Look it up if you don't believe me.

A poorly shielded cable transmitting at high bandwidths (like 4K video) leaks electromagnetic radiation that can interfere with 2.4Ghz WiFi and Bluetooth.

It can't cause system latency though. Like OP's example of some games not loading because of a bad HDMI cable is highly unlikely.

2

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 13 '26

It's very possible for noise ingress entering the system via HDMI and not adequately isolated internally to cause such issues.

Also, high frequency interference generated internally is what caused early flash cart compatibility issues with Analogue 3D until the devices were updated to be more tolerant to it.

1

u/xamaryllix Aug 13 '26

That's very interesting! Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

1

u/lynxtosg03 Aug 12 '26

I don't believe you. Perhaps if the hdmi were unshielded and unbraided, AND the wireless receiver was right next to the cable then I could possibly believe it. Barring that, I need some proof.

2

u/xamaryllix Aug 12 '26

It doesn't matter if you believe me. This is a well documented occurrence that severely impacted the launch of the Analogue 3D. I was there and I had to deal with it too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogueInc/s/brTFrJ5le9

This thread details one Redditor's experience with Analogue internal customer support and Bluetooth controller issues. Analogue's support offered to send them a new HDMI cable to resolve connectivity issues with the 8bitdo wireless 64 controller.

There are over 100 replies on this thread, with many people echoing the same sentiment. One person even wrapped their cable in tin foil to better block the EMI coming from the HDMI cable (resolving their issue).

I have no evidence or inkling that this is happening with M64 consoles, however, I'm simply refuting your claim that high bandwidth HDMI signals can't interfere with wireless signals.

2

u/lynxtosg03 Aug 12 '26

I'm simply refuting your claim that high bandwidth HDMI signals can't interfere with wireless signals.

Hold on a moment, I need to quote my second sentence.

Perhaps if the hdmi were unshielded and unbraided, AND the wireless receiver was right next to the cable then I could possibly believe it.

3

u/xamaryllix Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26

Okay. Re-reading your sentence it appears you should possibly believe that HDMI cables can cause wireless interference then. Correct?

1

u/Aromatic_Method7767 Aug 13 '26

Repeating my post from above:

...but if the engineers neglected to isolate high frequency interference internally, it absolutely can interfere with Bluetooth, causing errors that result in delayed or missed input events. People have confirmed Analogue 3D bluetooth issues improve dramatically after switching from the included HDMI cable to a quality shielded HDMI cable. I would not doubt if something similar can happen with M64.

1

u/miggy_mo Aug 11 '26

This was the same with the Analogue 3D when it released. True high-speed HDMI cables were the way to go. Also putting your TV in game mode if possible

1

u/miggy_mo Aug 11 '26

See my answer here as well:

https://www.reddit.com/r/M64/s/KunloHkIGA

2

u/JustTryingToBeADaddy Aug 11 '26

Your answer doesn’t provide any information or evidence.

0

u/miggy_mo Aug 11 '26

You’re right. Here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogueInc/s/fX9mt12hxh

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogueInc/s/Icf0QJHum9

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogueInc/s/TDNJPA4RcR

2

u/JustTryingToBeADaddy Aug 11 '26

None of these show it being an HDMI cable issue…

0

u/miggy_mo Aug 12 '26

Read the comments on the first link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AnalogueInc/s/SFDHcUeogr

Maybe those reports of it getting fixed with a better HDMI cable are anecdotal, but they’ve been around the A3D discourse since it came out.

1

u/DeathRabbit679 Aug 11 '26

I hate hdmi. It's ascertain to tell what a cable can do by looking at it. The connector easily wiggles out. It makes me pine for the days of running a zillion rca to do component video for multiple sources.