SNES cable question

NESfiendNESfiend
in Gamer's Gauntlet
Bought a used SNES and it came with AV cables. Randomly, my father in law came to visit and brought a bunch of old gaming stuff he found in his basement moving. He gave me another SNES, but this one has an RF unit instead of AV cables. Which cable did SNES come with originally, or were there multiple releases that came with different cables? Does anyone have an opinion on which leads to better picture, performance, etc?

Comments

  • TheFinderTheFinder
    I have the original SNES that my grandmother owned back in the day, and it always had an RF unit. It does have a place to use AV cables, though. However, my dad found a SNES mini at the storage place he runs, and that only had the AV cable input. I cannot really compare the picture quality or performance because I've always just used the RF unit. It's looked and sounded great to me.
  • tildiustildius
    I think they initially came with RF, but eventually switched to AV as it became more common.
  • austin532austin532
    I'm pretty sure all models came with both RF and Composite. Composite is better than RF but don't expect miracles. If you want a super sharp, crisp, and clean image like an emulator than you will have to go down the RGB rabbit hole.
  • zredgemzzredgemz
    still have my super from 1993 came with only a RF cable.
  • NostalgicMachineNostalgicMachine
    RF was definitely the out-of-box set up. I remember friends routing it through VCRs due to the old TV set ups.



    It wasn't until the N64 came out that we realized the SNES was even capable of "that new plug", lol.
  • Rookie1Rookie1
    My super had RF my N64 had AV and I had to buy the RF for it.
  • AirVillainAirVillain
    I remember when we finally started using A/V cables for the NES I felt like a genius. That wasn't until Highschool, though. SNES always used RF, until after Highschool... The the "magical" cord that fits in SNES/N64/Gamecube.... and toploader???



    RF is a pain in the ass, and I always remember it being crappier than the A/V.
  • scottmogscottmog
    I used RF until around 93 or so. I know it had to have been around the release of megaman x or secret of mana. I remember always screwing that stupid thing into the TV every time I went to my grandmas house. What a hassle!
  • NESfiendNESfiend
    Originally posted by: Rookie1



    My super had RF my N64 had AV and I had to buy the RF for it.

    Why did you buy the RF for your 64? Is there a reason you prefer RF to AV? 



     
  • zredgemzzredgemz
    Originally posted by: NESfiend

     
    Originally posted by: Rookie1



    My super had RF my N64 had AV and I had to buy the RF for it.

    Why did you buy the RF for your 64? Is there a reason you prefer RF to AV? 



     



    More likely his tv did not have AV input, CRT's last a long time no point upgrading back then unless your tv repair guy could not fix it. I still own my great grandmother's tv that was given to me after she passed away in 1992, it still works great after this long but i tend not to use it much anymore since i have a 32 inch CRT.

    Today we live in a throw away society with tv's that would be lucky to last ten years or more without issues and tv repair guys are almost nonexistent.

     
  • Rookie1Rookie1
    Originally posted by: zredgemz

     
    Originally posted by: NESfiend

     
    Originally posted by: Rookie1



    My super had RF my N64 had AV and I had to buy the RF for it.

    Why did you buy the RF for your 64? Is there a reason you prefer RF to AV? 



     



    More likely his tv did not have AV input, CRT's last a long time no point upgrading back then unless your tv repair guy could not fix it. I still own my great grandmother's tv that was given to me after she passed away in 1992, it still works great after this long but i tend not to use it much anymore since i have a 32 inch CRT.

    Today we live in a throw away society with tv's that would be lucky to last ten years or more without issues and tv repair guys are almost nonexistent.

     





    This ^. My chidhood TV didnt have any AV connections. It wasnt until I was like 18 or 19 that I had a TV with AV connectors on it.
  • GandlinGandlin
    I used RF on my model 1 HDG Sega Genesis until 2013-2014! lol Needless to say, I appreciate standard A/V with audio coming from the headphone jack now. I never played SNES with RF, only Genesis and NES. I'm curious how much the RGB mod improves N64 over s-video. It seems like a lot of money and work to mod to RGB for just a minor upgrade. Everything is better than RF though!
  • Silent HillSilent Hill

    Originally posted by: Mad Martigan



    I used RF on my model 1 HDG Sega Genesis until 2013-2014! lol Needless to say, I appreciate standard A/V with audio coming from the headphone jack now. I never played SNES with RF, only Genesis and NES. I'm curious how much the RGB mod improves N64 over s-video. It seems like a lot of money and work to mod to RGB for just a minor upgrade. Everything is better than RF though!

    I personally wouldn't pay for an RGB mod on the N64. S-Video looks good enough. 




  • GandlinGandlin

    Originally posted by: Silent Hill




    Originally posted by: Mad Martigan



    I used RF on my model 1 HDG Sega Genesis until 2013-2014! lol Needless to say, I appreciate standard A/V with audio coming from the headphone jack now. I never played SNES with RF, only Genesis and NES. I'm curious how much the RGB mod improves N64 over s-video. It seems like a lot of money and work to mod to RGB for just a minor upgrade. Everything is better than RF though!

    I personally wouldn't pay for an RGB mod on the N64. S-Video looks good enough. 



     



    I agree! I'm never going to get my N64 carts to look like some of the 3DS remasters. S-video remains true to the original output with just a minor improvement that's enough for me.


  • JandremJandrem
    We had two SNESes(mine and my brother's) and they came with both RF cable and composite. I specifically remember being able to use the RF to hook it up to our tv, and using the audio part of the composite to run to the stereo system. Our systems were from shortly after the console released (christmas '91 or '92) and included Super Mario World. 
  • teh lurvteh lurv
    My SNES came with only RF output and I always figured as a kid my NES/SNES could only output in RF. Not that it mattered anyways, the CRT I used didn't even have a co-axial input, much less composite. I had to daisy chain my NES/SNES RF boxes to an old atari RF box with the antenna pickforks that screwed into the TV.
  • LincolnLincoln
    I bought the original model core set- console, 1 controller, no game- and it came with the rf adapter only.
  • pegboypegboy
    I always used RF up until about 2010 lol.
  • Webhead123Webhead123
    When I got my SNES that first winter, it was packed with RF only. That's what I used until I discovered otherwise in the late 90's.



    In my youth, I knew nothing about the significance of the different types of video output and how they can affect the quality of the image. For someone looking for the penny tour on retro video output from lowest quality to highest:



    RF < Composite/RCA < S-Video/Super VHS < Component < RGB



    Of course, the reality is a little more complicated but, the best output quality of the SNES for the casual person will be via the Composite/AV cables. S-Video or Component quality is possible without modding the system as long as you get custom cables and a few extra components. If you want full RGB from a model 1 SNES, you'll need custom cables and an RGB monitor.



    My current set up is a CRT TV with custom Scart cables to a Component transcoder. The resulting picture is really stunning. I'm noticing graphical details in games (especially in backgrounds and whatnot) that I'd never noticed before, simply because standard RF signal is so dark and fuzzy by comparison. Once you've seen the difference in-person, you can't un-see it and it's hard to go back.
Sign In or Register to comment.