MiSTer Pre-build

[Blastmaster]

Looking to buy a MiSTer pre-build which has the most up-to-date add on boards etc. Would the Pre-build here be as good as it gets at the moment ?

https://ultimatemister.com/product/ulti ... -blisster/

Ultimate MiSTer PRO BlisSter Edition

€369,90 (excl. VAT)

– Official MiSTer I/O Board XL 6.1
– Official Memory Module XS-D 128MB SDRAM (NeoGeo, System 16 and CPS compatible)
– Low Latency BlisSter rev.2 Hub Board with flash firmware (check bottom)
– Official MiSTer Hub Bridge
– Official ADC Board for Audio In / Tape Input
– Wakefield-Vette Heatsink
– Official Stormtrooper Case – BlisSter Edition
– TerasIC DE10-nano (Cyclone® V SoC)
– SD Card Starter Pack (Latest firmware and all cores installed)

Premium Noctua Fan included
Real Time Clock included


I`ve dabbled with retro gaming on an old i5 mini desktop using Batocera running MAME etc. I`ve noticed some Arcade games like Pac-Man/Mr Do/Burger Time/Dig Dug all suffer bad latency. and are terrible to play Obviously it`s said MiSter doesn`t suffer these issues (why I`m here). Is it the case that these latency issues are totally gone or is the power of MiSTer slighlty exaggerated ?

[thorias]

This is the one I just acquired a few days ago, it works perfect, no issue at all.
I'm using it with the more beefy Meanwell 4A 5VDC Power Supply, external 8TB SSD, 8bitDO M30 wired and all runs perfect, I'm amazed by the HDMI picture quality, sound quality fidelity of the systems and almost if NONE lag in games. For example I was just playing F-zero on the SNES on my Mister, one of my favourite games, and well the instant you push/it reacts on screen is insane and makes the game to play on how it should and was in my old memories...
I was amazed to rediscover some games with the Mister.

If you are looking for a very good quality, plug&play solution, you won't be disapointed with it...

I'm also going to get a Mister MT-32pi to complete my setup.

But I advise you to browse this board and also read the wiki to understand the Mister and to set it up at your taste.

Feel free to ask questions if I can help you regarding it.

[softtest9]

There is latency from multiple sources to account for:

-The game device (Arcade, console, MiSTer, PC)
-Controller
-Your display
-The game itself (some games have several frames of input lag on real hardware)

Ideally, all of these should be as low as possible for a good gaming experience. If one of these is lacking, the latency may or may not be noticeable. The more lag that is in your overall setup, the more likely that you will notice it.

You did say that _some_ Arcade games suffer from bad latency. This might be a sign that it's the game itself that is the main issue in this case, rather than your emulation setup.

In my opinion, the MiSTer is overall a very worthy purchase for latency and consistent performance, but it won't necessarily make a very laggy game not feel laggy at all.

[grizzly]

-The game device (Arcade, console, MiSTer, PC)
-Controller
-Your display
-The game itself (some games have several frames of input lag on real hardware)

-Your brain!
Everyone doesn´t have the same brain lag

[killersquirel]

The ultimatemister.com is a great website and I fully endorse them. You can't go wrong there.

[FoxbatStargazer]

For most cores Mister itself has the same latency as original hardware, and that's not just for video but also for keeping the audio perfectly in sync, where virtually all emulators lag in sound a bit. Sometimes people go on and on about accuracy but really I think this perfect timing aspect is the most notable magic of FPGA that helps recapture the genuine "feel" of playing the real thing.

Not sure Blisster is a great idea because the cores for that are forked, so you can't use the official/main updater. With 1 ms polling a fast USB controller (or converter for original controllers) is basically indistinguishable from something like blisster or SNAC. I would only look at those solutions for special controllers (lightguns, etc.) and at that, try to use SNAC if you can, due to official support.

[FPGA64]

I would say that Ultimate Mister is a reliable place to buy from. I would also say you dont want a Blisster. Its not officially supported by the Mister Project and so as the author above says you would need the forked cores. if you want Lightguns etx go for Snac and for all other controllers a USB Daemonbite adaptor and the original controller on fast polling is virtually impossible to tell apart from a Snac/ Blisster

[bazza_12]

...... external 8TB SSD...

how big??? lolol

[thorias]

...... external 8TB SSD...

how big??? lolol

I know it's a bit overkill for now but with ExFAT space fade quickly... But still have a bunch of free space left for future...
It's also self powered by the Mister and I'm using a slim enclosure which make the whole setup nice.

[lamarax]

If I had the money to spare, I'd go with the blisSTer. Not only is it an exquisite product even if just treated as a standard USB board (with the added bonus of an embedded power switch and surge protection for the whole MiSTer), but it also allows for LLAPI.

Now, there's a popular misconception about what LLAPI actually is and does; first, it isn't a "competitor" to fast polling USB:-

LLAPI.png (94.91 KiB) Viewed 14154 times

...as you see, it's on par with SNAC, albeit with an ARM processing overhead (hence LL in the name for low latency and not 0LAPI or ZLAPI ).

-second, it allows for cross-use of any OEM controller with any core, according to your vices (Granted, this "+" is also true for the deamonbite adapters).

-and third, it's firmware supported, meaning that if an incompatibility is found, it can be remedied (looking at you PCE controllers)

[aberu]

Personally, Daemonbite is the way to go for the controllers it supports, especially for arcade encoder setups. This is only if you are an absolute purist on the latency though. If you were, then you'd also get something like an LG C1 or use a CRT only for gaming, since that is going to be one of your other big impacts.

The only reason to go with SNAC is for things like lightgun which require basically the original timings (and a CRT) to function.

Daemonbite's average input latency is 0.74ms, so there's nothing to worry about there. The only reason I didn't get BlissTer was because of the fact that it requires a different set of cores which are maintained on their own. Not saying it's bad, just something to consider.

This isn't knocking any other options, it's just my personal feelings on the matter.

[lamarax]

Agreed, I'm just suggesting that if one is willing to spend the extra dough, a blisSTer will be preferable to the bog standard USB board.

Having additional options never hurts

PS: I'm using an iBuffalo pad (less lag compared to Deamonbite) just to navigate the menus LOL, SNAC for the consoles which support it, 'cause I happen to have *many* OG controllers, and a Brook UFB equiped stick (check the results in Porkchop's spreadsheet) for the arcade cores which I'm mostly fond of and perusing

[grizzly]

Blisster do need the LLAPI cores for using the LLAPI mode yes.
BUT using a normal mister core then the USB ports on the blisster works the same way as with LLAPI cores, as in just like the official usb hub.
And also when using normal mister cores the HDMI ports (that is the LLAPI ports) works too but without LLAPI it do works as just as a usb port then.

So is LLAPI cores a requirement?
NO.
But they do add the LLAPI mode.

[thorias]

Looking to buy a MiSTer pre-build which has the most up-to-date add on boards etc. Would the Pre-build here be as good as it gets at the moment ?

https://ultimatemister.com/product/ulti ... -blisster/

Ultimate MiSTer PRO BlisSter Edition

€369,90 (excl. VAT)

– Official MiSTer I/O Board XL 6.1
– Official Memory Module XS-D 128MB SDRAM (NeoGeo, System 16 and CPS compatible)
– Low Latency BlisSter rev.2 Hub Board with flash firmware (check bottom)
– Official MiSTer Hub Bridge
– Official ADC Board for Audio In / Tape Input
– Wakefield-Vette Heatsink
– Official Stormtrooper Case – BlisSter Edition
– TerasIC DE10-nano (Cyclone® V SoC)
– SD Card Starter Pack (Latest firmware and all cores installed)

Premium Noctua Fan included
Real Time Clock included


I`ve dabbled with retro gaming on an old i5 mini desktop using Batocera running MAME etc. I`ve noticed some Arcade games like Pac-Man/Mr Do/Burger Time/Dig Dug all suffer bad latency. and are terrible to play Obviously it`s said MiSter doesn`t suffer these issues (why I`m here). Is it the case that these latency issues are totally gone or is the power of MiSTer slighlty exaggerated ?

To come back to your initial question, go ahead, you won't be disapointed by ultimatemister (I have no affiliation with them, just to share my personal experience with the unit I've bought from them) systems they sell, and neither by the Mister itself, and for sure, if you're a fan/enthusiast of retrogaming looking for THE ultimate retrogaming thing (accuracy, gfx, sound, behavior, etc...), then again you won't be disapointed!

[Blastmaster]

Blisster do need the LLAPI cores for using the LLAPI mode yes.
BUT using a normal mister core then the USB ports on the blisster works the same way as with LLAPI cores, as in just like the official usb hub.
And also when using normal mister cores the HDMI ports (that is the LLAPI ports) works too but without LLAPI it do works as just as a usb port then.

So is LLAPI cores a requirement?
NO.
But they do add the LLAPI mode.

So I`m clear Blister can run the same as a standard USB hub option ? And if you want to use it as Blister Hub, then this requires modified cores ?

I guess the next question being, is it easy to switch between Blister and normal USB hub modes ? As for modified cores, are they completely separate from the standard cores or is it patches you apply to existing core ?

Cheers all for all the help so far

[lamarax]

So I`m clear Blister can run the same as a standard USB hub option ? And if you want to use it as Blister Hub, then this requires modified cores ?

I guess the next question being, is it easy to switch between Blister and normal USB hub modes ? As for modified cores, are they completely separate from the standard cores or is it patches you apply to existing core ?

Cheers all for all the help so far

Yes, the blisSTer functions essentialy as a standard USB hub when not running in LLAPI mode. No manual switching between modes is needed. What is needed, are special adapter cables for each type of controller connector (except USB of course). Those, you'll have to buy separately.

To use OEM retro console controllers* in LLAPI mode, you'll need to download distinct separate cores (which won't substitute the officials). These will reside inside their own folder on your SD card, and have a dedicated entry in the main OSD menu. The update_all script will do that for you EZ (when you check the option in its .ini).

LLAPI enabled -forked cores, although maintained by a single person (@rezb1t bless him), are to this day following-up in a matter of mere hours after their respective 'official' core has been updated and put out to public.


*Owning several OEM controllers is key for choosing the blisSTer over the (much cheaper) official USB board. If you have none, or just one, then I wouldn't recommend going that way

[FPGA64]

One other thing to consider is the Blisster is non standard as far as cases. If you wanted to use MisterAddons Aluminium case you couldnt with a Blisster