The rainy weekend in Trento provided a good excuse to play with the YoloBox Pro that’s been sitting on my shelf. I regularly chat with Tim about all the streaming he’s doing at Reclaim Arcade, which was an added push to finally bust it out. The YoloBox bills itself as an all-in-one streaming device, meaning you don’t need a separate computer and software like OBS to push your live video to the web. The inputs (3 HDMI, 2 USB (1 2.0 and 1 USB-C) as well as a mini line-in for a mic and audio) go into a box smaller than an iPad that can stream to your service of choice. It’s an even more compact approach than the legendary video kit Andy Rush dreamed up back in the heady DTLT days (where’s the post on that setup, Andy?).
andyrush’s “The Kit”
Having a dedicated, non-invasive setup for playing with my old Windows 98 machine makes going live that much easier. The available shots on the YoloBox are fairly basic with a few simple options like picture-in-picture and side-by-side. Everything is managed using the touchscreen, including creating shots, switching shots, mixing audio, creating overlays, including animated GIFs, changing settings, etc.
Windows 98 Setup, notice the need for a HDMI to USB conversion with the Elgato Camlink, bizarre
One issue I ran into when streaming Windows 98 was the VGA to HDMI conversion was not found by the YoloBox, so I had to use a Camlink to convert the HDMI to USB. I was surprised because I was expecting YoloBox to make that conversion, anyone have any idea why it wouldn’t?
VGA to HMI adapter for Windows 98
For my Windows 98 setup the inputs are USB 2.0 (the Camlink) for the computer capture and HDMI from the Sony ZV10 camera. Pretty basic two shot setup, but when I went to mix audio I got the error message that USB and HDMI inputs cannot be mixed. That was annoying.
Solution to audio issue was mini-out of Win98 sound card into YoloBox Line-in
After thinking things through a bit (my head always hurts with this stuff), I took the audio directly from the computer’s sound card via mini-out and ran it into the line-in on the YoloBox. That covered the computer’s audio cleanly, for the camera audio I plugged a Rode Wireless Go II receiver directly into the camera which brought audio and video in via one HDMI input.
Sony ZV-10 with Wireless Go II Receiver
I’m also imagining this wireless mic setup will eliminate any potential syncing issues. The one outstanding issue was the Windows 98 screen had a 16:9 format by default in the YoloBox, distorting things enough to annoy me once again.
Windows 98 Stretched to 16;(. No clear way how to force an input to 4:3 in YoloBox Pro
I tried to change that in the YoloBox settings, but I couldn’t figure it out—most likely user error. But as learned when setting up theYoloBox at the bavastudio for the RetroPie (more on that shortly), my handy-dandy AV-in (RCA) to HDMI-out box allowed me select between a 4:3 and 16:9 image.
RCA/AV In to HDMI Out Convertor with 4:3 or 16:9 Ratio Selector
I added that convertor to the chain of outputs from the Windows 98 machine which now goes like this: VGA to HDMI to RCA (allowing me make it 4:3) then back to HDMI which plugins into an Elgato Camlink—it’s a lot!
The above test was streamed live to bava.tv and worked quite well. The stream also highlights I’m very much in the experimental phase. For example, I quickly learn on-camera that AFV in the audio mixer means “audio follows video,” so for 30 seconds or so after changing shots the audio cuts out. After working out these kinks and messing around, the YoloBox offers a streaming solution with just a couple of swipes: one to duplicate a template, another to ensure audio is coming through, and finally touch that red “Go Live” button and l=then like and subscribe!
Look we’re streaming!
Pretty slick, and all without a computer and additional software (not to mention the challenges of mixing audio, pulling in video feeds, etc.). Now, to be fair, using your computer for the one-off stream will be a lot more cost effective if you’re not planning regular streams given the YoloBox will set you back around $1,000.
YoloBox with Madden 2001
Feeling good about what I was able to accomplish in the home office, later that day I packed-up the highly mobile streaming rig (essentially the YoloBox, the Sony ZV10, the Rode Wireless Go II mic, and a few cables) and brought it to bavastudio and tried connecting it to the RetroPie.
Camera on Articulating Arm and 27″ CRT as YoloBox Monitor
It was essentially the same setup, only difference was the AV/RCA out of the RetroPie went into the RCA/AV convertor box which pushed an HDMI-out with forced 4:3 ratio. When plugging the output from the convertor into the YoloBox it worked cleanly, unlike the same output from the Windows 98. In other words, there was no need for a Camlink when pulling in the RetroPie.* [So, that makes me think the VGA to HDMI convertor on the Windows 98 machine is the issue.]
HDMI to AV Convertor Box for YoloBox Monitor
With 2 HDMI inputs, 1 for the camera and the other for the RetroPie, audio mixed without error. So, the last piece was getting the image from the YoloBox back out to the 27″ YTV so I could play Madden 2001. An HDMI-out from the YoloBox to an AV/RCA in on the TV was the way to go, and I happened to have one (or three) of those hanging around the studio. The key here was going to Settings->Program Out to make sure the image on the monitor is what is streaming.
Turning “Program Out” on ensures monitor out from HDMI shows just what is streaming. Useful for my Madden 2001 setup as it stands right now.
After that, I locked in for a game of Madden 2001, more specifically the first game of the 2000 season which had the Jets facing off against the dreaded Packers. Favre was enjoying his salad days, and the Jets were coming back down to earth with the departure of the Big Tuna, what a fun time in the NFL, those pre-Brady days. Anyway, I played a full game and streamed it out to bava.tv and it worked really cleanly.
I love playing Madden 2001 on the PS1, so the idea is to stream a game a week to bava.tv as a way to lock in the streaming and exercise those muscles a bit, plus it will give me something to blog about—the best reason to stream! 🙂 Also, I figured out how to save a season on the RetroPie, which had me confused, but this Reddit post helped me get that piece working, so there’s nothing stopping the kick-off of a whole new stream featuring a 25 year-old season of the NFL as seen through an even older game console which is, in turn, being emulated. It’s all very complicated.
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*The Raspberry Pi 3B also has an HDMI out that would have gone cleanly into the YoloBox, but I wanted the image to push to the TV as well so i could play a game on the TV from the couch. I figured out monitoring from the YoloBox does work, but need a better solution, possibly splitting the AV before it goes into the HDMI-out convertor box
