ALL Soft Pad Discussion goes HERE

[AzN_jErK]

[cRazY FeeT]

[AzN_jErK]

[HawkinsDDR]

Has anyone tried the Kommax heavy-duty pads you can get off of yahoo?

[wumpus]

Dizamn you guys ask a lot of questions!

1. You can get two good soft pads for less than the price of a single metal pad. Whichever you prefer is up to you, but in my opinion, DDR with a single pad is not really DDR.

2. Do the math people. Cobalt Flux = $300/ea, metal pads $120/ea, "deluxe" soft pads $25/ea. How many soft pads would I need to break before I was spending anywhere near what I would for a metal pad? And unless you get a Cobalt Flux, guess what, the inexpensive metal pads have to be modified, AND people have those fail on them too!

3. YES you MUST "mod" any soft pad to get good response from it on heavy/catastrophic songs, and to preserve its life. However, when modified, soft pads can be perfectly responsive, probably as good as any metal pad (except maybe a $300 Cobalt Flux I guess).

Now, how you modify your soft pad is up to you. The GOAL is to get something firm under the pad. If you have the "deluxe" zippered pads, I can recommend either the chair mat insert mod, or the BNS xtreme insert. Those will both run you about $15-$20 per pad, but the good news is-- the INSERT WILL LAST FOREVER. Even if the pad dies, you can take the insert and zip it inside a new $25 deluxe pad and you're back in business! That's why this is a ONE TIME COST.

Or you can go the slightly cheaper route and mount two $15 non-zippered "standard" pads to some plywood.. like so..

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~jrruble/files/pics/ddrpads.jpg

I've already listed the reasons why I, personally prefer not to do this.. but in a nutshell, I think it's too ghetto (my opinion ONLY) and because it involves permanently mounting the pads, so they are hard to replace when/if they go bad.

Anyway that's enough questions. Either do, or do not. There is no try!

[LiLDDRKiD]

Umm.. I ordered the Cyphergames Ignitions and I really really need info on the best mod to use on them.. or a combination of 2 different mods...
I would like to know before I start to buy the supplies so I know what to buy... lol
THX for your help![/code]
_________________

DDR All The Way!

[sofakng]

[TiVotj]

Since there isn't a convenient way to search this thread, and it's not an indexed FAQ or something, I guess I will just have to post my question like any "l@m3 n00b" would.

I have an Ignition-type pad (made by BNSUSA) that works great, but it has gotten me off on the timing. When I go to the arcade, I get proportion of 2 greats for every 1 perfect. Not good! I discovered the timing adjustment in the sound menu of the home version, and I am wondering what I should set it to. If I set it to either side, it seems to mess me up just as much either way.

Which timing adjustment is most accurate to the arcade (7th Mix) for an Ignition-style pad?

[sofakng]

Quick question...

In Tommy-Gun's mod, he doesn't exactly say what he is using to cover his mats. Is he using a special pad cover (BNS?) or is it plastic of some sort?

I've decided I'm going all out, and doing the chair mat mod along with mounting it on top of plywood (mostly for the look), and then using black duct tape and carpet tape to make sure it stays in place.

[bio retard]

Set the timing to +2.

[GFBeach]

Well, I thought I was finished with the mods on my pads, but then I got bored and thought of new things to fix.

1) Each of my CG Ignitions are mounted on a separate piece of wood, when put together for doubles there's about 2 inches in between (not exact to the arcade measurement, but close enough). The thing is, since the Ignition pads sit about 1 - 1 1/2 inches off the ground, there's a little crevasse going down the middle. I'm not very good at doubles, but on more than one occasion I've gotten my foot wedged in there and twisted my ankle. Not very pleasent.

2) The two boards my pads are mounted on are literally latched together so they don't separate during doubles. Thing is, the whole assembly will still slide around a bit.

Here's what I did to fix them:

1) Went around to Home Depot and looked long and hard for SOMETHING that would fit the gap perfectly. I found two corrogated, long strips of lumber, cut them down to size, wrapped 'em up in duct tape (to prevent splinters), and they fit like a charm. I wish I remembered exactly what they were called... they were pretty cheap.

2) I bought some of that cheap foam grippy stuff you put underneath carpets/whatever to keep them from sliding around on hardwood floors. Some of these kinds can get expensive, but I bought two rolls of the cheap kind--- $5 per roll, and each roll was long enough to cover the bottom of one pad (once cut into 12 inch wide strips). Also went and bought a medium sized can of contact cement and a cheap foam brush. Brushed glue on the underside of the wooden board, then layed the foam on top of it. Press down on the foam to make sure it bonds well, then let it sit. I'm supposed to let this dry for literally 72 hours, but I think it'll be fine after 24. I can go back and reapply glue later.

A couple of warnings about #2: This glue is -powerful- stuff. If it bonds half as much as it SMELLS... seriously, work on this outside, like on a porch. If you do it indoors, the fumes WILL make you sick. I worked on the porch about two hours ago to do the gluing, took about half an hour, and I'm seriously feeling a little woozy. Also, leave the pads outside until the glue dries--- find some way of covering them up if you're worried about them being stolen (a tarp works great for this)--- you don't want these inside your house, the fumes will become a serious issue. Be very, very careful. However, I have heard from a friend who did this same kind of thing that once it's fully dried the glue holds the foam in place fantastically. So it's worth it.

Once the glue dries, I'll give these pads a good test run and let you know how it goes.

EDIT: Of course, once the glue is dried, they're perfectly safe to bring indoors. But until then, be careful.

[TiVotj]

[GFBeach]

Well, I let the pads sit out on the porch for about five hours, then the fumes were bearable so I brought the pads inside. I should've still let the glue dry for a while, but I was too excited to wait any longer. I wish I'd done this sooner. These pads don't scoot around AT ALL. I mean, seriously. I did a six song run of (in no particular order) Ordinary World, I Was The One, Spin The Disk, Groove 2001, Paranoia MAX 190, and Rhythm and Police, all on heavy. Before the run, I set something in the dead-center of the pad assembly as a kind of measuring tool to gauge how much the pads moved off center. After the six song run, these things were still perfectly lined up.

Yay!

[sofakng]

[GFBeach]

[sofakng]

[GFBeach]

No no no, you aren't being a pain. I don't mind helping To mount my pads to the wooden boards, I bought and used some industrial strength velcro (that's what it's called). You MIGHT have trouble getting the adhesive side of the velcro to bond with the underside of the DDR pad; I did, but I borrowed my roommate's hot glue gun and literally hotglued the velcro to the pad. Works great. Though even the hot glue is losing it's bonding some... I'll probably have to reglue it in a few months. When i say "losing it's bonding" I don't mean it's ripping holes in the pad--- the glue in some parts has literally just popped off. Not a problem, though.

And yeah, black duct tape is the shiz. Looks a whole lot better than gray duct tape. I was able to do a pretty nice duct taping job for two pads with two rolls of 20 yard black duct tape, 'pretty nice' meaning I probably taped up more than I needed to. But it looks nice!

[cRazY FeeT]

my review on the BNS-DX ULTRA pads:

they are excellent! they are much better than the mymybox 2.5 dx's, that i used to have. the insert is very hard and toughm and definatly does not have a light, cheap feeling that other dx's may have(just as wumpus desctibed it) . the only downside i can think of is that it is a bit heavy......but that can be more of an advantage than a disadvantage since the pad wont move so much.
I highly recommend this pad to anyone who cant afford a CF or cant build their own, plus u get a free adapter that works great too

[Ke6dRRtY]

[wumpus]