Cobalt Flux Review (including pictures)

[drkhwk]

I was kinda new when I made that video I don't see a need to make any more videos, there's enough on CF's web site.

[Ciaratha]

Devil Warrior mine was #469. I got it yesterday. I played 6-panel on 4th Mix endless mode for like 4 hours yesterday. The sensitivity is amazing. I played Max 300 & HVAM standard (I sux on heavy) to check it's durability. Superb! Some ppl are getting together this weekend to properly break in. I just cannot wait til I get my second pad. Doubles! w00t w00t. And yes the money was worth it. I must say it really is that good.
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[Devil Warrior]

Yeah, mines 475 out for delivery today, I'm just hoping that the pad is sensitive enough that I don't have to change my play style too much, the sweep and barely tap the arrow style... but that doesn't work too good at the arcade, so changing it may be a little bit useful to me....

You've gotta have that fast sweeping for HVAM Heavy...

[Ciaratha]

I only have one small complaint. the center point in between all 4 arrows is a little high so I had to adjust to that. I am lazy and tend to drag my feet too much. But it is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! When I get my second one I plan to take off from work.
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[LiLDDRKiD]

I got a CF for my birthday. OMGosh it's unbelievable. It's the first Hard pad I got after running through like 3 sets of ignitions. The sensitivity was great compared to the ignitions, and it didn't move. It is a little bit heavy, but that is easy for me to deal with because I just slide it under the couch.. LoL.. Lazy old me.. Anywayz I'm not sure if it's the pad or not, but I beat Max300 Heavy first try with a B rating. I think that's pretty good. The Durabilitiy of the pad is great. I went through a couple songs stomping on purpose just to see if anything would go wrong, and it didn't. Just made me tired =). It was constructed really nicely. Everything seems to be in place, and working.. unlike some of the complaints I've heard for BNS and MyMyBox. It doesn't seem like it will ever break. Plus the 6 month warranty kind of confirms the time put into the pad, and the craftmanship. Oh, about the 6 month warranty. YeA! It's cool that they actually have a warranty unlike the rest of the copmanies. Next, it is visually appealing (IMO). I think it looks great and the colors are nice. The CF Logo in the middle looks pretty cool and I like how the start and select are at the bottom. One final note is the customer service is great. They have a forum where you can ask questions and Vance will take the time to answer all the questions he can, even to things like when your pad would be arriving. So out of 100, I'd give it a uhh.. 100.
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DDR All The Way!

[The Priest]

Heh well I belive that settles it. I was debating whether to geta set of CF's or some other undetermend things with my next massive paycheck. It has been settled. I will make more money. I want these pads!
Can't wait till Friday! (Payday )

::Goes to play SM with his fingers...::
- Priest
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BOOMSHAKALAKA!

[Exotic Orion]

[Polyhedroi]

Yeah I ordered mine about a week ago. I'm just tired of these soft pads. My up arrow on my ignition just started sticking heavily last night. Now I can't even get through a song without messing up at least 4-5 times because of that. Now I just need to be patient and wait two weeks, then I can throw my ignition out the window.

[ChubbyDDRFreak]

I have had mine for a bout 3 weeks. I like it a lot. It is heavy though and one weird thing that they never helped me fix is that when i put any weight down on the center CF logo it acts like it is the x button. I opend it up and they wired something like an x wire to my center pad also. I donno hard to explane it is annoying because i cant stand on the pad when selecting songs or it will select random songs.
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Current Triumph: Cartoon Herros (Standard)
Current Level: Heavy
Curent Struggle: I don't Know Yet

[DuoDoRa]

[Polyhedroi]

I'll be getting mine sometime this week. I'll post my review up as well on this thread.

[LiLDDRKiD]

[Ciaratha]

mine is under my bed.
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[DuoDoRa]

*claps hands and jumps up and down* yay! lazy people forever (no offense or anything), well, there isn't really much else to do, other than slide it under something. i know w/ the ignition, u really can't stand it up, it gets warped.

i've decided i'm gonna get a CF too (lol, noticed its the only thing capitolized....worship the pad...jk), i just gotta preorder max2 first...*spends more time drooling over the pictures*
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[drkhwk]

Taken from my post on the cobalt flux forums (http://www.cobaltflux.com/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi?s=789792ed18c183a5706d65998d96020e;act=ST;f=1;t=295


For the small amount of you that have problems with the CF platform moving around slightly on carpet (myself included), I have the solution. This mod will cost anywhere between $15-$25 but I guarantee you the pad will not move a centimeter afterwards

Cobalt Flux Preventive Carpet Sliding Mod
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1) Buy a computer chair mat (the hard plastic spiked mats that are used on carpet so a chair can slide on it). Make sure you get at least enough to match the size of the CF plaform. This runs anywhere from $10-$20 depending on where you get it. I got mine at Office Max for $16.99.

2) Get some good double sided tape. I would recommend the Scotch/3M double sided tape at Home depot. They have the 1 inch wide, 50 inches long for like $3.99. You need about a 100 inches total, so get 2 rolls.

3) Line the computer chair mat up with the bottom of the cobalt, and cut out a square that is the same size as the bottom of the cobalt. You could just leave the mat as is without cutting, but cutting it makes it look a lot nicer.

4) Use the double sided tape to attach the non-spiked side of the computer chair mat to the bottom of the cobalt flux.

Here's my result, I couldn't be more pleased

I hope this helps a few of you out there. I'd like to thank whoever came up with this idea originally, I know I read about it another thread a while back.

drkhwk

[New_Age]

I've had my CF now since October... so I guess my 6 month warranty is up already (sheesh). The beauty of this is that the Flux isn't in the PILE of destroyed soft pads I own, it works as good as the first day I received it. My friends and I play two to three times a week on average, several hours per day. We're not light people and we primarily play on maniac; without any major problems the Flux has weathered our beatings.

Now of course that's not to say I haven't had any problems with my Flux, but all of the problems have been relatively minor. I had a control box fry on me... it took the Flux guys 3 and a half weeks to get a new one to me, but it was the holiday season so I could understand why. The one I received was soldered backwards, too, but that was very easy to fix (just resolder the wires in their proper locations).

Next, I noticed was how easily the arrow graphics were destroyed. I don't know if this is different with newer versions of the platform but for mine the arrows were printed (with smear proof ink) onto paper and glued onto the metal. Since the nature of this thing is to get the crap stomped out of it I guess the what happened was an inevitability. Particles of stuff wedged in between the plastic and the arrows and eventually they looked like they had been through a house fire. However, it took me about an hour to remedy this. I simply removed the old arrow graphics, cut the vinyl/nylon (whatever they are) arrows from one of my many deceased soft pads and glued them onto the Flux (with your conventional glue stick). Problem solved... these arrows aren't as sensitive to EVERYTHING as the paper arrows were and they look great! My suggestion to the Flux guys is perhaps to laminate the arrow graphics... that may help extend the life of them.

One other problem I've had is how easilty the platform gets dirty! My friends and I take reasonable precautions before 'boarding the Flux' to ensure cleanliness but the way the thing is constructed leaves it open to getting dirty very easily. All those open spaces can get dirt and dust and other junk in between and all that dirt is constantly being squished and smashed together from playing... So at one point I was noticing decreased functionality in the arrows and knew it wasn't mechanical. The method CF suggests on their site to clean the platform is great (a yardstick with some cloth attack in between each panel w/o removing the panel from the velcro) but I took it up a notch - cleaning each panel (both top and botton contacts) individually and thoroughly as well as bowing the metal back out a bit. I left it to dry overnight and the next day it worked as good as new! The only advice I can give is the bottoms of your feet are NEVER clean enough AND don't let the problem build up - clean frequently using CF's recommended method.

I'll never look back, man. I walk by all my discarded soft pads and remember how terrible a DDR experience could be with a crap pad. As soon as I can afford it I'm getting myself another one. As I said this isn't your initial week 'excitement' review, I've had this thing for 6 freakin' months!

[Devil Warrior]

I'll probably take my chair-mat mod from my ignition and stick it on the bottom of my CF, when I get some double-sided tape...

[24-7ddR*aLaN*]

ugh what if ur really lazy.. will putting it on some old rug do the job? hehe im really light too and i know how to step fast+light.
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When you've had the glory of AA every song in DDR MAX (heavy) with beaten-up DX Extremes, it's a pain in the @$$ when your cheap-@$$ memory card gets corrupted.
*most favorite interest= whooping on Jansberg360's white @$$.*
(formerly =veteran=)

[wesdives]

Just one question before starting to save up for my CF pads. I have already owned some CG metals, and the one thing I lked about them was that the steps were slightly subset below the brackets, making it easy to discern where the steps are. The CF pad seems to be completely level. Is there any difficulty finding the steps even in shoes? I'm guessing not from all of the scores I've heard, but I thought I'd check. And also, the little box thing is supposedly the only thing that might ever need to be replaced. Well, I was driving home from a talent show with my Cg pads in tow, and the Select wire got shaken loose and even when soddered back on, the connection didn't register and the pad simply would not work. Any chance, however remote of this happening with a CF? OOps, that's two questions. I'm terribly sorry for my vicious lies.
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Matrix + DDR:
"Do you believe that my being faster, or having more stamina, has anything to do with my rhythm, in this place. You think that's Stepmania you're playing now? hmph"

[Devil Warrior]

There is probably a chance the CF Cbox will mess up, as there is with any electronic device. However, the pad itself works by the metal sheet on top, hitting the one on the bottom. Thats it. You can take off the metal and move it a bit, but don't rip the wire off it it that is soldered on.

The pad is not completely level, the center is slightly raised. I also unscrewed each of the corners slightly as to give the arrows a sunken feeling, even if it isn't that much of one. I do, sometimes, mistep, but only because the pad slides.

And if you want to maintain the sensitivity of the pad, clean it often, dirt builds up under the panels, and when doing so, see if the metal sheets need to be bent back to normal shape, if you want them to...