Red Octane Afterburner

[mikieson]

[impulse617]

i have a question. I actually have the orginaly RO metal pad, not the afterburner, but u guys still might be able to help. When a wire de-solders, do i solder it to the arrow itself or to that circuit board thingy. When i solder it to the cirucit board (whatever its called) the arrow just keeps going rapidly by itself.
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DD:Recall

[koofu]

be carful with the solder, don't do a sloppy job. it should be soldered around the perimiter, if there is solder is sloppy and is spilling over near toward the inside a bit then i think it will behave weird. try to do a clean re-solder.
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Patty cake, patty cake, microwave
These suckas make a square, damn I'm paid
I'm so cool, but I'm so hot, and I'm, I'm so fly, and you, you're so not

[momosecretes]

yes, u shouldn't solder it too much, and never touch the sensor panel with solder or else u might as well say goodbye to that arrow
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DANCE WORLD DANCE WORLD
I LOVE TO DANCE WORLD
DANCE WORLD!!!

[Makenshi]

Wow, I totally did not see this thread before buying my afterburner. Oh well, what's done is done.

However, contray to many, I do not have the dreaded cbox issue or any of my sensors dying (yet). I'll probably put a sheet mod on it soon just in case, but yea, My whole family plays it 5+ hours average for the past month and so far so good.

One note on the control box issue, since I don't have a XBOX so I don't know about the XBOX case. First time I played Stepmania though, I didn't have the laptop plugged in AC, and I did notice that I'd get like 20 misses in a row at random intervals. After that, though, I plugged in my AC and everything worked perfectly. Well... that's not very true, sometimes the pad connects to my laptop for like 2 sec and windows shows it as disconnected again, but after I plug in the USB connector firmly that seemed to have gone away as well. I don't know that much about wiring and electricity so I'm not sure, but could it be the level of power output from the USB it requires? Like I said, I've only had the connector problem the first time I played it while my laptop isn't connected to AC, but since then it has gone away. Or maybe I was just one of those lucky few with a good cbox.

For those of you looking for an exact arcade experience you should note it's quite a bit smaller than the arcade. Probably not noticeable when you are playing, but you can definitely see the pad size difference.

Good: Recessed arrow, Sleek Design, Everything, lol.
Bad: Copper Foil, and perhaps cbox issues people are having. Also slightly smaller (visually) than the arcade.
Overall, I must say I am very pleased with the overall design (recessed arrow and the style) and quality (NOT the copper foil... but everything else) of the product, even though it's made it China Can't vouce for the durability yet, since I've had it for less than 4 weeks, but I will probably say it's the most worthy $240 I've spent in a while. Do a sheet metal mod if you are worried about the copper foil (http://www.rufus3.com/ddr/metalpadmod.html posted by someone couple pages up).

[patrickstar2o6]

Hell i would get it but i am so poor, I am actually saving for the Ignition 3.0 pad since i cant find a USB to play on my PC : )

And none of my freinds play DDR or are crazy about it and would buy a pad like that.

[gerinis]

[Natural Killer]

Um yea my right arrow started to crack...if it gets any worse I'm afraid the panel will break in half

[MinN_Limited]

Well, after reading 27 pages of this forum, I've gathered that the afterburner has many connection issues and durability problems...I had high hopes for this one but the only decent one seems to be the Cobalt Flux. I don't have enough money for this pad so my last option seems to be to build one...Mikieson, if you read this can you tell me where you got the design for the pad you built and how much it costed to make, cause it seems pretty good, thx

[ThorPrime]

Well, I've only had the pad for about 12 days, but my cBox bit the dust this morning.

The pad itself has been so far rock solid. No signs of cracking. Sensitivity is fine. (still need to go to homedepot so I can replace the foil)
But this morning, left, down, and X, all stopped reading properly. On PS and USB.

I called RO and talked to them. They seemed pretty nice about it. Told me I get a "new revision" of the Box and a new 90 day warrently (yes, he said 90 day) on it. Would be better if we could get a year on the cBox. After all this crap, one would hope not to have to buy a new box becuase this one dies in 91 days.

Anyhow, I confronted them on why they were sending out so many dead boxes. He told me the boxes are supposedly tested at the factory, so they don't open and test them here. (5 bucks says not a one is tested in china) He told me 1 in 5 customers is having this problem, but I'm also betting the real static is higher. Just not everyone reports it.

Anyhow, I don't hold it againts them for getting screwed over by a bad chinese factory. One of my favorite companies was screwed over by a bad disk manufacturure who suddenly no longer delt in the US when all their disks failed to read...

The pad itself is good. The box is bad.
I'm wondering about just killing a $5 USB or PS pad and making my own cBox....

[Makenshi]

[gerinis]

[patrickstar2o6]

[gerinis]

[koofu]

well imo i think this pad is actually pretty interesting, if I hadn't already bought the BNS Fusion pad, I would've probably taken an interest in this one. Only because it has lowered arrows though. I've never played on a regular metal pad with arrows lowered like this one, but maybe it could work in a negative way =[ the foot could get stuck on a ledge or something lol you never know. it's okay, i still like my Fusion pad better =] its so smooth gosh. and fricken $160. k bye.
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Patty cake, patty cake, microwave
These suckas make a square, damn I'm paid
I'm so cool, but I'm so hot, and I'm, I'm so fly, and you, you're so not

[The Long Arrow]

As far as I have experienced, Red Octane's customer service is nothing short of apathetic. My Afterburner was defective, returned, and been in THEIR POSSESION for 27 days. Still, I have not yet received anything from them in terms of an email, phone call, status report, or working pad.

shoulda gotta CF!!
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"A LONG ARROW HAS JOINED IN!"

[sephiroth1215]

Yeah I was about to say that they had mine for 2 weeks but you got me beat! Have you called or e-mailed back? I'm probably about to do so.

[The Long Arrow]

No, I have not tried contacting them yet. Combination of laziness and having an alternate metal pad laying around. Will try calling after the holiday.
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"A LONG ARROW HAS JOINED IN!"

[Norkusa]

Just got an e-mail from RO about replacement arrows. It says that they are expecting a shipment of them to arrive on the 15th of this month. They also said that due to their delay, the new arrows would be covered for 6 months after purchase. Although, I shouldn't have to purchase them since I've only had the pad for about a month now and is still under warranty.

Now if they can cover the rest of the pad for 6 months, I'll be happy.

[Natural Killer]

That's great news because I need replacement arrows also, as 2 of mine have large cracks in them already