The Pad Arena Thread:Which pad is better? Ask/Find out here!

[Alderaic]

agreed that 200$ is not enough for a good pad, but sometimes, just advising to save another 100and get a nexen/afterburner is an option

as I said I dont want to start any flame etc... but I think the homebrew answer in all the pads threads is too much.

and I am sure that for many players asking, advising them to buy a BNS would actually be enough for thei playstyle.

I think sometime giving more than the homebrew choice is what is required. some players want a metal pad because it looks good etc.. but if they dont do more than a 8 footer, will it truly make a difference?

and I 100% agree that for a low budget a homebrew is a good choice, I actually want to build one, I have my supply lists etc..,I just miss the time to actually buy the wood and metal and build it.
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[ChilliumBromide]

I think it's more of a problem I I've kind of filed away a response for every question already asked, and I don't really vary my responses. I didn't really notice that I was just saying homebrew homebrew hombrew because I was just idly popping out the answer I gave to the last person who asked the same question.

The "Good Metal Pad under $200 that I can play 10's and 11's on" is always hard to be creative with, 'cause what can you say? My tx1000's both broke as soon as I tried an 11 on either of them (one of them exploded), they're probably arcade players looking to bring the experience home, they've already specified a budget, and probably don't want to double that budget, especially for something that only gets a 95% or so positive response. I personally can't play on foam pads. I've spent too much time at the arcade, so I wind up flatfooting and bracketraping, which obviously doesn't work on a foam pad. I typically assume that other people are probably fairly similar in that they would have trouble adjusting to a different type of pad.

Looking back, certainly there were more options in response to ozyman's question that homebrew; I don't know if I just misread the post or was being lazy, but my retroactive advice to him(/her?) would be to save up another $80 or so for a pair of Cobalt Fluxes (the addition $80 would be shipping), although you would need to get the xbox control box/converter seperately, IIRC. (but I believe you'd be set for the PC)


And as for the comment on me taking almost a year to finish a pad, no. It took me about 3 weeks after I got all the materials (which took way too long) to finish building the prototype; it just sucked because the design was too experimental, so I took it apart, put it back together, and gave it another shot. I did the same thing another 5 or 6 times until I realised that the prototype as it was in it's current state would never be fully functional, so I modified the design to eliminate all the problems I'd found with the prototype, and I'll go back to it after the DT200's.
Hopefully that clears something up.
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I used to be active here lol

[ozyman]

As some of you correctly surmised, I have reached a point in my life where I have more money than time, and it is well worth it for me to spend the money and just buy a pad, rather than making one.

With that said, if SoymilkCharlie (or someone else), wants to build me one, I would be happy to pay them what a new pad would cost me, assuming they can convince me that they can really make a good pad, and are willing to give me a decent warranty.

With that out of the way, what pads would you guys suggest? As I mentioned in the last post, I've used an ignition 3.0, and it died on me so quickly. I figured a hard pad would last longer.

I was thinking of getting a TX-4000. imarketcity.com
has them for about $150 with shipping, and that seems like a good price. I read some of the TX-4000 thread and it seems like a decent pad.

[ChilliumBromide]

Third paragraph of my post above.

I can't really comment on the TX-4000, but $150 seems like both a good price (not a ton of money), but at the same time a suspicious price. (like my "brand new" tx1000's that had obviously been quite well-used and didn't even have the blue crap all over them.)
If you want to take that route, I'd say buy one, see how you like it, and if you feel content after a few months, buy a second one.
Or, read through their warranty details, make sure you'd be able to get your money back under any reasonable circumstances, and go for it.

Oh, and if you really want to pimp it out, you could probably even get some tapeswitch sensors from MMB (I'd wait until your warranty's out), and wire those up, 'cause unless I'm mistaken, tx4000's use the same PoS sensors that tx1000's use.
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I used to be active here lol

[Agent]

@SoymilkCharlie

The CF now has an XBOX 360 plug.

[Alderaic]

just to clarify on the time to make a pad, I do include getting the supplies because it can (and most of the time it is) be the longest part.
so when I said a long time, and I dont blame you, I mean it.

for example, I already got through 2 home depots and 2 ronas in canada, and I still cannot find any good sheet metal (unless someone knows how to bend a 12 gauge sheet metal like a 26 lol) and the metal brackets are either too expensive or too hard to find (though I know a guy how works in a metal shop and is actually going to cut the brackets for me out of some metal scrap (good metal though) but its been a month since he told me so and so far he hasnt cut one
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[ChilliumBromide]

[Ghettobarney]

Alderaic, a 2 pack (lol) of brackets are $3 pretty much everywhere. 16 cost $24 it's not that much.
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OMG I BEETS MACKS 300!

[Alderaic]

[ChilliumBromide]

Don't settle for anything less than lexan. The stuff's incredible.

When you say brackets, are you talking triangle brackets to hold the panels down, or some brackets for the sensors?

'cause I'm fairly sure that the brackets used in Matrlx sensors are $.26 USD at the home depot here.

I'll probably need to go there some time soon. I can probably get 128 of them for you (8 per panel, 4 panels per pad, 4 pads) if you can give me the money for them.
If I've got the price right, and I'm fairly certain I have, it would be $33.28 + shipping. If you'd like me to check the price, let me know.
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I used to be active here lol

[Alderaic]

well actually for both, he's got the mold for the corners at his job as well

Anyway I am not in a hurry and actually he called me this morning to tell me he managed to put away quite some "garbage" this morning
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[ChilliumBromide]

Alright. Let me know if I can help though. I feel like I have a lot of ground to cover with the Bemani Controller scene. I like to stay on peoples' good sides.
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I used to be active here lol

[Andrewzz]

I'd like to say hi to all of you, you don't know me but I know you:P Ive been reading your forums so heavily over the last week trying to decide which pad to buy... and NOW its crunch time.

First off a few factors to consider, I live in Australia..... MOST sites are COMPLETELY unwilling to ship things to me.. they probably think a kangaroo is going to steal my pad, learn to play DDR and take over the world or something...

Im looking for a Metal pad, I am VERY new to DDR however I already know that its going to become a big thing for me *Already has been for awhile with many of my friends etc, and I love it already* so Ive decided not to waste my time with a soft pad etc I wanna go STRAIGHT to metal

Now ive managed to con my parents into throwing in some money (Well my Mum Volountered... I'm kinda lazy and when she see's me playing DDR its like the most exercise I do in a week )
So I can spend up to around $260 AUS which is around $224 US, now preferably I would NOT like to spend this whole amount on a pad but if I have to I'm willing.

Now as much as I'd like to build some of the awsome pads you guys have designed Its sadly not an option.

Im currently thinking of purchasing one of these TX 4000, any comments on this? (ESPECIALLY its durability I don't want something thats going to fall apart on me...)

now ive found it on Play Asia for $199 who will seem to ship it to me for another $23

But im seeing it all over the place for less

http://store.videogamecentral.com/txmeardapadd.html

And this one especially seems like a crazy price
$74 Euro! (however its s$50E postage so that would take the total price to $200 Aus)
http://discoazul.co.uk/tx4000-stainless-steel-metal-dance-dance-revolution-pad/product_info.php/products_id/2255

Is this a good pad, and is there a reason for this price change, I cant understand why the item is $199 US in one store and only 74 Euro in another (Thats 101US if u cant work it out.. almost HALF the price!)

[ChilliumBromide]

If you modify the sensors and protect the wiring, the tx-x000 pads can be a great buy.

Make sure you're willing to go through some work maintaining one of these though!
They can be a bit of a pain.

You're the 4th person in Australia who's come here looking for a pad that I've seen, so I'd really like to get a distributor there (esp. in the Sidney area). If you'd like to give homebrews a shot and would be interested in building to order for others in Australia, let me know. Also, I'd appreciate you talking to your friends about it too. I'd like to get groups of distributors, instead of single entities, to avoid problems like what I have, where I'm strong in some areas, but don't have the carpentry skills to really make the pads like I want to.

Oh, and even if you don't want to become a distributor, homebrews are still the win.
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I used to be active here lol

[SadisticEkoEz]

I'm planning to get DDRU for the Xbox 360. Would a modded DDRU Konami pad be better or a Mad Catz Beat Pad Pro (unmodded or modded.)

[Emerl]

Yes. But the best option currently is the Blue Shark or Nexen pads. They have X-Box 360 support coming.

[ChilliumBromide]

[ozyman]

Where do you guys see that CF come with an xbox adapter? I can't find anything on the CF website about it. Also their forums seem to be down, and I emailed them asking what they recommended for xbox & pc about a week ago, and never heard anything. Personally, I'd be pretty reluctant at this point to send any money their way.

[kyj197]

[Agent]

It's not on the site, yet. They haven't updated the site in a long time.

They also changed forums, as I've told people 540565025654366 times.
http://cobaltflux.20.forumer.com/

I also wouldn't expect them to answer an email that basically asks them "Do you think I should buy your pad or a Blue Shark?"