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

[slvrshdw]

[ChilliumBromide]

[yukihime]

Hi Slvrshdw, nice to meet you!

Distance-wise, as far as shipping? I think it'd be about the same. I'm in Pennsylvania.

I appreciate your posting here and yes, I did get the main points. And they are valid

[ChilliumBromide]

Just a quick mythbusting, the CF really IS NOT like stepping on cement. It's also not any louder than other DDR pads. The panels are flexible Lexan Polycarbonate, and you're more likely to wind up complaining about the squishy feel of the pads if you play on one. A lot of people will modify CF's (penny mod, etc) to make them feel less squishy and pliable; incidentally, more like concrete. It still weighs a ton, but they are sensitive, gentle (as far as metal pads go), and actually, terrible for flatfooting if you're not wearing solid shoes. The screws on newer CF's have a tendency to cut feet up and trip people. They're also not that necessary, so I think I'll work on a screwless (velcro fine with you?) design and we'll see how you like it.

That's assuming I find a workshop.
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I used to be active here lol

[yukihime]

Interesting re: CF isn't like stepping on cement ... maybe the people who're complaining about that have done that penny mod thing? which you know I wouldn't. I don't like to mess with things, I'm not good at it and I'd end up mucking something up. I think you're the only person I've seen describe the CF's panels as "squishy", just kinda makes me giggle. Can't be any more or as "squishy" as I'd think? the AB would be, would it?

You know what? I just went to CF's site and looked at the closeup pic of their pad. I can see exactly what you're talking about with the screws on the pad. Made my Puma Cats weep with fear! Yes, of course I would be wearing shoes and I do, to a point flatfoot on a foam pad. I know it's impossible, but I can do it about half the time until things get really fast and/or those 8th & 16th notes - then it's ball of foot. Remind me, I want to go to Konami's CA offices and slap whoever thought those 8/16/32? were a great idea.

To me that's part of the point of using a metal pad - wearing shoes! lightweight of course, I'm not you DT, unless you were joking about wearing basically combat boots to play.

Velcro's fine, whatever you think'll work. It'd be something different! and would probably be easier if something happened and I needed to send out an SOS and open the pad. velcro vs. screwdriver? that's a no-brainer for this old goat!

posted in chitchat - I emailed the i-dance people (topic there) ... got an answer - these people seem REALLY nice and very passionate about their company. It appears that they are looking to enter the home pad market as well as gyms, clubs, etc. next year.

The price, however, is jawdropping, which I brought up with them when I replied. Otherwise, it looks (waiting on a few more answers) like it could be a real contender in the metal pad market.
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Live Like There's No Tomorrow,
Dance Like Nobody's Watching!

[ChilliumBromide]

There's actually not a lot of give with the AB's. They aren't as tough as CF's, which you can feel when you play hard songs (9's and 10's) on them, because the panels will feel like they're breaking (they usually don't, but they actually do break occasionally) and the pads will flop around on carpet.

CF's use a much denser base, which makes them feel like a chunk of concrete to haul around, and the fact that the base is painted black has led many to presume they're made of dark matter. In truth, they are made of a high-density wood composite, similar to particle board but a LOT stronger and about 3 times more dense. Not as good as some fir plywood, an oak sheet, or some MDF, but whatever floats their boats I guess.

The original CF design only requires a TINY modification and the whole upper panel assembly is held on by velcro. TINY modification.

Problem with the CF's is that because of the velcro that's in there, there's no sensitivity in the corners. :[ I think this can be fixed though. CF's work like an overpriced Devout Stealth that weighs too much.

I actually play in Converse All Stars. I have played in combat boots before (three times), but it's exhausting. Don't get a lot of pad errors though. When your foot weighs 10 pounds, it's hard to step lightly.
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I used to be active here lol

[ulogin]

heh! the NexeN pads have the same issue about the corners. the velcro is just too thick for it to have any sensitivity there.

I actually replaced the velcros for the inner corners with 1/2 inch foam pieces. it really makes the pad much mode sensitive on the center side of the pads and the corners.

all you have to do is take out each arrow pad separately, peel out the velcro stickers and place them on some wax or freezer paper (to store away in case you might need it). then you place a half inch thick foam piece, roughly shaped like a triangle on each corner, and screw the pad back in place.

maybe you can do this with a CF? if the design on both are the same, it should work.

[ChilliumBromide]

1/2"? That's pretty thick.

Next time you open it up, could you get me a picture of the inside of the new Lexens? I kind of want to see for myself.
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I used to be active here lol

[n00byn4t3r]

i want to buy a new pad, and im thinking about buying the blueshark.
but i dont know if it is the best pad for me, i can do like all 4's alot of 5's some 6's and like 2 7's.
but my pad is dying(i have some stupid softpad that was only 15 euro's...)

my budget is not really limited, but i live in europe so i want to shop at futuremax.nl

help please

sorry if my post was vague, but im bad a strating a topic/question etc....

[belink]

A blueshark is too much money to be playing on 7 footers. You're better off getting a TX-4500 or TX-6500 from Futuremax if you want a bar.

[n00byn4t3r]

im STILL playing 7 footers lol, i want to improve and i want a better pad.
its not like im sticking with it

[belink]

Well, you can if you want, the blueshark is fine.

If money is no object, buy me one too. I'm in England and don't have enough.

[n00byn4t3r]

i also still need to get the money
but i want to buy something good after my crap pad which died today ( already fixed though )


Oh and BTW if someone still wants to reccomend me a different pad: i would like one with a bar

[rlpowell]

So it looks like people are recommending ColbaltFlux again instead of MyMyBox for best hard pad.

Last I checked (~May 2008) it was the other way around.

Is that just because MyMyBox can't get their act together and ship anything , or has CobaltFlux improved some of their issues as well?

-Robin

[yukihime]

rlpowell, personally I don't trust MMB. They can't even keep their forum running well (and they use vB which can be one of the best, most secure forums out there). CF, yeah, I read a few of those "just got my pad and it's doing .... and they sent me velcro" and was like eep!


My search for a metal pad continues ... it's turned into a freaking saga. Yes, I wanted a homebrew, but it wasn't able to be done unfortunately. I'd definitely rather give the money to someone who can build me a more customized, meets my wants and needs and isn't some mass-produced in a sweatshop in China pad.

Anyway, this past weekend I got to play on a beat up but still working Afterburner. And I actually liked it, I liked that it had the tiniest bit of "spring" for lack of a better word when I stepped on it. Had decent sensitivity too, considering one was missing a bracket on the right arrow and the other missing a screw on the center metal piece. And a zillion people were jumping up and down on the poor things - no cracked arrows which surprised me.

Now, before I go and spend the money (which would be quite an investment for me as I'm on a fixed income and everything is going up, including my insurance and meds grrrr), I have a couple questions I'm hoping you guys can answer cause I'm a total DUH at this.

I read this:

[rlpowell]

FWIW, I did finally buy a pair of Cobalt Flux pads with the black arcade mod. I'm doing fairly low songs these days (recovering from leg issues), so it's not much of a test, but I'm *completely* happy with them.

-Robin

[zombiejesus9001]

So Im thinking of getting back into itg and wanted to get a new pad. Since bluesharks are out of the question since it looks like they are never coming back. I was looking into either a cf or a nexen pad.

I keep hearing that the cf pads are not as good as the past models. I used to own version 1's back then and they were amazing. What is wrong with the new models and are they worth the buy?

My other question is also with the nexen pads. I hear the contacts are the same as the cf pads so that is a good thing. My question mainly was, was A. are they in stock? and B. are they coming in 50/50 meaning some shipments are coming in fine and some are coming in either not playable or bent up like the bluesharks?

Im kind of leaning more for the nexen because of the bad press with the new cf pads which sucks because I loved my old cf pads back then.

[yukihime]

rlpowell, glad you're enjoying your CFs and hope your leg problem is getting better. If I could lift a CF, that's probably what I'd save up for. But physically I am not able to lift close to the advertised 60 lbs - and get it up 3 flights of stairs. Being older, having some disabilites, I only weigh like 110, so the pad would weigh a little over half of what I do! and no one to help me get the pad in the house and upstairs - these, along with price, reliability and durability - are issues for me.

zombie, I have no idea. I've read that some people are gettings CFs that don't work right. Maybe it was a temporary glitch, maybe it was someone being careless while building ... who knows!

AFAIK, Nexens are in stock at MMB, at least last time I looked at their site. If Nexens didn't have the "arcade mod" already on them, I'd look closer at them - except I think they're even heavier than CFs, at least according to their site.

I'm still trying to find/get advice on what I wrote on the 24th. I know, I'm long-winded
_________________

Live Like There's No Tomorrow,
Dance Like Nobody's Watching!

[junglekatz2002]

Hello! For Christmas, I decided that since I haven't played DDR in a long time (i.e. since I packed up my stuff from campus after graduation and moved back home), I would ask for a new mat. I played light to moderate, and then light again. I'm currently looking for a pad compatible with PS2 that will last for a while for light-to-medium use, mostly so I can get some form of physical activity while I'm indoors. XD

My first ever (and longest lasting) pad is the one pictured being modded here and from an Amazon.com link here, Naki's Dance Pad Revolution 2 that I think I got from GameStop. Since their site seems to be dead I am assuming they aren't around anymore. I've gotten some other soft ones slightly cheaper than that; of course, the cheaper they got, the more quickly the arrow sensors seemed to wear out, especially when totally beginner friends came over to play and aren't coordinated enough.

I'm looking at something that isn't heavy so I can take it when I move out of the house and into my own place, so even though I'd like to find a sturdy metal pad that will last me practically forever at my rate of difficulty, I don't have the money (definitely not right now...) to spend on something like a Cobalt Flux or a Blue Shark. As I said, I usually stick to light mode/workout mode and a few standard songs, though I would like to get to where I am able to do most standard songs without failing. I would like to find something that isn't a $25 pad but not over $150 per pad as I would like to get two. I know I'm not setting myself up for the best pad, but I'm not expecting to ace something on heavy at the moment, and I just need something to replace the pad from Naki.

I'm looking at something like these:
DDR Dance Pads that come in a pair (off Amazon)
Also an Amazon.com link but the pads come bundled with In the Groove
A Red Octane Pad that has some okay reviews, however I'm a bit dubious on the price
I went straight to RedOctane's site and found this, and it looks a bit different from the one linked from Amazon.
How do you suppose these "hard pads" will do? I hear mymybox is lacking on the customer service side so I want to make sure things get shipped in a timely manner.
I Googled "DDR pad" earlier and found the site DDR Game, but I also heard by perusing the forums that pads from that site are generally not too good.

I'm not completely against duct taping it to a carpet protector or something to keep it from wrinkling if that's what will keep a soft pad from crapping out quite so fast, but apart from that, I'm afraid I'm not exactly handy with hardware tools.

[Future Master]