Sound

[DeaZ]

First - a big thanks to everyone who has help me. I know EZACTLY the control deck to use and how to build it. Even how to do the mouse hack (guy spent almost 2 hrs with me - big thanks). I know the PC I going to make and the cab desighn. Soon I going to use MS-paint and show everyone the idea before I start on the project... but 1 more thing I still a bit unsure about.

Aparently my 26 inch tv wasn't in the condition I thought it was so I going to get rid of that. So I will be buying a new tv (or working used one) and wondering about sound. I think most tvs have speakers built into them... is there many without speakers? Either way I can hide them by the front panal so I see only the TV. I think that would look nice rather than seeing the speakers, start button, sound up/down etc.

If I do that, I would need to put speakers around the cab. And honestly, if the TV has speakers =p its cydoff of a waste and may just want to use thoes. BUT it would be best to get a TV with no speakers and add them (in my opion).

The question is, if I add speakers what type should I get and how should I position them. They would be computer speakers since they would connect into my sound blaster card. The speakers also got to intergrade nicly with the box.

So give me your suggestions and PLEASE show links of the devices. Its so much better being able to see the product and visualizing how it would look on your cab.


Thanks all ^^

[TalkingOctopus]

I did this:

http://www.oscarcontrols.com/speaker/

with an upright cabinet.

I am very pleased with the result.  All of the arcade games sound great.

[Jakobud]

You need to look around a bit more bro... there is an entire Forum dedicated to Audio stuff...

[slycrel]

  You could also look for a TV that has a headphone jack so you could do either the built-in speakers from the TV or (my preference in this case) use some cheaper PC speakers via the headphone jack.  I actually have a small TV that has some flaky sound that I "fixed" by using some external speakers in it's headphone jack.

[Brad Lee]

If you get a TV with speakers on the sides you may have to settle for a smaller tv than you could get away with without speakers. It could be the difference between say a 27" and a 25", or a 25" to a 21". Take a tape measure to the store when youre looking and see what fits best for the screen size you want

I bought a cheap set of 2.1 pc speakers, Creative brand. The sub fits nice in the bottom rear of my cabinet, got a few brackets to keep it in place. The 2 speakers I mounted up top, behind the marquee glass. Since it was only a 2.1 setup I used the front speaker jack on my soundblaster for it. I also ran a cable from the rear speaker jack to the TV's audio L/R inputs.

[paigeoliver]

I buy $10 PC speakers from K-Mart. They are just as good as what most arecade games came with anyway.


Also, I know you keep SAYING you have read everything, but it is obvious that you haven't.

Let me clarify a few points.

A control deck is the main component of a Nintendo, which is what they had before Playstation (for some reason I am betting you like Playstation). It IS NOT a part of an arcade cabinet. You keep talking about the "consoles" and "control decks" and I can' tell what the heck you are talking about? I THINK you mean control panels.

A roller is something you use to apply paint to a wall. It is not a part of an arcade cabinet. I THINK you mean a trackball, but you could also possibly mean a spinner, or even a Major Havoc controller.

Second, it seems to me that you are jumping into this all sideways, by planning on choosing the ultra-expensive option of building a cabinet instead of refitting one, but then at the same time planning on using mouse hacks and joystick hacks for interfaces.

I can't figure out your exact computer plans, the only part of them I saw mentioned a hard drive large enough to hold Mame 20 times over (or 8 times over with the hard drive games). The only reason I mention this is because you thought a coin door was a waste of money.

Also, where did you get the idea that arcade games have "screens with holes on the sides for venting"?

Basically, you REALLY need to research this more, before you end up with a $1000 monstrosity that looks like a turd, doesn't work right, and will end up in the dumpster.

[DeaZ]

Ok - yeah... I keep changing words around =p which is bad but something I have a habit of doing. Let me clearify it here.

The Control panal going to use an I-PAC (28 imput) and it will have buttons for 2 players. Each player will have 8 buttons and a 8/4 joy stick. There will also be a 1p-2p button in the center. And over the top and bottom 2 more buttons. The top will connect to the PC to turn it on and off. A smartstrip device will be use to turn everything on when the pc turns on, and everything off when the pc turns off. The mouse hack is for a traceball and it uses a mouseport (not usb) so power will come from a usb port.

The TV will be 26 inch. It will support both NTSC and PAL (just cause I want it that way). I plan now to just go to walmart and buy 2 speakers and an amp. Speakers will likly be around 70 watz. These speakers will both be above the TV facing down.

The computer itself will be semi-powerful. Defidently not going to get anything top end. Going to use my old ati-all-in-wonder-pro. Windows 98 will be use, going to hack the intro picture (if you know how tell me - lost link) and have it set up to boot the emulation program automatically. A network card will also be installed so I can upload/download information and change any settings through a program called Dameware. There will be a wireless keyboard also for convience.

The 100 HD I allready got. I mean - for 70 bucks for a WD hardrive... cain't be beat. Great price and this will ensure I can store anything 20 times over and then some more ^^.

Now for the arcade case... hard to explain but the plans allready semi-plan and my friend and I will do more fine detail and then I will show everyone the plans. Basically the cabinet will have a verticle board that the pc will connect to. It will use simple rollers to move it easly back and forth and have locks so that it will not move.  There will be horizontel panels also... atm nothing will be placed on them. I thought it would be nice to have thoes shelfs if I wanted to place a console on the arcade system.

There will be 2 doors and a door on the top (latch). the back door will also have a long but not wide screen on its door. Its to allow the system to vent even though I seriusly doubt it needs that.  The front door will have a sliding door on it... this basically will allow me to plug usb guns in and have it come through or anything else. It also will be relitivly small. Like 2 in wide and 10 inch long. Not big at all.

The top latch door allows you to change the panal that goes infront of the TV. Lets say I get a bigger TV or something happens - I can put another panal that fits it easly. The entire top does not go off - Its just a panal that slides off from the top. It is large enough so that I can get to the speakers (though I would need a lader).

cabinet will stick out where the control panel goes. Bolts will be place where the real control panel can snap in and be screwed on. There will be a small compartment on the side wich allows me to add the wires to the computer... etc. If I ever feal like making a 4 person control panel, removing it or even for repairs will be a brease.

On the other side of that compartment - there will be a small pull out drawer. This will have the wireless keyboard. the slope of the TV will not effect it at all because the size of the shelf.

A lot of planning has gone into this and I been asking many questions and the way I word it is confusing. I hope this clearify it.

As for the pricing...
-wood & paints - etc will likly be around 200 bucks
-The control panel, I see going about 50 bucks.
-Tv will cost around 200, and I going to shop around (see if I can get one from the factory that has not been used but they can not sell as new).
-Speakers/amp - also 70 bucks
-Computer parts, got everything but the HD and motherboard/cpu - so that going to also reach 170-200.
-All the electronic equipment and tools I have.
-Other stuff like wires, smartstrip, wireless keyboard, etc - another 100.

This has gone under a lot of what I exspected. And no - this isn't your typical arcade cabinet. I like to make it very deverse and be able to play games up to area 51 graphics.


Understand?

[paigeoliver]

Ok, you sound a bit more organized now.

But were you aware that there are ebay sellers who regularly sell brand new 3" wico trackballs that already have the mouse port interface? I bought one a while back for $40.

I always just try to stop people from doing something stupid, there are a few pictures and stories on here that I still have nightmares about.

[NoOne=NBA=]

You can barely see it in this pic, but it's the only one I have that shows the speakers in my cabinet....so far.

http://home.comcast.net/~juniordog2/photos/FRONT3-27-03.jpg

I bought a cheap set of speakers that had a subwoofer (which is now inside the lower portion of the cabinet) and two front speakers on little stands (one of which had power and volume controls on the base of it.
I unscrewed the front speakers from their stands, cut the wiring to get the volume control out, and then screwed the speakers into place above the monitor.
The angled piece between the monitor and marquee is a piece of 1/4" plywood screwed into blocks that are themselves screwed into the side of the cabinet.
If you look closely, you can see where I mounted the power/volume switches between the speakers.
This lets me turn the volume up/down/on/off in the middle of a game when necessary without going to a control panel.
The subwoofer provides a really nice low end to the system, which makes the whole cabinet reverberate like the old arcade cabinets did.

[DeaZ]

Yes I am totally aware of that. And the fact I could buy a control panal. Or just buy a cabinet. But I want to do it this way ^^.