Fursphere's driving cabinet build

[Howard_Casto]

Well I usually am, but it's far more important that YOU are satisfied with the setup then whatever I suggest. 

In regards to paint... it might look good to just do it up like a car.  Get that really high-gloss metallic look and maybe some stripes and what not.  You could certainly do what SEGA did with their initial D cabs though and put sideart in the front portion of the cab.  Just personal opinion, but I've always thought the games that try to make the cockpit look like a real car (even if they do a pitiful job of it) have been the coolest. 

Do you have a profile shot of the cab?  Maybe one of the guys can come up with something.

[Fursphere]

In the first post there is a google sketchup 3d model of the cab (zip).

And here is a (not so great) profile shot from awhile back.

[Howard_Casto]

Hmm.... it's kind of narrow isn't it?  Let me see if I can find some pics that might inspire you. 

[Howard_Casto]

Outrun is always a go-to design.  It kind of walks the line between actual sideart and car pinstriping. 

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8938

Here's Outrun 2, which has a similarly sized cab as yours.  Notice that there really isn't much art to speak of due to lack of real-estate.


Here are some NFS lcd cabs.... kind of the idea I was getting at.  I particularly like these, but I'm sort of partial to anything with a dragon on it. 

http://www.bmigaming.com/needforspeed-carbon-racing-arcade-game.htm

[Fursphere]

My cabinet is (roughly) based on the Sega Classic Racing cabinet.  (and was inspired by gbeef's build)

I never noticed the dragon artwork on the NFS cabinets.  Guess I'm blind. 

[Howard_Casto]

If you look at it there's barely enough room for the "SR2" even with it angled at a 45.  You've got a little more room, but not much.  It would be tricky to do anything as complex as a lambo image unless you do it on the bottom. 

[gbeef]

I went half and half on my cabinet.... If you like the NFS i would pick a single car and roll with that.
Just remember the artwork makes the cab. I dont get why people drop 1K into a Cabinet internals and then cheap out on the the artwork. to have a living room eyesore.

Thats like building sport car and then painting the finish paint with a roller brush.

[Fursphere]

I actually rolled the paint on my MAME cabinet.      I want to sand it down and spray it though - I might when / if I rebuild it (wider for bigger monitor)

I think Howard is right (again) and just a nice smooth paint job may be the way to go.

What do you guys think about mounting the front side speakers on the outside of the cabinet?  I'd build a box to enclose them, then have it angel forward (towards the wall I guess?) so they'd sort of look like side mirrors in placement.  (and a lot of putty work to make them smooth into the side of the cabinet...  not a ghetto bolt on look)

[BadMouth]

What do you guys think about mounting the front side speakers on the outside of the cabinet?  I'd build a box to enclose them, then have it angel forward (towards the wall I guess?) so they'd sort of look like side mirrors in placement.  (and a lot of putty work to make them smooth into the side of the cabinet...  not a ghetto bolt on look)

That's what I intend to do on my next build.  Speakers just sound better at ear level and aimed at my head. 
On my current cab, they are at ear level, but inside the edges of the cab.  It would be a bit more immersive if they were on the outside.

[Howard_Casto]

I agree.  They might look nicer tucked away in the cab, but unless you've got them pointed right at you, they are going to sound terrible. 

You know You could probably get some silvered plastic film and make them actually look like rearview mirrors.  So long as you don't use something thin (think cling wrap) and not full on plexi it shouldn't effect the sound.

[Fursphere]

So this is roughly what I'm thinking...   thoughts?   (cardboard mockup ftw)

Also it might stick out a little more so I can rotate the speaker inward to face the drive seat.  I think i need like 1/2" more.

[Howard_Casto]

It's starting to look like a air duct.... I think you could use that to your advantage design-wise. 

[Brian74]

I used the stock speaker location on my cab. I removed the old speakers front and back. Replaced them and installed the center speakers in the dash with a logitech 5.1 system.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[BadMouth]

That's about the look I wanted to go for. 
Consider an insert with black grill cloth so they don't look like computer speakers plopped in there (as they do on my cab).

Personally, I don't like the cabs that try too much to look like a car.
Looking like mirrors would be cheesy IMO.

Most of the new driving cabs have the speakers sank into rings on the sides.
Not sure if it supposed to look like drag race lights or stop lights.

[Fursphere]

I used the stock speaker location on my cab. I removed the old speakers front and back. Replaced them and installed the center speakers in the dash with a logitech 5.1 system.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

I want to install the center channel into the dash as well, but I'm wondering if the distance between the two speakers in the dash will mess up the surround sound "positioning/" a little (or whatever you'd call it).  Its basically the difference between the center channel coming from a 3" area to a 12" area.  (i'm probably just overthinking things again)

The good news is x-530 "extra" speakers are readily available on ebay - so I can buy an extra and just hack it up for about $10.

[Howard_Casto]

Just out of curiosity have you tried the speakers in the position where you had the old ones mounted?  You might get lucky and it sound ok.  No use re-inventing the wheel afterall. 

[Fursphere]

I've been cleaning the garage all morning and I just finished removing the lower speakers and building out the base of the seat mount.  I'm going to pull the upper speakers in a few minutes (took at break to make the kids lunch), and I may try to ghetto mount them up there to see how they sound just for fun. 

[Brian74]

Im using the Logitech speakers, but I am powering them with a  Panasonic 5.1 receiver.  That way I can control the channels better. I can put more or less power to each speakers.

[Fursphere]

Im using the Logitech speakers, but I am powering them with a  Panasonic 5.1 receiver.  That way I can control the channels better. I can put more or less power to each speakers.

The Soundblaster Z sound card provides similar functionality, as well as speaker distance control for each individual speaker (I think this basically sets a delay so the sound reaches your ear at the same time from each speaker)

I just cut a new top / speaker plate.  Goodbye 8s! 

[Xiaou2]

Well, to chime in, I cant stand on-board Audio quality.

  The sound output is missing a lot of spectrum, and the spectrum thats there, is horribly uneven.
Even with the Realtek EQ software on my Laptop... I cant get it to dial in good sound.

 On my home PC, Ive got an old Soundblaster Audigy.   Kicks any onboard's sound quality to hell and back again.

 Say what you will, but even Arcade machines had some great Synth sounds.  Not just compressed Audio.
But even IF your hearing something playing compressed audio... its still going to sound that much better with
a decent sound card.

 Ive heard tiny cd radios that sounded better than the output I get out of the Onboards.

 But hey, if your hearing is Crap in certain frequency ranges, then you probably wont be able to tell the difference.

 All I know, is that a guy who claimed that his hearing was bad due to damages over the years... I gave him
a taste of my Audiophile Sennheiser HD590 headphones connected to an MP3 player with mild quality mp3s,
but pretty good sound quality hardware.   His Jaw dropped to the floor in amazement.  Couldnt believe the
level of 3d spatial effect, and crystal clear, distortion free audio.

 One thing you should note... is how important good Audio is to an Experience.  In fact, you could have a great
looking modern race game.. or movie,  but with a bad sound track... it can completely ruin the entire experience.
Likewise, you can take a primitive Black and White silent film, or video game.. put an incredible orchestral track
& sound effects to it... and it can make the person accept the primitive visuals.

 Think Star Wars, or Indiana Jones.  These sound tracks make these movies stand out.  They give emotion to the
scenes that visually are not there.  Watch them without sound... and you will immediately feel whats missing.

 My point being, that good quality Audio is pretty important, Imo.

[Warborg]

Well, to chime in, I cant stand on-board Audio quality.

  The sound output is missing a lot of spectrum, and the spectrum thats there, is horribly uneven.
Even with the Realtek EQ software on my Laptop... I cant get it to dial in good sound.

 On my home PC, Ive got an old Soundblaster Audigy.   Kicks any onboard's sound quality to hell and back again.

 Say what you will, but even Arcade machines had some great Synth sounds.  Not just compressed Audio.
But even IF your hearing something playing compressed audio... its still going to sound that much better with
a decent sound card.

 Ive heard tiny cd radios that sounded better than the output I get out of the Onboards.

 But hey, if your hearing is Crap in certain frequency ranges, then you probably wont be able to tell the difference.

 All I know, is that a guy who claimed that his hearing was bad due to damages over the years... I gave him
a taste of my Audiophile Sennheiser HD590 headphones connected to an MP3 player with mild quality mp3s,
but pretty good sound quality hardware.   His Jaw dropped to the floor in amazement.  Couldnt believe the
level of 3d spatial effect, and crystal clear, distortion free audio.

 One thing you should note... is how important good Audio is to an Experience.  In fact, you could have a great
looking modern race game.. or movie,  but with a bad sound track... it can completely ruin the entire experience.
Likewise, you can take a primitive Black and White silent film, or video game.. put an incredible orchestral track
& sound effects to it... and it can make the person accept the primitive visuals.

 Think Star Wars, or Indiana Jones.  These sound tracks make these movies stand out.  They give emotion to the
scenes that visually are not there.  Watch them without sound... and you will immediately feel whats missing.

 My point being, that good quality Audio is pretty important, Imo.

I would agree to an extent...  My GF for instance, she just doesn't seem to notice the quality difference in anything, so it doesn't seem to matter.  I can show her an old VHS recording vs. a 1080P video and the only thing she notices is the black bars at the side, otherrwise it's all the same (I don't get it either)...  There was a point where I was playing games on my PC using an X-Fi gamer and a crappy set of stereo speakers on a pretty low volume and the quality didn't matter much.  Circumstances changed to where I'm using my Sigma Tactic headphones mostly now, and I switched to a Xonar DG sound card and it certainly has made some of my games come to life, and watching HD movies is SO much nicer this way.

[Brian74]

Well, to chime in, I cant stand on-board Audio quality.

  The sound output is missing a lot of spectrum, and the spectrum thats there, is horribly uneven.
Even with the Realtek EQ software on my Laptop... I cant get it to dial in good sound.

 On my home PC, Ive got an old Soundblaster Audigy.   Kicks any onboard's sound quality to hell and back again.

 Say what you will, but even Arcade machines had some great Synth sounds.  Not just compressed Audio.
But even IF your hearing something playing compressed audio... its still going to sound that much better with
a decent sound card.

 Ive heard tiny cd radios that sounded better than the output I get out of the Onboards.

 But hey, if your hearing is Crap in certain frequency ranges, then you probably wont be able to tell the difference.

 All I know, is that a guy who claimed that his hearing was bad due to damages over the years... I gave him
a taste of my Audiophile Sennheiser HD590 headphones connected to an MP3 player with mild quality mp3s,
but pretty good sound quality hardware.   His Jaw dropped to the floor in amazement.  Couldnt believe the
level of 3d spatial effect, and crystal clear, distortion free audio.

 One thing you should note... is how important good Audio is to an Experience.  In fact, you could have a great
looking modern race game.. or movie,  but with a bad sound track... it can completely ruin the entire experience.
Likewise, you can take a primitive Black and White silent film, or video game.. put an incredible orchestral track
& sound effects to it... and it can make the person accept the primitive visuals.

 Think Star Wars, or Indiana Jones.  These sound tracks make these movies stand out.  They give emotion to the
scenes that visually are not there.  Watch them without sound... and you will immediately feel whats missing.

 My point being, that good quality Audio is pretty important, Imo.

+1

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[Fursphere]

So I want to mount the rear speakers on the seat like this:



But the harness holes in my seat don't have a center pillar like that seat does, so I'm trying to figure out how to build a bracket that'll work with this style seat (that's almost the exact same seat I have- the backrest lever is different, that's it):



So that's what I'm tweaking on right now.  I still don't know how I'm going to mount the front speakers.  I like the simple / clean look of mounting them "inside" the cabinet above the monitor, but I honestly think they'll give a lot better left / right sound bias mounted outside the cabinet - somewhere around bottom - to middle of the screen.   So many decisions.

I did see a Z06 Corvette today while I was out - the Air Duct comment made a lot more sense after seeing it. 

[Drnick]

If you need to extend the output on the x530's (The 15 Pin connection) do not use a vga extension. You must use a 15 pin straight through. Yes a VGA extension will fix but is most likely not a straight through. Seemingly most vga extensions have a pair of pins connected together and that does not go down well with the speakers.

[Fursphere]

I thought it was a 9 pin?  Well thanks for the information anyway, good to know! 

EDIT:  I actually took that speaker apart to see what the volume control module looked like.  I could get a project box from Fry's for like $5 and re-mount the entire volume control circuit into that.  The front right speaker that the control is wired into - the speakers are just wired to that board directly.  Super easy to reconfigure. 

I honestly don't know why Logitech choose to mount the controls into that speaker in the first place.  Their newer 2.1 stuff has remote volume controls.  And my el-cheapo Creative Labs 7.1 set (that was hacked into my MAME cabinet as 2.1 audio..  hehe) has a wired remote control as well.

[Drnick]

I only found it out as I wanted my sub about 8 foot away from my speakers If you can keep the controls near the sub it won't be an issue for you. As for me I was about 2 seconds away from powering it all up with a vga extension when something in the back of my mind went "You had better check that its compatible" 

[Howard_Casto]

I honestly don't know why Logitech choose to mount the controls into that speaker in the first place.  Their newer 2.1 stuff has remote volume controls.  And my el-cheapo Creative Labs 7.1 set (that was hacked into my MAME cabinet as 2.1 audio..  hehe) has a wired remote control as well.

Well if used for their intended purpose (a desktop pc) controls mounted in the front speaker make a whole lot of sense.  Not sure which variant you are talking about though... if it's one of those where the controls are mounted in the sub, I'll agree... that's stupid. 

[Fursphere]

The volume and on/off switch is mounted in the front right speaker.   The sub control is mounted on the sub itself.    My Creative Labs system had everything mounted on a wired remote.

Its a not a big deal.

[Fursphere]

Rear speaker mount test.  The line up a little below ear level for me, but serve their intended purpose. 

1/2" EMT conduit.  My brother did the bending, as he's much better at it than I am.  They're positioned the way they are so the seat can still move forward and back freely.  I looked into mounting the poles to the seat - so they'd slide with the seat, but that seemed like a hell of a lot more work, if its even possible.  I may end up converting it to that style later, we'll see.  The pipe cost me a whole $2.

[BadMouth]

I like it.  An overlooked option is to have them mounted to the ceiling behind the cab. 

[Fursphere]

thanks!

I actually considered using longer sections of pipe, and mounting it to the top of the cabinet, and in a long arc bring them back behind the driver.  Or just building a sudo rollcage. 

I got the Aura bass shaker installed under the seat too.   Thing is pretty big.  The amp will be here Tuesday to hook that up and try it out.

[Fursphere]

So I go the new amplifier today, and spent about 20 minutes messing with it.  (all I had time for)

Initial reaction is: Cool

It doesn't "THUMP" by any means - but it provides enough vibration so you know its there.  It compliments the Logitech sub nicely - as you really can't "feel" the sub by itself.  I didn't turn the amp up very high - as I didn't want to blow up the bass shaker.  I'll have to figure out how to protect against that.  I did accidentally  turn it up for a second and its very cable of "shaking" things up quite nicely.  I may end up adding a second under the pedal area. 

There is also a side effect of my cabinet design.  The bass shaker is supposed to be silent - vibration output only.  There are two large cavities under the seat, and the 8" holes are still there from Pyle speakers I tried.  The result is the vibrations cause an acoustic effect and reproduce the sound being played with a very low bass sound.  At first I thought it was just the Logitech sub making the sound - but then I realized the speaker system was off - then I unplugged it just to be sure. 

I need more time tweaking the amp to get the desired feedback - but I'm pretty sure its here to stay. 

And a side note - Crutchfield has some awesome customer service.  They don't mess around.

[Fursphere]

So I'm not sure what changed, but the bass shaker is REALLY moving now.  So much that I re-wired it to a single channel (had it bridged before), and I still have it down pretty low. 

I'm debating on adding a second up under the pedal area. 

[ant2]

Try and isolate the movement to the chair.
I put big rubber washers inbetween the mounts from the seat to my wooden chassis.
And placed the whole racing unit on rubber stops.
This will keep the shake in the chair where you want it. And also makes sure it doesnt get wasted on the floor.

I bought two because i blew my first one And i was worried about over powering one again as its such a pain to get to. And they are cheap anyway.

Now i have one right under your backside and one where your thighs are under the seat.

[Fursphere]

So you have two under your seat?   basically inline front to back?

[ant2]

Yep.
I need to take a picture next week as ive been meaning too for a while

[gbeef]

my base has a square under the seat. I mount the bass shaker right to the seat. ZAP STRAP the transducer to the springs on the bottom of the seat and your set!

So I go the new amplifier today, and spent about 20 minutes messing with it.  (all I had time for)

Initial reaction is: Cool

It doesn't "THUMP" by any means - but it provides enough vibration so you know its there.  It compliments the Logitech sub nicely - as you really can't "feel" the sub by itself.  I didn't turn the amp up very high - as I didn't want to blow up the bass shaker.  I'll have to figure out how to protect against that.  I did accidentally  turn it up for a second and its very cable of "shaking" things up quite nicely.  I may end up adding a second under the pedal area. 

There is also a side effect of my cabinet design.  The bass shaker is supposed to be silent - vibration output only.  There are two large cavities under the seat, and the 8" holes are still there from Pyle speakers I tried.  The result is the vibrations cause an acoustic effect and reproduce the sound being played with a very low bass sound.  At first I thought it was just the Logitech sub making the sound - but then I realized the speaker system was off - then I unplugged it just to be sure. 

I need more time tweaking the amp to get the desired feedback - but I'm pretty sure its here to stay. 

And a side note - Crutchfield has some awesome customer service.  They don't mess around.

[Fursphere]

Progress has been slow lately.  Bondo - sand - bondo - sand..  lather, rinse, repeat.

That's the problem working with 2x4s and 2x6s - not exactly precision cut. 

[Fursphere]

Little paint to start the weekend...

[Howard_Casto]

That's looking good man.  I like the pac-man yellow. 

The window sweeps came in for the Camaro, so I'm working on my real car again, but I should be able to churn out my basic shell sometime this week.