Main Restorations Software Audio/Jukebox/MP3 Everything Else Buy/Sell/Trade
Project Announcements Monitor/Video GroovyMAME Merit/JVL Touchscreen Meet Up Retail Vendors
Driving & Racing Woodworking Software Support Forums Consoles Project Arcade Reviews
Automated Projects Artwork Frontend Support Forums Pinball Forum Discussion Old Boards
Raspberry Pi & Dev Board controls.dat Linux Miscellaneous Arcade Wiki Discussion Old Archives
Lightguns Arcade1Up Try the site in https mode Site News

Unread posts | New Replies | Recent posts | Rules | Chatroom | Wiki | File Repository | RSS | Submit news

Recent Posts

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 10

Started by arcadesteve123 - Last post by arcadesteve123

This is for anyone else that will endure this process in the future...but it appears that the joystick is a modular connection with the a common ground brown wire connecting all the microswitches of the joysticks and what I did was to just switch the other 4 lead connections so that they correctly correspond to the actual mapped movement.   Now up, down, left and right are correct.

I think this one is a wrap guys...thanks again for all the help/education and hopes it helps others going down this path!  8)

Started by AstroSonic65 - Last post by AstroSonic65

Hello, I've been using Groovy Mame and Emudriver to connect to a 39" Sharp Image CRT and the results have been fantastic. I recently installed a secondary LCD monitor to display the game marquee.  I was encourage when the secondary monitor was recognized and I was able to extend the desktop to it.  When cycling through the various platforms or the games within, the secondary monitor shows the appropriate marquee.  It's only after playing a game and returning to the Big Box menu that I run into trouble.  Bigbox is no longer open on my primary monitor (CRT) but on the secondary monitor instead, and for a period of a minute or two I can't move the mouse from the secondary screen to the primary screen.  Restarting BigBox resolves the issue until I play another game.  I'm using a AMD Radeon HD 5450 with the VGA connected to the CRT and the DVI-D connected to the secondary LCD display.  I've reviewed the other posts related to the of secondary monitor when using Groovy Mame and Emudriver, but I could not find a resolution specific to this issue. Any assistance will be most appreciated, thank you.   

3   Driving & Racing Cabinets / Re: Supermodel3 Brake help on Yesterday at 11:41:14 pm

Started by bsoder52 - Last post by bsoder52

I tried and tried and couldn't get it to work. then realized I needed to hit enter to configure the control lol. AND IT WORKED! Now I have Daytona Battle and Power, Harley, Scud Race and Sega Rally all working with the brake! This was like the last thing I really needed to figure out on my build to be to a point where I could install my everything into my cabs..thanks so much!  I was considering scrapping the whole project because I needed to have the Daytona II games work in the Daytona II cab right?  hehe.  OCD maybe not sure. Ya know the only game I couldn't get to connect for synched play was Scud Race. Do you know if there is something different about that game to get it to synch for 2 player by any chance? I really like that game and would love to have 2 player connected. I'm running a simple routher/switch.

Another question I have is the monitors. I inversted in a couple nice 16:9 aspect ration monitors with highter resolution that most of the games in the build. I'm also running techno parrot though and everything looks fantastic on them. I've seen some utubers post about using the 3:4 Unico monitors and considering investing two of those but not sure about the quality or if I should just stick with the PC monitors since they are nice, but the aspect ratio isnn't ideal.  Not sure. Anyone used them and have input?

Just want to say this forum is awesome and appreciate everyone's help over the years one here!

4   Everything Else / Re: OND's other projects on Yesterday at 10:45:21 pm

Started by Ond - Last post by Xiaou2

Quick Example of Suspended Driver Design

Tweeter
Mid
Dual Woofers
Two or Three Passive Radiators
Possible use of a Sub

5   Main Forum / Re: The allure of the free cabineton Yesterday at 10:03:22 pm

Started by SCT74 - Last post by jtslade

Can definitely attest to the "How many games does your mame cab have?"

Me "like 6000 or so"

"OK so how many do you play"

Me "Besides TMNT, like 15"

BTW been a minute since I posted.. lol

6   Everything Else / Re: OND's other projects on Yesterday at 09:48:58 pm

Started by Ond - Last post by Xiaou2

Ideas:


=======================
More Driver = Less Micro-Distortions
=======================

 One of my ideas... to create potential for less Micro-Distortions, was to use more drivers... but also, to use
a more complex crossover system, to split the workload up.

 Less work per driver = less chance for micro-distortions.

 As such... rather than having a single Midrange... maybe have Two.  One crossed at the mid to high ranges of the
midrange frequency band.  And the other, being crossed from mid to the low frequency ranges.

 Additionally, using at least two woofers.  One woofer, being crossed towards the Upper / Mid-Bass frequencies,
and the Other being Crossed towards the Mid to Lower frequencies.

==================================
Electronic Switching - To reduce Workload Distortions
==================================

 Another additional experiment... might be the use of Timed Alternations.  Every Nth of a second... switch to a different
driver set.  In this way... you would be reducing the workload in a slightly different kind of way.  This alternation tech,
is what was used in the original Surround Sound amps.  As every Nth of a second.. they rip audio from the track, and
push it to the Rear Channel Speakers.   In that particular case... the audio was actually designed to push
Rear Channel Audio... and to different speakers.  However... it might actually be interesting to try using the same
method... to a different driver set, in the same speakers.

 Obviously, using a standard surround amp, is probably not Fast enough... and as such, you may need someone to
specifically design custom electronics, for faster and more frequent switches (seamless / undetectable).

 I suspect B0se used such electronic methods, to improve their  "single driver"  performance abilities.   But by
using superior drivers, and more drivers in total... it might make for some very interesting results.


======================
Multiple Passive Radiators per Box
======================

 A good passive, can really improve the bass response.  That said... Ive always wondered if it would improve
things even further, if you had Passives on every Side of a cabinet.  Thus, rather than getting a single bit
of action from one side... you are getting Four blasts at the same exact time (5, if you count the woofer or sub).

 That said, maybe the left speaker should not have a right facing passive... and visa versa for the right speaker.
Thus, potentially making the bass even more "directional".  Not sure it that even matters.


===================
Expanding Spherical Speakers
===================

 Ive also wondered, about making speakers that are similar to a Beach Ball... so that when the drivers
fire... the entire Ball Expands... sending out sound in every single direction at the same time.

 The main issue might be in designed drivers that are not effected by the air pressure, that is trying to
continually push them outwards.

 Or... to use a material that maintains its spherical form, without needing a lot of air pressure... YET,
is still flexible enough to expand.

 Another issue, is that you may have to make an internal framework, as otherwise, the drivers would be
so heavy, as to distort the ball that it was mounted into.

An Alternative Design...

 Might be to use multiple Passives that are built into a solid ball or hex shaped box.  So when one driver fires,
all of the passives also fire, in every direction.

 That said... for high frequencies, you still may need multiple tweeters.  At least One per side/direction.
Hard to say.

==================
Extended Ceiling Speakers
==================

Due to space limitations, Id once thought of an idea for making ceiling mounted speakers.  But instead
of hanging 4 separate speakers... thought about making long narrow speaker boxes, that are mounted
to each side of the walls ceiling (in the corners of the walls, between wall and ceiling).

 The drivers might be mounted at a 45 degree angle... making the boxes a little more Triangular,
so that the sounds spread further into the center of the room.  The large sized boxes, might
greatly extend the bass producing capabilities (though, Id still want them sealed, and potentially
to use Passives too).

 You might also want the same style of boxes, for the front and rear..  thus, the entire Ceiling, would be
like one giant speaker, surrounding the entire room.

 This type of design might not work that good... as directionality detection, and spread-width.. might
be an issue.

=============
Bass Shaker Boost
=============

 Some very powerful Subwoofers are decent, but to get hard hitting vibrations, you need them
at extreme volume levels.  By adding Bass Shaker Transducers to the base of each speaker,
that might be an interesting experiment, to be able to feel and detect vibrations from different
areas of the room... and with lower overall volume levels.

 That said... vibrations on that level.. could potentially distort high frequency drivers
accuracy potentials... making it unsuitable for Audiophile grade listening.

 That leads me to another idea...

====================
Free Hanging Tweeters / Mids
====================

 Some of the higher end audiophile speakers, do things like Separate the Tweeters from the main bulk
of the Cabinet, and place it on top, in a very Narrow enclosure.  I believe this is to reduce distortions from
both vibrations, as well as waves hitting the area around the tweeter.

 What if you hung the tweeters/mids from a slightly stretchy material... Like Rubberized Hoses.  Or using
metal cables... with shock absorbing Springs / Material  on each end.

 While you could hang them from your ceiling... that might look odd, and those cables would be very long.
Instead... you could have a beam that goes from the rear of the speakers... up to a foot or so above the
main cabinets... and the tweeters / mids are hung from that L-Shaped or C-Shaped Beam.

 You would likely need at least three cables per driver, to prevent twisting from any great air movements.

 The question would then be... Are the benefits, worthy of the differences in design?

7   Everything Else / Re: OND's other projects on Yesterday at 08:48:36 pm

Started by Ond - Last post by Xiaou2

Im glad you enjoyed my novel.  >_<  :)

 Not sure if you didnt catch this... but  Humanspeakers.com  sells kits to build replica EPI speakers,
for only $372 a pair.   Supposedly, his new drivers, use the same design technology, but with slightly improved capabilities.

(Ive never purchased from him, so I cant verify.  He used to work for EPI/Genesis, and his Site has very Detailed information
on all of their Models)

https://www.humanspeakers.com/diy/81.htm


 Mostly, I recommended these for the specific Purpose, of using their Drivers.   As Ive never heard tweeters that could
produce an Image like the EPIs.   So wide, deep, and Holographic.   The woofers are fantastic too... though, not quite
as special as the tweeters.

 Had I never suffered health issues... I might have liked to try to experiment with different configurations.  For example...

 One of the best Midrange drivers Ive ever heard... was a 3" Dome midrange.  Im usually a man that tons down midrange...
as Im very sensitive to that frequency range... and it can become too harsh and overbearing.  However, on this one speaker
pair... they sounded so damn luscious... that I had to purchase them.  Unfortunately, the rest of the drivers on those speakers
were fairly average trash (I couldnt tell you what the make/model is, as they are in storage).

 Anyway... Id considered trying to wire those Mids into the EPI drivers.  Creating a larger Box.  Adding in a Passive Radiator.
And maybe even wiring a 2nd woofer in, for even greater power output.

 EPI & Genesis have certain models that are like this.  Their Ultimate speaker, is the EPI 1000... which has Four Pairs of
drivers per 6ft tall Tower.  Im not entirely sure I agree with how they placed all of those drivers (one pair per side)... but
the guy whom runs the Humanspeakers site.. built a pair himself, and claims that if he ever sold them, he would just
immediately build another pair.


 Anyway... One thing that people seem to misunderstand... is that Driver technology has not really change much,
since the 70s.  There may be slightly improved materials, to make slightly lighter cones... but the differences are incredibly
minimal, that most people wouldnt even be able to hear the difference.   Also, these new materials can be offset by simply
using stronger magnetics anyway.

 The speaker boxes themselves... are not actually what makes speakers sound that much better / different.  I found that out
early on.. when I was swapping various drivers, into different speaker boxes.   The most notably dramatic changes... were always
coming from Superior Drivers... not the actual Box Shape itself.

 The only exception, being in the type of speaker box:  Ported, Sealed, Passive Radiator, and Open Baffle.

 Unfortunately, I also learned that you cant just seal a ported speaker... and expect it to sound like a sealed speaker... when I
tried to Improve my 90s era Techniques speakers.  It seems that sealed speakers, require woofers that have an easier to move
spider... as well as much stronger magnetics... so that they can over-come the higher air-pressures, of a sealed cabinet design.


 I also bought one of those B0se Radio's at a thrift shop for like $30 (6 CD base unit included)..  mostly as a curiosity, about
their Bass Tube technology (similar to Transmission Line designs).   At lower volume levels... it sounds "OK" at best.  But at
med to high volume levels.. you get that same over-exaggerated, and artificial + droning  sounding Bass.  In fact, the louder
you push the system... the worse and worse it sounds.   Add to it, very poor highs.   The Mids were the only semi-decent
thing about them... and even they were nothing to write home about.

 The other bass extending method that seemed to work without sounding artificial, is the use of a well tuned Passive Radiator.
Ports simply create bass that is way too artificial sounding... in addition to causing other issues, like Port Chuffing, and other
distortions, from turbulence + inconsistent air volume/pressure issues.


 I also used to fantasize about 360 degree speakers (omnidirectional)... but after hearing those 360 degree Di-Pole tweeters...
and hearing how they can distort via time-delay issues...  as well as experienced Holographic sound from the EPIs 180 degree
spread.. I realized that things are not always what you would assume / expect.

 In fact, I did once build an Omni satellite prototype, from some cheap used drivers.  I had intended to try to create some
funnels full of resin, or find / make a Solid Concrete / Rock  Cone... to spread the upwards projecting tweeter... in 360 degrees...
But due to time and material constraints... I simply used Four, 4" dowels  (one per corner of the top of the speakers), and placed
a flat piece of wood on top.   This would allow the tweeter to hit the wood.. and be heard out of all sides of the speakers.

 Despite not having a Cone "director"... the design actually worked just fine.  You could easily hear the tweeter, from any
direction.  Obviously, it may have sounded better, with a Cone to direct the soundwaves more accurately... but they sounded
decent enough to use... so I used them for several months, as-is.. before I eventually got my EPIs.

 I suspect that since those tweeters were low spec... that they were incapable of producing the same kinds of issues, that they
Dipole Ribbon tweeters were creating.  As such, I then realized, that sometimes specs on drivers, do not always mean
that they are "Superior"  for the type of sound, and effects, that you may be after.   For example.. certain super-tweeters
may be able to handle extremely high frequencies... but at the same token.. may have a slightly artificial sound to them..
and often might be a little too  Hot / Harsh / Fatiguing.


 And finally, I will speak a little more about driver importance...  From when I tried to replace my foam-rotted Woofers,
on my Phillips Woox mini-system.

 I had some similar sized woofers from various other mini styles, like Sony, and Aiwa woofers.  Yet none of those woofers,
sounded ANYWHERE CLOSE to being as good, as the original Phillips woofers.  The sonys were especially bad... severely
coloring the sound, in a very bad way.

 After several attempted replacements.. I couldnt find anything that sounding remotely as good... so I started researching
the original woofers.   While many companies use cheap Chinese drivers... these Phillips woofers were made in a Taiwanese
company... that was known for its higher quality, higher-end audio drivers.  I believe Phillips specifically had these drivers
made to their exacting specs.  These woofers were unique in a few ways.. one of the main being, that they had much greater
EXCURSION abilities... to prevent them from suffering distortions, if/when the cone travels too far.  However, that alone, is
not what made them Sound better than all of the other woofers.  It was simply a much better quality woofer, all around...
and was tuned perfectly.   The difference between the Sony woofers, and these, was by a factor of 10.  Literally that
much difference in sound quality.

 As such, I had no choice, but to get the original drivers Re-Foamed.  I actually liked those speakers that much, that I spent the
$100 or so dollars, to have them refoamed.   Unfortunately, the Woox assemblies experienced foam rot, about 2 or so years
later.. and they become useless at that point.

 So... when I see people buying drivers from places like PartsExpress... I just feel the need to speak up about the fact... that
many of those drivers might have decent looking Specs.. but they might actually sound like Poo.   And no matter how good
your Box design might be... those drivers might not do them any Justice at all.   Then you will have speakers that LOOK like
$50k speakers... but only sound like $100 speakers.

 This is why I recommend buying or picking up USED drivers, that have a solid reputation, for Supreme Excellence in
performance and Reproduction.

 Hope that helps.  I wont rant any further  ;)   Maybe just post some other ideas Ive had...

 Anyway, it would also be cool to share some of your other ideas on speaker designs...  and or some of your experiments
 Maybe even some of your favorite speaker / headphone experiences.

 Cheers

8   Everything Else / Re: OND's other projects on Yesterday at 05:59:51 pm

Started by Ond - Last post by Ond

It's a good moment when you hear speakers that really surprise and please you AND are affordable. I've had a few of those moments too.  To experience music you've heard many times like you're hearing it for the first time is what its all about. So I've done a bit of a read-up and research of the Genesis Physics II speakers. By all accounts very well balanced design taking advantage of a passive radiator to extend the bass with a well detailed tweeter. Great for listening at moderate levels with a detailed and pleasing soundstage. I like the look of vintage 'boxy' speakers because it reminds me of times listening to vinyl as a teenager  ;D.  Downside of these speakers is the drivers may need refurbishing and cabinets may need work or replacement.  Thanks for sharing details on these, I'd happily refurbish a pair back to mint if I found some!

The three pairs of speakers I'm building rate something like this:

Artisan floor standing - great for home cinema, ok for music listening. comparable retail around ~ $2 - $4K
Carrera bookshelf - superb compact speakers for music listening - comparable retail quality around ~ $5K
Sasandu floor standing - high end speakers, I will be using only for music but could be used for anything really, competitive with $16K+  models.

9   GroovyMAME / Re: GroovyMAME/ARCADE32/64 custom buildon Yesterday at 02:43:07 pm

Started by haynor666 - Last post by haynor666

That's because this game uses extra sound for jump. It's imported from ARCADE32/64. Perhaps I did this wrong or it's just work like this :/

Started by r38007 - Last post by r38007

Hey all...I have quite the issue I can't seem to figure out..

I currently have a BigBox set up (on the latest build) running Ultimarc RGB buttons connected to a PACLED64 on a PC running Win10.
I've got LEDblinky setup to light up the RGB buttons that are in use for the current launched game as well as change the colors to match said game.
This has been working without issue...but now I am running into an intermittent issue.

When I launch a game via BigBox sometimes the buttons do not light up, other times its lighting up the wrong ones.
For example, if I launch MSlug2, it should light up buttons 1-4 on player1 and buttons 1-4 on player2, changing them to the NeoGeo colors as well.
What happens is sometimes it never lights the buttons or it will light up other buttons random colors. One example is it lighting up player2 button 6 (which is not used for this game) and then like my spinner 1 button, colors will be random too.
I went down the basic t-shooting, checked my configs, made sure all my buttons are mapped correctly, checked mame.xml, made a new one to boot and so on...same issue. Not always 100% of the time but it does come back.

So, I decided to run the LED-trouble shooter to get some debug logs to look at....and this is where it gets odd.
If I enable the debugger, launch BB like normal and select MSlug2 (or what ever game, issue is the same) the issue goes away..game buttons light as they should and everything is happy. As soon as I disabled debugging for LEDBlinky, issue comes back.
I can't figure out why LEDBlinky works flawless when I have debugging enabled but as soon as I launch it without, there's a 90% chance the issue comes back.

I have uninstalled LEDBlinky, deleted my configs and remapped all the RGB buttons again. Rolled back LB/BB, swapped usb ports for the PACLED64 and the issue persists, but if I enabled LED Blinky debugging, no issues whatsoever...

Anyone have a thought as to what might be the issue?
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 10