ALL Soft Pad Discussion goes HERE

JackFrost · Trick Member Joined: 07 Aug 2002 Location: Boulder, CO

I'm sorry if this has already been addressed, but I couldn't find my answer with the search function so I guess I'll ask...

I was in EBgames or something the other day when I saw MadCatz BeatPad Pro pads for about 35 bucks.

In the past I've owned DX-style pads, but they were all crap... I had a crappy cyphergames one that lasted me quite some time, strangely enough, but when I tried to replace it once it went bad, I ended up with a couple of dead pads. Instead of blowing money on a bad zipper pad or a metal pad with crappy sensors, I was considering buying and modding a couple of cheap, flat pads. I was wondering what the difference is between a BeatPad and a BeatPad Pro.
The BeatPad Pro doesn't seem to be a DX-style, but it looks like its made out of better material than the average flat ddr mat. I have an official Pump It Up mat that is similar in thickness to a flat ddr mat but is better material and it works perfectly without mods despite abuse. Is the beatpad pro similar to the PIU pad, or is the difference from an average pad so minor that I may as well get the cheaper pads?

Thanks

CourtJester · Trick Member Joined: 26 Sep 2002 Location: NY

Terpsichore · Basic Member Joined: 07 Dec 2003

Hello everyone. I am an absolute newbie at this. I have only ever played 3rd mix, and that was a couple of years ago. Since then, I have been tucked away at college, quite oblivious to all the developments in Bemani. I have decided to buy a set of pads and game for home, but I need some clarification. I am buying the console, the game, and the pads, so I have a lot of options. I would simply like to know what is the *best* combination of things I can get to begin with - best mix/pad/console combo, considering my background. Money is not really an issue. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!!!

If you would care to address my difficulties in more detail:

Since the songs I know are from 3rd mix, I would love to get a game that has some of them - my favorites are Dam Dariram, Captain Jack, Boom Boom Dollar, and El Ritmo Tropical. I have been reading a bit about the new "Party Mix" coming out in Japan, and it seems to have a good enough selection of songs to suit my needs (for the present). What I need to know is, if I buy the import game, should I go ahead and buy a PS from Japan? I believe I have understood that it is possible to modify a domestic Playstation to play imports, but does it work the other way around? (If at all possible, I would like to avoid attempting any mods on the console - pad mods are a different thing.) And finally, if I were to buy a JPS, could I also play region one dvds on it? I am hoping to be able to use it both for the game and for movies. I understand that I have to buy a PS2 for this - also, it seems to me to be a good idea to buy the newest version of anything. However, since I will likely be expanding my collection in future, but have little interest in other types of games, I should like to have the best variety of options available. (But X-Box is out of the question.)

As concerns the dance pads; as I mentioned above, money is not a serious limiting factor. Still, I am not certain whether I want to put any major investment into this project right now. I also need to be able to tuck everything neatly away in a closet when not in use. Therefore, as wonderful as they seem to be, I do not want to buy arcade platforms or metal dance pads. Some sort of "soft pad" is all I need. I have heard nice things about the BNS DX-Xtreme Ignition Pads, and am currently planning on purchasing those, but any additional advice would be wonderful!

Thank you!
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Baby Face · Trick Member Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Location: Utah

The answer is very simple i will bottom line it for you ....

X-BOX WITH ULTRAMIX , you even have x-box live with this option for unlimited in your face fun, i am currently ranked as top 100 , under x Baby Face x

do yourself a favor and get the ultramix with the costum pad and maybe a more pricy metal one for sheer enjoyment

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dragon762 · Basic Member Joined: 03 Dec 2003 Location: NE Georgia

Terpsichore, you might want to go to the USA/Import Console DDR Info, Ultramix, Max, and party collection threads. The people there might have the answers you seek. I personaly think that UM is the way to go, but this is not the time or place for that discussion.

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TRIPLEG · Trick Member Joined: 16 Aug 2002 Location: California

Has anyone tried those new BEAT PAD PRO pad's they have at gamestop and eb. I need to know if those are better then the DPR2's before i buy some and mod them so please answer back as quickly as possible.

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Baby Face · Trick Member Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Location: Utah

I freind had one and they are all right, all soft pads break adventually but that one lasted a while

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quu · Basic Member Joined: 10 Dec 2003

OK I bought Ultramix for the Xbox with the bundle and also bought a Naki pad the Naki pad seams nice except the back button does not seam as sensitive

Anyway since I play on carpet I am going to mod the two pads here is some of the thoughts.

I found a really nice birch/cedar ¾ plywood 4x8 plank at home depot and was going to use that as a base cutting it in half for a 4x4 starter for each pad. Its a VERY nice plank no warping solid as a rock nice grain looks good not cheap ($30) but it looks nice and would be awesome stained or painted.

First question I was originally thinking of simply centering the DDR pad on the 4x4 sheet of wood since the pads are 33x37 that would mean that there would be a 7.5 to slope down what is better to make the wood as small as possible, but a sharp drop or to sand the wood down so its a gentle slope down if you miss, so you wont hurt your ankle remember the plywood is three quarters of an inch thick. Also no matter if its full sized or not I will extend the wood a good 5-6 above the top to cut two hand holds for easy transportation

Second question padding under the pad. I was originally going to use ¼ insulation foam or even some carpet padding cut to the exact size of the pad but after reading this thread people seam to like the pad being directly on plywood? Is the foam a good or bad idea? The pad its self wont be shifting or bunching up but I think the foam or insulation would help with playing the game in socked feet.

Third question. Arrows. I was going to cut four 11x11 (or what ever the sensor area of the arrows are) squares and tape them down under the pad (on top of the question two foam if I use it) so that with my feet I can easily tell if I am on the pad or not. I have seen recommendation for cardboard but I would rather use a square of semi rigid pin insulation at ¼ thick what do you think? The foam would slowly contour to be concave allowing it to be easier to tell where the arrows are

Fourth question chubbing the pad. I saw a link to the chubby mod for the soft pads and was very impressed it had not occurred to me. I could also get 4 pieces of lexan or solid plastic to use on top of the arrows and do a chubby mod is this a good thing to combine with my other mods I have described so far? Or is this overkill? Would it be better or worse than just using it straight? It is very important to me to be able to feel if I am on the arrows with out looking down. Will the raised surface (question three) be more than good enough or should I do this instead or should I do both?

Last question covering the pad with clear plastic. I was in Jo Anns a while ago looking for plastic and I found something that could be used to cover the pad. There is a clear plastic material used to cover sofas and other furniture so you can still site and use it. It is bought by the yard and is 4.5 thick so I could very easily cover the entire modded DDR pad in the plastic with out having to use two pieces a simple cut and fold over the control box to allow it to be out of it do I need to cover it with plastic? Since I am using duct tape to secure the pad I think plastic would be good to keep the tape from getting frazzled along the edges

Btw when I tape the pad down I will be doing a nice trick I figured out while securing drafting papers. If you want to secure the pad very well, tape needs to have a large surface to grip so what I will do is apply the duct tape to the bottom of the pad along the edges, facing up so that 1/3rd of the tape is exposed (sticky side up) along the edge and 2/3rd is gripping the bottom of the pad then when I tape it to the board I tape down from the top so that half is gripping the pad and the exposed side of the underside tape, and the other half would be gripping the plywood this allows you to have a VERY strong grip with the tape while only using 1/6th of the width of the tape to obscure the DDR pad.

I will only be playing the game with socket feet not with shoes and since I know soft pads do expire by using the duct tape approach. I can easily replace the pad when it dies with a new one.

Anyway any advice? I will be using my grandfathers woodshop to do the cutting and assembling of this (its nice having an engineer in the family I almost became one but decided to be a programmer instead)

Superstar Player · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Riverside, CA

I need a new soft pad, which will hopefully hold for me until I get a Cobult Flux. My Red Octane pad has acted up a few weeks ago more than once. But it has lasted almost 2 years, which is good. But I am looking for something much better.

I would like to get one for Christmas, a pad of the Ignition type. And I would like DDR Extreme too, but I know where to buy that.

What would be the best buy? I am tempted to buy this:http://www.buynshop.com/productinfo/44/VG-DDR-ULTDX/ since I see several people saying how good it is in this thread, just as good as Red Octanes version of the pad but half the price. And I see similar pads from Cypher Games, Level Six, and a few others where I keep hearing people saying their pads die on them within a few weeks.

I would really appreciate some opinions.

tttiiimmmmmmyyy · Basic Member Joined: 15 Sep 2003

I just found out I'm getting two mymybox premium v2.5's for hannukah (GO JEWS GO). How do these compare to the similar pad from BNS? I already have two of those, but I've had them for a long while and they've seen better days. What sort of mods should I do once I get them?

alan_robert_1950 · Trick Member Joined: 06 Nov 2003

Dr. Claw (MountaineerMix) · Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2003 3:12 pm Post subject:

i'm getting a pair of soft pads for christmas and plan on modding them as soon as i get them out of the box, just thought i'd ask a few questions before i do it.

1.) Between home, school, and girlfriend's house, these pads are going to get moved around a lot, and i don't have much room in my car. two 3' x 3' hunks of plywood are not very portable. is there anything i could do about this, like adding hinges in the middle of the pads and folding them in half, or something along those lines? has anyone had success with another method of making them more portable?

2.) what's the best way to mod a pad so that i can feel where the buttons are while i'm dancing?

3.) thanks to the crappiness of my dorm, i'm mostly going to be playing on tile floors. what would be the best way to keep the pads from sliding all over the place and me breaking my neck?

thanks!

kcornell · Basic Member Joined: 12 Dec 2003

(Redirected from main board)

Recently I moved my mymyBox "Ignition" pads from my dorm back to home for Christmas. They were really good on the PS2 in my dorm - when I moved them home, I noticed when I had one of them plugged into my PSX at home, DDR Konamix would not recognize the memory card, and the console would not take input from either pad. When I unplugged this pad from the #2 controller slot, I was able to load from the mem card, and use the other pad.

Has anyone had a similar experience with the pads "locking out" the mem card and other controller? Maybe this is a PSX issue only? The pads are barely a month old, it'd suck to have to replace it because of a freak electricial issue...

Superstar Player · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Riverside, CA

Would I need to mod the BuyN'Shop DX Extreme pad to make it last longer? I hear the foam in that pad is much thicker than other pads of it's type, and it seems the other pads that are similar to the BuyN'Shop one need the chair mat mod. Would I have to do the same for the BuyN'Shop one?

andyrulez123 · Basic Member Joined: 15 Oct 2003 Location: PHILLY

im gettin ultramix for hanukkah (go jews lol) and it will be my first home version of ddr. i gotta mod it cause it will be on carpet. how do u guys suggest? quu's mod seems pretty awesome, but i know jack bout modding, so any help is accpeted. thanx.
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diabloslayer469 · Trick Member Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Location: Neo-Geo Land

Droga · Basic Member Joined: 13 Dec 2003

I'm new to DDR but I am thinking of modding my pad, here is what I am thinking of doing:

1. Get a 38"x38" 3/4 inch plywood for base.
2. Get a wooden pallet and use it as a base (getting the wood in top out so only the sides and bottom are remaining). I will do this so my pad will not be on level with the floor (kinda like the arcade but cheaper

).
3. Place the plywood on top of the pallet and secure it with screws.
4. I will cut 4 11"x11" pieces of 1/4" wood panel and place it (secure with screws) under the mat to feel the arrows.
5. Place the mat on top of the plywood and square panels, securing the pad with either duct tape or double sided tape w/ velcro.

Now for my questions:

1. Shall I get a bigger piece of plywood?
2. Shall I cover the pad or just leave it like that?
3. What is better duct tape or double sided tape w/ velcro?

Any input would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Baby Face · Trick Member Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Location: Utah

andyrulez123 Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2003 6:36 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

im gettin ultramix for hanukkah (go jews lol) and it will be my first home version of ddr. i gotta mod it cause it will be on carpet. how do u guys suggest? quu's mod seems pretty awesome, but i know jack bout modding, so any help is accpeted. thanx.

*************************************************************
I just got ultra mix and i have the pad that came with it then i bought another cheap pad to modify (moddfying in process right now) but i personally like this mod >>> http://ucsub.colorado.edu/~geddes/chubbypad/index.html
(sorry i dont know how to link it just copy and paste it to your address bar)

good luck tell me what you think
[/quote]
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Baby Face · Trick Member Joined: 17 Nov 2003 Location: Utah

K maybe i can make it a blue link !!!

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Piepz · Basic Member Joined: 02 Dec 2003 Location: Latvia, Riga

Hi,
Do I need to mod an Ignition Pad, if I play on wooden floor.
And what's lucite? That's some plastical material? Can anybody explain in plain english please...
Thanks!
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