SSF – Surround Sound Feedback formerly known as PMD – The-Poor-Man-s-DOF-(Tactile-Feedback)

PMD - Poor Mans DOF. A system that was developed as an alternative to mechanical feedback such as solenoids and shakers. By using transducers/exciters (basically speakers without cones) mounted inside the cabinet, mechanical sounds are transferred to the exciters to create the sound and vibration of game mechanics. PMD can also be used to enhance the sound of real mechanical feedback.

SOUND VOLUME CONTROL

A real-life pinball machine generates certain sounds:

• mechanical ones, coming from moving parts like bumpers, flippers, plunger, reels, rolling balls et cetera, plus
• electronic ones, like sounds, speech, music and other audio effects generated by a microcontroller and a ROM holding the digital sound patterns, and brought to your ears through loudspeakers inside the pinball machine.

In VP and VPM tables all 'mechanical' sounds are embedded in the table's vpt file and controlled by the script. VPM tables add electronic sounds that are controlled by VPM using the ROM content. In the VP Editor you can set the Music and Sounds volumes in 'Preferences-Audio Options...'.

For further control and to achieve a good balance between the mechanical and electronic sounds you can access the VPM volume control by using certain key sequences while you play a VPM table. These are different for each pinball manufacturer and controller type, so here's a link to an Excel sheet which contains the required information, sorted by table name.

Another way to influence the VPM sounds is via the VPM display (DMD):

1. - during play left-click the DMD once to bring it into focus
2. - press the ~ (tilde) key, left to the '1' key on the main keyboard, to open a menu
3. - use the up and down arrows to select a channel
4. - use the left and right arrows to adjust its volume
5. - press the ~ again to close the menu
6. - left-click the table once to bring it back into focus

This method may be applied to adjust the volume of e. g. 'Phantom of the Opera' (link) and 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (link).

PINSOUND

http://pinsound-community.org/forum/index.php

Pinsound is originally a hardware board which replaces all sounds your pinball machine. Luckily with a Vpin we can all use that digitally. If you want to know more about Pinsound go on their Website: https://www.pinsound.org/

To install Pinsound:

1. Download the files you want from: http://pinsound-community.org/forum/index.php
2. Create a folder called “altsound” inside your vpinmame folder.
3. Inside this folder create folders with the rom name which you want to use pinsound.
   1. Example: The walking Dead rom is twd_156h so create a folder named “twd_156h”
   2. Unzip the file which you downloaded in Step 1
   3. Place it inside the rom folder created for that table.
   4. Start the table and press F1
   5. At “Use Sounds” and „use Samples“ change the “Resampling Quality” number from 0 to 1.
   6. NOTE 1: Not all Pinsound files are compatible with Surround Sound!

Notes: Pinsound recently made an update so not all will work with the altsound method.

PMD

https://www.aussiearcade.com/showthread.php/82642-The-Poor-Man-s-DOF-(Tactile-Feedback)

Not having the $$$$ (or the will) to venture down the full on DOF route, I use a Boombox vibration sound driver mounted under my custom lockbar. Until today, I had one driver mounted in the middle, but I have now moved it to the side under my left hand and added a second Boombox under my right (used a 2x splitter on the TV audio out). This of course increases the amount of feedback that I feel.

Mechanical sounds have been separated from music/voice in VP's audio options and these are supplied the playfield TV and then on to the Boomboxes.

Boombox units (aka X-Vibe3) can be found online (China) for as little as $20 free delivery and they can be installed in less than a minute. If you have been wanting feedback, but are like me and $$$ or motivation has stopped you installing DOF, then I can recommend this method as a cheap & easy alternative.

It really is quite effective.... I feel every bump of the ball, I feel the flippers activate, hell I even feel the ball rolling on the table... and I don't think DOF even goes that far does it?

The only issue I see for some, is the sound itself. Boomboxes will turn anything into a speaker, but the sound will vary with the material used. Mine sounds great on a timber lockbar, but stainless may sound different. So I wouldn't rule out the need of laminating a bit of ply under the stainless to adjust the sound.

1. 1: 18mm High Density MDF - "Could be better. Too dense for really good vibe transmission. Exciter placement is critical." (Reported by @RustyCardores)
2. 2: 16 or 18mm Pine (custom lockdown bar) - "Brilliant! Transmits every vibe from the smallest ball rolling to the loudest bumper. Hands on the actual vibe plate is extremely effective." (Reported by @RustyCardores)
3. 3: Plywood (23 year old Judge Dredd) - "Excellent! JayCar Amp and Exciters mounted on side under flipper buttons." (Reported by @Jed)
4. 4: Plywood (original F-14 cab with Dayton Exciters) - "WHAT AN EFFECT ! You can feel every bump, droptarget, kicker, and such, it's just great !" (Reported by @Nemo)
5. 5: 16mm MDF - "I'm using a 16mm MDF CAB and and didn't expect much feel, but F#%cking amaze balls it feels real." (Reported by @DalasJ)

And for those of you who couldn't be stuffed reading this thread and just want to jump right in boots 'n all, here is my personal shopping list for the parts needed... (Most parts listed are from Jaycar Australia, but our international readers should easily be able to find matching products from local suppliers. Google is your friend!)

• 2 x Lepy 838 Amps https://www.aliexpress.com and search "Lepy 838"
• 4 (5 if you want one under the lockdown) x 70mm Exciters https://www.jaycar.com.au/70mm-flat-...eaker/p/AS3039
• 1 x Subwoofer https://www.jaycar.com.au/4-paper-co...range/p/CW2190 (or https://www.jaycar.com.au/5-paper-co...range/p/CW2192 if you have space and a little more $)

Plus some speaker wire and a bit of timber to mount the audio sub (bracket it off the back of the cab or run it across from both sides... whatever works in your cab)

Change from $200... how much will depend on what stuff you have laying around. I have heaps of RCA leads/splitters/speaker wire/timber from projects over the years and that has allowed me to keep things around the $150-160 mark.

*** PMD Scripts Mods (Table sound & balance tweaks to suit PMD configured pinCabs) are available at http://vpinball.com/VPBdownloads/categories/pmd-sound-driven-tactile-feedback/

Thanks to the efforts of DJRobX, Surround Sound is NOW AVAILABLE in VPX 10.4 Beta and some new tables have already been released to make use of this new feature, while other tables are being recoded by myself to make use of surround sound. **These recoded tables are being released at the table author's discretion, so please do not ask me for copies. Ask them and put the pressure on lol ....It's important that table authors see the demand for surround coded tables.

VPX Surround is a game changer for PMD, as we will now be able to apply directional sound & feedback to any position on a table!

Those (like me) with a current "2 Amp - 4 Exciter" PMD system will be able to use this feature, provided that their sound card supports surround sound. New users yet to implement the system, may wish to consider using a single 7.1 surround sound amp or DJRobX's layout, in place of the additional subs required for PMD Mk1 (non-surround)

A visual representation of Surround config options...

PMD Mk1 (pre surround sound). Also Compatible with PMD Mk2 Surround Sound.

PMD Mk2 Surround Sound - Single Amp (expensive)

PMD Mk2 Surround Sound - Multiple Amps with Windows bass management to singular subwoofer (cheaper & can still utilise PMD Mk1 components)

**EXCITER PLACEMENT: Place them on the cab side wall close to the flipper/playfield level. Keep them about 15cm from the rigid corners of the cab. Too close and you may lose some of the vibes as the cab wall rigidity increases.

My links to the parts used. Please note that the Jaycar components listed here are also available in the USA....

2 x Lepy 838 Amps https://www.aliexpress.com and search "Lepy 838"

4 (5 if you want one under the lockdown) x 70mm Exciters https://www.jaycar.com.au/70mm-flat-...eaker/p/AS3039

1 x Subwoofer https://www.jaycar.com.au/4-paper-co...range/p/CW2190 (or https://www.jaycar.com.au/5-paper-co...range/p/CW2192 if you have space and a little more $)

Plus some speaker wire and a bit of timber to mount the audio sub (bracket it off the back of the cab or run it across from both sides... whatever works in your cab)

See also: http://vpuniverse.com/forums/topic/3...-sound-output/

So that's the current state of affairs with PMD. The diagrams above are self explanatory and thanks to these, we have found that users now have a much better understanding of PMD and the simplicity of the system.

I will continue to update the above section with new developments as they arise.

From this point on, you will be reading the development thread (contains installation images). Please note that early recommendations and results contained in this thread may no longer apply to the above PMD Mk2.

http://vpuniverse.com/forums/topic/3232-new-vpx-feature-surround-sound-output/

I've just finished up a new feature for VPX - full 3D surround sound output for table effects. There are a few different ways this can be set up:

1) Basic 2CH audio - this should operate exactly as it did before. Forward/rear panning is ignored.

2) All effects to rear - Moves the table sounds to the back audio channels. This allows you to move the sounds into the cab like we were able to before, but without needing a second sound card.

3) Surround, front is front - This is the best setting if using a dedicated card for the surround sound table sounds. It makes the front channels the front of your cab (closest to you). This way if you use older versions of VP, the old legacy output still works well.

4) Surround, front is rear - This is a pretty "vanilla" surround setup. If you were to play on a home theater or with virtual 3D headphones, it's the most appropriate. The "front" speakers are in the rear of the cab (furthest from you). If VPinmame is also on the same card, will shares the audio with these front channels.

5) 7.1 surround (aka 6ch audio). If you want to drive your backglass, and 4 channel table sounds all off of one card, this is the setting to use. It shifts all of the table audio to the side and rear channels, leaving the fronts available for VPM and backglass sounds. This might also be a good setting to try if you are using just 2 speakers in the cab and 2 in the backbox,, the table sounds will pan partially towards the front in 4 speaker mode, letting the backbox give some of the surround effect.

Please note that these modes are used in conjunction with the Windows speaker configurations. You can use any mode on any speaker system. Some sound cards even have virtual surround options that would work with this setup. You could set up a full 7.1 setup and dedicate it to just the playfield if you wanted with option #3 or #4, and use a separate card for VPM. I have tested the 7.1 mode and it works great, but I will use the #3 option for now as it is the most backwards compatible with VP9 and VP9 PhysMod5.

Next up, we have changes to VPX to let us actually use these. There's a much revamped sound manager that lets you tweak the positions without touching the table script. So you can select the flippers and drag them down to the front of the cab right from there. There is also a new Fade parameter added to the PlaySound command that lets the scripts fully position the sound.

Making the ball go full surround is fairly easy. Most tables are already set up for left/right panning, so you just add an additional, very similar function for front/rear fading:

function AudioFade(ball)

  Dim tmp

    tmp = ball.y * 2 / Table1.height-1

    If tmp > 0 Then

    AudioFade = Csng(tmp ^10)

    Else

        AudioFade = Csng(-((- tmp) ^10) )

    End If

End Function

Then add the 9th parameter to PlaySound to include this function. For example, in Scared Stiff it looks like this:

PlaySound("fx_ballrolling" & b), -1, Vol(BOT(b) )*1.2, Pan(BOT(b) ), 0, Pitch(BOT(b) ), 1, 0, AudioFade(BOT(b))

I've also done some pretty extensive work to fix the issues that required a VP restart every time you change the sound config. You can now flip the output between backglass and table or change the target sound cards without a restart.

WARNING

Because of the new sound manager features this increases the VP file version. Please make sure to back up your tables if you experiment with this build. https://github.com/djrobx/vpinballx

if you'd like to review and integrate. I spent quote a lot of time on this one, it's much more robust than the original 2-output hack that you integrated from me the last time. I know you want to move to BASS at some point. This isn't mutually exclusive with that. and might help you somewhat since I tried to eliminate some of the rampant code duplication, and steer some of the DirectSound stuff into PinSound.cpp.

Speakers and Amplifiers

The main things to watch are  impedance ratings of the speakers and amplifier to make sure they match, and  power rating of both speakers and amplifier The first one is pretty straight forward; i.e 4 ohm, 8 ohm, etc and to ensure they match unless you know what you are doing. Power ratings can be misleading, as the ratings can have different meanings. 70 watts RMS and 70 watts peak power are not the same thing and you could end up damaging the amp or burn out a speaker if not carefully taken into consideration.