Death to unnecessary noise!

[Sederien]

We all know ball noise is part of the fun of pachinko, but how much noise do you really need?

If you're like me and in an apartment (*cough* Eddie *cough*... Oh, excuse me...) then you'd like to cut down on the noise that doesn't add to the pachinko experience. Thankfully, it would seem I have much thicker walls in my abode, but there's still a bit of unnecessary noise.

Specifically, I'm referring to noise which is generated by loading balls or any unseen ball movement within the machine (such as the internal ramps that lead lead to the machine outtake).

Reducing this noise isn't expected to be an easy process, but I've identified six areas which need to be padded before I can actually play the machines as intended.

Questions for the forum:

1) Any areas I missed?

2) Anything else I should consider?

3) How does one actually access the internal track (Area 3)? Do I need to remove the circuit boards to get to it?

(I'll try to make a quick audio recording of regular play when it gets to 10AM and a new recording after the process is finished. For now, I've attached pictures of the planned areas and material for work.)

[musky]

Why not just eliminate the balls altogether

[Sederien]

Why not just eliminate the balls altogether

I knew someone was going to ask (as people have on previous threads concerning noise) so I thank you for this opportunity to give the prepared, stock answer:

That's not the point of this modification and it wouldn't be called pa-chin-ko without balls to go pa-chink, pa-chink on the nails.

Unnecessary may be in the eyes of the beholder, but for apartment dwellers the "beholder" would be our neighbors.

P.S. Moving is -not- an option either. Again, the walls are more than thick enough to allow for play, I'm just trying to be a bit more courteous. No one's really going to begrudge a person for respecting their neighbors, right?

[sharmoni]

They are probably boring for many members, but I like my oldest pachinkos because the ONLY sound they make is the sound of balls on pins and glass—plus the occasional ring of balls hitting the bells on a jackpot. The balls on the glass get a little loud, but I also have some 70s era reconditioned ones with plexiglass, so it's just pachi-pachi the whole time.

[BigBearSteve]

Try tilting your machine back about 2-3 degrees, this will greatly reduce the balls on glass noise.

[Chrisdice]

replaceing the glass with plexi cuts out a lot of noise too.

[Sederien]

I was successful in dampening the noise in areas 1, 2, and 5. (I'll work on the other 3 areas later in the week.)

However, the difference is slight between the unmodified machine and the modified. What it does is take the ball and plastic sounds and filters out the plastic sounds. So it actually makes for a much more pleasant listening experience.

(Note: I didn't normalize the two mp3s for recorder positioning. Thus, the second modified sample actual sounds slightly louder than it should. Still, the important thing to listen for is the sound of plastic in the normal.mp3 and the absence of that sound in the second.)

All in all, for twenty minutes of work and 5 dollars for the rubber, it's well worth it.

[Sederien]

Two more notes...

If you're just interested in modding areas 1, 2, and 5 and you have a system in place for the outtake noise in area 4... the two rubber sheets pictured (one thick and one thin at 15cm by 15cm in a package) is more than enough to cover two machines with a strip of thin rubber left over.

Also, the sound recordings are of the following:

Dropping balls into the tray through a hole in the cabinet followed by a few payouts. The hopper was empty to begin with in both recordings.

[dattia]

I'm sorry Sederien... both of those sound clips were very loud. I didn't notice any difference.

[Sederien]

I'm sorry Sederien... both of those sound clips were very loud. I didn't notice any difference.

I could artificially lower the second one and make it seem as though it really reduced the noise. ^^

Sorry I don't have better recordings, but the modification doesn't really reduce the overall volume by much. It just changes the type of sound. It's just very hard to tell in audio recordings.

The best I could say is to listen to the first 5 seconds of both one after the other and ignore the end. That will give a better impression of what's changed. If you still can't hear a difference, no worries. Some people can't recognize tonal change as easily as others (much like trying to grasp the nuances in Chinese pronunciation... it's understandably difficult).

[dattia]

Well...if you can hear even the slightest improvement, then it was a project worth doing!

[luckydog]

all those balls bouncing around are just part of the palour experience.

its like music to my ears

I love when they are rolling into the payout tray most of all

[Sederien]

all those balls bouncing around are just part of the palour experience.

its like music to my ears

I love when they are rolling into the payout tray most of all

I visited many a parlor when I was living in Japan and most were very pleasant (aside from the occasional smoker sitting next to you).

However, there was one parlor in particular in Tokyo that I found interesting for two reasons:

1) It accepted values as low as 100 yen (great for hanemono!)

2) It was the only place that had no padding in the trays.

It felt like -murder- on the ears. Murder made of money, perhaps... but murder nonetheless.

To each his/her own, of course.

[fronzdan]

I build wooden cabinets for all mine, that have big hoppers on top, ramps for re-routing spent balls and wooden trays. The sound of balls smacking wood was extremely loud and padding with rubber material knocked it WAY down.

[gwent]

I noticed a slight difference in the tone of the balls. The sound does seem to be a bit less harsh. I appreciate the idea, because I also live in an apartment, and I get the feeling that every time my girlfriend and Iplay Pachinko, the whole building hears us. Anything that helps with the loudness factor is welcome to me.

[rubberratt]

I visited many a parlor when I was living in Japan and most were very pleasant (aside from the occasional smoker sitting next to you).

However, there was one parlor in particular in Tokyo that I found interesting for two reasons:

1) It accepted values as low as 100 yen (great for hanemono!)

2) It was the only place that had no padding in the trays.

It felt like -murder- on the ears. Murder made of money, perhaps... but murder nonetheless.

To each his/her own, of course.

Pleasant is an interesting choice of words : FUN to be sure but... 99.999% of parlors I have played in, nearly made me nauseous from the smoke thick as FOG that began at the ceiling. You almost had to duck down to see anything Once I was at the machine I chose, then it was NP LOL.

Seriously speaking, Icould barely hear my own machine over the others, the constantly BLARING Techno-POP - and the announcements coming over the PA systems. I neeed a shower and 1 hour in an ISO-tank, just to decompress heh heh.

Now I feel like the first time I ate Sushi. It was ok at first now I CRAVE it all the time.

I agree with LD - the more noise the better. I can, however; see that playing Pachinko around other humans that don't actually enjoy it, could be somewhat problematic.

Good Luck

[Sederien]

Ah, yes... I do suggest a light pair of earplugs if the noise within parlors is bothersome.

I stand by my choice of words though. ^^ Whether through time or just nature, I did not find parlors irritating.

As for the smoke, I'm quite sensitive to such things being a non-smoker, but found that in 2006 in Tokyo, most parlors were acceptable or better. Many seemed to benefit from high ceilings and good ventilation so that it was only bothersome if someone was next to, across from, or one over from you.