We are big fans of the Japanese DDR X Cab and believe it’s the most versatile LCD Dance Dance Revolution machine. It’s the only DDR machine to feature two free standing LED light spire arrays, the LCD can be upgraded to 39” with an OE bezel upgrade, and it comes with six speakers, including two 8” sub-woofers installed in a ported box with the largest volume of any LCD DDR machine.
For today’s project we experimented with upgrading the two paper cone 8” factory subs, typical in a Japanese arcade cabinet. The cab is well built, and could hold up to more power so we wanted to see what it can handle. It would be possible to bypass the factory amp to get some more sound out of the factory speakers but I was curious what the results would be if we went with new speakers, new wire, and a new amp with a stand alone power supply. The enclosure is sturdy and features a thick plexiglass cover which is sealed around the edges (we’ll get back to that) and one port above.
We went with two 8” subs with an RMS of 280 watts and a pretty flat frequency response curve up to about 4khz. Although we were originally looking for a class D amp, we decided on a 500 watt AB 4 channel amp (two are unused) which has some handy built in crossover features. The amp is powered by a 650 watt ATX power supply with a single 12v rail because it’s cheap, a good form factor and reliable. Finally we lined the walls of the subwoofer enclosure with polyfil, each box took approximately two pounds, and we used some black fiber fill from a local crafts shop just inside the ports so that it wouldn’t stand out.
We think the results speak for themselves, check out the recording below. Audio recorded on
Some notes on the project—vibration control is extremely important. This machine didn’t have screws on the inside edges of both plexiglass panels, probably done by an operator in the past who wanted to be able to clean them without removing the inner metal channels to do so. That’s going to be a no-go with this much bass because they will vibrate until they crack. Removing the right panel is a big of a pain because the front door has to come off, but it is well worth it to get this done right. Sealing is important. If any of your gasket material is missing or worn out, replace it. We are adding some additional gasket material to the above mentioned metal channels just in case. Finally, you may have issues with the thin metal grill vibrating that prevents people from using the subwoofer port for sports-drink storage. If you have three screws on each side of your plexi, as you should, and you still have vibration issues, check that. For extremely high volume applications you might want to consider removing it.
We are working on a mounting solution for two of the above mentioned amps and power supplies. That’s another thing this DDR cab has going for it—tons of space inside. It will be no problem fitting not one, but two of those amps and power supplies in the back of the cabinet. With that in mind we are going to add another identical amp to power the upper four speakers. Join us in our quest to creating the nicest sounding 1000 watt DDR machine around 🙂
We have devised a vibration-proof mounting solution for the amps, but we have a lot of irons in the fire right now so don’t expect an update immediately. If you have any questions about the specific parts we used, or questions about our DDR X cab for sale, email us or reach out on discord to @san_ten.
