[PINCAB] MetallicaVPin Cab Profile

[MetallicaVPin]

Cab profile:

Name:  MetallicaVPin  (Yeah I know...I might regret naming my gamex account this if I build/acquire another cab but I don't plan on it so far.  My normal screen name is VDog or VDog90)

Location:  Pittsburgh, PA

Birth:  Sometime around early 2017 the physical build began, completed in 2018.  Purchased/acquired from cab creator January 2020.  

Specs as of January 2022:

• 40" 4K Playing field, 18" LCD DMD/16" viewable, 30" Backglass LCD 
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6500 CPU @ 3.20GHz with 24GB running NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, 1TB 3,400mb/s read m.2 onboard drive
• SOLID custom woodworking, all wood dimensions match actual Stern Metallica cab
• Real working coin mechs!
• Audio: 2.1 Lepai LP-168AH  driving 4" Rockford Fosgate speakers / 8" sub / Two 50wx2 ZK-502T driving 4x Dayton Audio DAEX30HESF-4 Exciters SSF and one 100wx2 ZK-1002T amps driving bass & BST-1
• Software: PinballX, dmdext w/virtual dmd, doflinx, xpadder, some VPX tables use pup, some FX3 tables, Zebs i/o plunger controller v2 on Win10, PinVol, Equalizer APO, ThumpSSF
• Force feedback:  Dayton Bass Shaker BST-1, real Williams flipper assemblies, 8x Allen-Bradley Contactors/Relays 24v Core, Stern Shaker motor, knocker, driven by 16 port PAC-Drive and Sainsmart relay boards @24 volts
• Teensy drives 910 addressable LED's (see attached pdf diagram),
• Selection of removable 50x8 LED matrix or reflective Metallica logo flasher panel for MX affects
• Oakmicros volume knob
• Beautiful cable management/raceways

Condition:  This thing is near-MINT condition and I plan to keep it that way.  Physical build creator and I have been meticulous on quality and maintaining condition.

My vision:  Make this cab one of the best virtual pinball cabinets in the world. 

Goals:  Increase technology and continue theme of real pinball capabilities

Planned upgrades: Addressable LED backlit speakers, a removable(?) fan for games like Whirlwind & Twister, improved addressable LED internal wiring

Other:  This is an amazing cab build.  I might be able to argue that it is built more solid than the actual stern unit.    I was planning to order a cab from a major cab builder but then was blessed to be able to purchase this from the builder privately.   I didn't expect to get this awesome of a cab!  Being in the technology field, my mission is to ramp up the tech.  I maintain a spreadsheet of planned upgrades and parts.

I plan to use this post as an update on my upgrade status...feel free to comment and question!

 

 

 

 

 

 

See 1/17/2021 post regarding internals and upgrade

 

 

 

MetallicaVPin Addressable LED Diagram_January2022.pdf

[Draco1962]

How tall is it from floor to top of backglass?

[Mike_da_Spike]

Really nice build !

Do I see correctly that your PC is outside your cabinet ?

[tthurman]

That's an awesome cab dude!

 

[MetallicaVPin]

Thanks!   

It's about 72-73" high from floor to backglass top.  The bulkhead in my room is 74" and it just fits comfortably.  

The PC is in the cab.  What you are seeing are subwoofers not related to the cab.

[MetallicaVPin]

Force feedback upgrades are coming!   After much planning and money saving, I'm currently "box testing" 8 contactors, 2 real flipper mechs, a shaker motor and a knocker.  All are running at 24v from a PAC DRIVE and a SainSmart 16-CH Relay Module.  The shaker is controlled by a voltage reducer and the knocker runs off a timer relay to prevent solenoid burnout.  I learned a lot about real pinball parts so far!   The flippers are typical dual coil mechanical flippers from older machines with EOS switches normally closed to prevent solenoid burnout.   I tried both flippers and knocker at 50v and decided 24v worked just fine.  I was really impressed how well the flippers worked using 24v.  I'm very glad I went with real flippers because they far surpass the sound and tactile quality of contactors.  I'm excited to hear and feel them in the cab.  At the moment, the knocker isn't as loud as I was hoping even at 50v but what I have will do until I talk to somebody who knows pinball to help me find a knocker that is louder.  So the black box is a wine box I had laying around.  Before being recycled, the wine box previously served as a custom low cost paintball gun case from the 90's!  (it held a 1st gen spyder for at least 15 years)  This is reason for the camouflage.   This is actually the 2nd time I've used the box as a bench test for virtual pinball.    I have DOF configured and everything is working fantastic :-)   Also I just box tested last night was 3 mini audio amps and 4 Dayton exciters for SSF.  I'm impressed how audio amplifier technology has improved over the years.   I had to return a set of mini-audio amps because they defaulted to Bluetooth instead of audio line in and required manual user intervention to change.   I ended up with damgoo amps on amazon.  The 2x100w amp surprisingly hits the bass and my dayton shaker.   I'll be cracking open the cab to install over the holiday break.  Now the fun begins to figure out how to best mount and wire all these new fun toys :-)

[tthurman]

Thanks for the update.

Looks like you've got your work cut out for you, good luck!

 

[MetallicaVPin]

January 2021 upgrade status:

Here are some pics of my cabs interior, I recently completed some great progress on the force feedback upgrades.  I got the idea for the cable management/raceways from somebody in the Discord forum (can’t recall where/who so thank you to whoever you are that shared the idea!).  The cab has three removable shelves with wire connections via molex quick disconnect. Two are floating on top of cable management raceways.  The floating shelves have furniture sticky pads in between the shelf side and cab walls so shelves are tight and don’t damage the walls as they slide.  I’ve not seen anybody do this yet.  It works really well for serviceability and space management!    The third top front  shelf containing flippers, bass shaker and 2 bumper contractors is bolted for the purpose of transferring tactile feelings to end user.   Initial tests are proving much success!  I hope you enjoy this as much as I have enjoyed reading and seeing your cab pics!  Questions and thoughts welcomed. 

[tthurman]

Great idea on the modular shelf boards! 

Your installation is super clean, organized and neatly arranged.  That's some great attention to detail that I'm sure took a good bit of planning, but it certainly paid off.

Thanks for sharing!

[MetallicaVPin]

March 2021 upgrade:

Finally got around to installing the 5% window tint over the playing field LEDs. Made the playing field look more awesome.  Here are before and after pics:

[Draco1962]

Loving this build! Thanks for sharing with us!

[MetallicaVPin]

Just went through a small set of minor upgrades and fixes.  Had to fix the plunger sensor assembly, an accidentally snipped led data wire (oops) and the power switch connections.   Upgraded the cab with a tactile rotary volume control provided by OakMicros (thank you Mike!).  Volume up and down is controlled by input button presses with the zebs I/o board.  Works awesome with PinVol.  Button press is configured as coin in.  See pictures

[MetallicaVPin]

December 2021 and January 2022 upgrades are complete.  Upgraded motherboard to support m.2 SSD at 3400mb/s read to speed up boot and table load times.    It did speed both boot and table load times but not at the significant speed I was hoping for.  Perhaps my expectations were too high or I still have some software tweaking to do.  I also added +16GB DDR4 memory.   <begin rant> Windows is a PITA for any motherboard and hard drive upgrades.  Drive/system imaging was a struggle, but got it to work.  I had to re-register the version of Windows after the upgrade because Microsoft's support sucks.  Luckily I had used a license I bought for $10 when I worked for a previous company I worked for. <end rant>   I also added a 50x8 LED Matrix!  I made the matrix as wide as I can but still not sure if I want to reduce the actual used matrix to a more standard resolution  I still have some work to do on the matrix but it's looking good after putting a piece of 5% tint on it.    Here is a youtube video of the default PinballX MX effects with the updated DOF plugin. 

 

[tthurman]

Looks awesome dude!

As much as it was hated in general, I thought 8.1 was a decent OS, but 10 just can't get out of it's own way from all the things the patches themselves break. 

I'll keep a Windows rig in the future for a gaming rig, but I'm moving to Linux distro's to fill other needs.  This BS with my 6700K's not being supported in 11 was the last straw really, it's still plenty CPU.