help with buying dance pads

sirkus · 08-10-2006, 03:34 PM

I am shopping for a good metal dance pad and have come across a deal on a "Ninja Metal Dance Pad". Has anyone tried this dance pad? If so, does it work well and how does it compare to a cobalt flux?

boots · 08-10-2006, 04:25 PM

Save yourself a headache and just get an AfterBurner. My friends and I beat the crap out of it consistently last summer and I still do and have yet to have any problems with it. It feels almost exactly like the arcade, it just doesn't have that hollow box BOOM when you step on it.

sirkus · 08-10-2006, 05:30 PM

I have looked at the afterburner pad but it is over twice as expensive. I realize that you get what you pay for buy I would just like to hear from someone who has tried out this Ninja pad so that I can consider all my options

ANGRY ABOUT ENGLISH · 08-10-2006, 05:36 PM

I can't recognize it by name, but I've bought nameless pads before. Give us a link to where this sale/site is, so we can take a look at it and figure out if it's something one of us knows.

Daniel · 08-10-2006, 06:15 PM

He means: http://search.ebay.com/search/search...pad&category0=

This is very unlikely to be a quality pad. There is nothing special about it's design and it isn't made by a remotely respected company.

ANGRY ABOUT ENGLISH · 08-10-2006, 07:08 PM

Looks similar in design to one a buddy had. The only issue with it, if this is the same in more than appearance, is that sometimes the screws holding in the panels feel a little loose, but tightening them may cause it to stick at times.

I LOVE MY DAUGHTERS · 08-10-2006, 09:55 PM

Sounds ghey. I wouldnt risk it. Cobalt Flux is the best, but you know that.

Mauriac · 08-10-2006, 10:09 PM

Yo también quisiera comprar un dance pad metálico, desafortunadamente no hacen el envío hasta aquí a Colombia en ningún lado =(

Victamone · 08-10-2006, 10:52 PM

Cobalt Flux is the greatest pad on the market, Just save the time and energy and get a CB. Its expensive.. but think long term. I bought an afterburner and there is so many times i've wished I would have got a Cobalt. It's worth it.

DefaultGen · 08-10-2006, 11:00 PM

If you're not going to get a CF, stay with your soft pad. Foam pads suck, Afterburners suck, TX series supposedly sucks, every other thing I hear about is a TX-series clone so it must suck. I own 5 modded softpads, a broken afterburner, a RO Ignition 3, a 3rd party foam pad and a CF. Nothing compares to a CF, and even a CF doesn't compare to the arcade

If you ever hope to play CS mixes decently, you need a CF. Save up rather than blowing your money on a crappy metal pad.

flem0328 · 08-11-2006, 12:52 AM

Personally I'd stick with the cobalt flux

sjoecool1991 · 08-11-2006, 11:01 AM

What if someone cant afford a CF?
What is the second best pad then?

UncleQ · 08-11-2006, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zosima

What if someone cant afford a CF?
What is the second best pad then?

Afterburner. It's pretty expensive too though.

boots · 08-11-2006, 12:50 PM

I'm curious as to why so many of you think the AfterBurner sucks. Is it strictly fanboyism for the Cobalt Flux or did you really have problems with it?

I had a Cobalt a couple years ago, and I was kinda disappointed with it. Granted the thing was rock solid and pretty much unbreakable, there were still problems with it that for a 350 dollar price tag it should not have had.

For one, the panels needed to be removed and cleaned at LEAST once a week or you'd start to get pad misses because buildup would keep the contacts from completing a circuit. Furthermore, it was flat all the way across so telling where you were was pretty much impossible, you had to hope it stayed in place. The grip tape squares that come with it don't work too well unless its on an extremely short carpet.

And the final nail in the coffin was that my sister borrowed it and somehow managed to sever the wire that sticks out of it to connect to the C-Box and it broke.

Now the afterburner, I bought used off of one of my friends. There's no external wire to be severed, no cracks for dirt to easily slip into the pad, and metal plated on the corners and the center. All that with a material on the bottom that keeps it fairly in place (I played dokudenpa and got to about halfway through the 2nd run and the pad moved about half an inch) makes it, in my opinion, a far superior pick over Cobalt.

I've had it for over a year now and my friends and I have beaten the shit out of it, between drunken parties, 10 footers and hissy fits.

I realize I'm new to this forum, but I really would like to know why all the hatred for the AfterBurner?

Kanpachi · 08-11-2006, 11:55 PM

OK, I actually have those Ninja Pads (same dealer and all), so here's my two cents:

First. The panels WILL crack. Guarenteed. Not a huge problem if you just mod it with lexan, but that adds, maybe $20 on.

Second. I've passed 10 footers on it, and that has really messed up the wiring underneath it. The underside is simply the sponge, then the wooden base which is merely stapled onto a small cardboard framing, which contains the wiring. It's very easy to see the wiring.

The wires themselves are very simple, but VERY fragile and cheap. Not sure if this was because of the seller or my use, but my up arrow stopped responding, so I looked at the wires. One had broken, and one had been completely skinned (so the bare wires were exposed, although nothing broke). Even now, one of my pads is currently dead, and one does double hits occasionally (trying to get help on it).

So, it's not reliable. Don't get it. Also, for approximately the same price (maybe a bit more, a bit less, depends what you do), you can build your own high-quality pad (second pad costs less because you already have some materials down, such as screws). You just need to have a little skill with power tools and soldering. Or get a Cobalt Flux pad, Afterburner pad, your choice after all.

Hope I helped.