Thanks man! Not everyone's cup of tea but I love making them my own while they are here

Loving my Houdini. The sound seems to be more treble than bass and there is no subwoofer in the cabinet. Any suggestions to make it more, Bassy? Also, it seems as some light shines though the speaker grills, I assume from the backbox lighting. Any suggestions for that, is that normal? Also best setup to dial in the lower catapult as far as level and strength of catapult. Thank You

External subwoofer is a must on this game!

Where do I obtain the hook up for the external sub?

With programmatically controlled flippers, the EOS switch is no longer necessary. Software controls each coil individually and can therefore shut off the power coil whenever necessary. I don't see why you add EOS switches to your Houdini flippers? It won't be used.

Got a chance to meet Joe and play Houdini at Pintastic New England and all I can say is wow!! What a great first machine for American Pinball. I could not believe the build quality of this game, Joe and the team did a fantastic job. The art is both beautiful and mystical in a pleasing way, when you stare at the backglass it almost appears to be 3D. Houdini’s eyes follow you no matter where you move. I had no issues making the shots so I was confused about some of the earlier feedback. Regardless, this game is truly a unique piece of playable artwork. Well done American Pinball!

The EOS switches are in the programming. And are used if the ball pushes the flipper down when it is in a hold state.

And, yes, you are correct. The EOS switches are not necessary. And really don't fix much. But, I was having problems especially in multiball with a held flipper getting pushed down with a hard hit or multiple balls hitting at once. The EOS switches didn't fix it 100% but did help quite a bit.

Brian

So without an EOS switch if a flipper gets hit hard it will just drop? The hold power is anemic.

I have read several posts about left flipper dropping during multiballs.

How does the computer know if a flipper is deflected downward from a hard hit without an EOS switch.

It looks like I will also be installing them since the code already supports them.

This is a serious issue.

Get ready to make up a parts list and simple schematic for us to use for this aftermarket fix.

I am really considering buying this game after playing it with you and Joe Nick. What a fantastic looking and playing game.

What is with the power issues that I am reading about? Are there any other issues that I should be concerned about? I guess the main question is......Should I buy one?

Yes.

Yes I should buy one or yes there are issues to deter me from buying?

Yes. You should buy. The problems sound bigger here than what is actually seen during game play (at least with mine). I have a pretty diverse collection and this game just shines. Plus, my wife loves it. That means a lot to me. She really doesn't care all that much for pinball in general.

This game just has character. And I'm a huge mode guy when it comes to pins. Houdini is a perfect fit. Lots to do.

That's huge! I would love for my wife to love a game.

Oops. Multiple

Yes absolutely get one.
All of the seemingly scary issues are actually simple and inexpensive to fix and no big deal.
The game is unique and gorgeous!

My wife loves the WOZ the best do far, but was really sold on the creepy houdini eyes

It is covered in this thread including pictures. Basically, the amp has a subwoofer output as well as a crossover knob. You have to take off the backglass, then take off the monitor which is like 6 screws. Then you have access to the amp and all of it's controls and outputs. You can route the wires out the back by loosening up the ventilation grill and sliding the wires behind the grill to the subwoofer.

This seems to be a very popular option and the one that I purchased.

https://www.amazon.com/Polk-10-Inch-Powered-Subwoofer-Single/dp/B0002KVQBA/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_bs_t_1/134-1625402-6080466

I am partially happy with the sound. It's not a punchy as I had hoped. The final mastering of the soundtrack is rather boomy that punchy. My guess is that it was mixed down for a system without a sub so maybe the sound engineer tried to compensate in the mix. Any one else notice this? Overall, the soundtrack on this rocks.

Josh,

Speaking of the soundtrack I do have some feedback for you. I've been noticing the music more as I get a little deeper into the game. When I play it loud I started noticing other themes that I couldn't really hear as well as the main themes. Aside from the main steampunk track and the more gypsy-sounding theme, the other tracks are too quiet and not noticeable at moderate volume levels. There is some fantastic music that needs to be louder.

Secondly, in my opinion when you duck the music for callouts, the ducking is too dramatic. I think it would sound much better if you normalize the volume level across all tracks and perhaps a little less volume ducking on callouts.

Hold coil on all flippers are controlled by the code. I don’t have eos on my flippers on wrath of Olympus (also a p-roc game) and flippers never droop when hit with a ball during multi ball. Maybe your house voltage is too low

Daytime picture of Tilttopper

20180704_142659.jpg

I connected a Polk PSW10 subwoofer, which I have been happy with on my Stern games, to my Houdini, but I had to use a slightly different cable due to the backbox amp's bare wire subwoofer output connectors. I used one similar to this:

http://a.co/brHSDSL

You can plug the RCA connector into either the L or R Line Input on the PSW10 or add a Y-split cable extension to plug into both. Since the PSW10 doesn't have an LFE (low-frequency effects) input, just turn the "Low Pass" filter fully clockwise as instructed in its manual.

Question: Just noticed my current code is 18.4.11 so I downloaded 18.5.4. Put it on USB stick, plugged into game, did the update and said settings saved to USB. Unplugged USB, power cycled game and still 18.4.11

Do I have to upgrade to 18.4.27 first?

I played these at Pintastic too and ended up buying the last one from counter. it wasn't one that Joe dialed in, though. I will need to tweak it myself.

Did you use the same USB stick for both updates? The name is the same, so maybe you didn't overwrite the new over the old? It also needs to be in the root directory.

Just to assuage anybody’s concerns: the game is Awesome. It stands up to (IMO)
DI for longevity, but the game is fun on short ball times too. There are some minor adjustments to be Made yes but what game doesn’t benefit from being dialed in? Houdini gets more
Play at home
Than any of my other games (MB, SS, TZ..)

No no. Although you own both Houdini and DI, you are apparently deluded. Did you not see the poll results or various judgements expressed on the Houdini vs DI thread?! To paraphrase: "DI is OBVIOUSLY a much 'better' game than Houdini."

Now stop enjoying your Houdini. It's not a fun game.

Yes I did. I'll try to format the USB again and see what happens.

I wish the website clarified the instructions. .

I had the same problem. My game shipped with even older code and it failed when I tried loading the latest 18.5.4 .

I had to load the 18.4.11 first.

I still need to update, and i assume the latest updates are not all inclusive, and must be done in sequential order

LOL. I also own monster bash, which is now “boring” and “too easy”.

Hay,lot of us waiting for your "Pinovators" Headphone mod 4 Houdini!! Is this in the works????

100% sarcasm

I LOVE my Houdini and stand behind all my posts on the referenced Houdini vs DI thread.

You do not need to do all updates, you should be able to go the most recent without doing any you skipped. It is a full load of the code, not an incremental.

If you download the file to the same place on your computer, it will add a (2) or something like that to the end, you need to be sure you are grabbing the most recent one you downloaded, and then remove the (2) or anything else so it is the proper name. After the next update, that won't be an issue. When in doubt, remove all existing update packages from your computer before downloading.

After Brian made this modification, we looked at the logs and found that there were two or three instances over a couple of dozen games, where the EOS was triggered and far as re-firing the flipper.

In most cases the hold should be strong enough, if you find that is not the case due to low line power, your easy option is to enable the 'hold boost' setting, but that will add some amount of buzz. Another option is to replace the flipper coils with 11630 which have slight more hold power. Or you can install EOS switches as Brian did.

I'm ready I think. What should I be paying for one? And how much extra with the pdi glass, shaker and art blades?

Just ordered mine today. will have to order a few extas as well.

had my houdini for a while but still can’t get catapault to make the shot. when i got game from first owner it was on 26 cool. tried 27 then 28 now 29. still hits the front and not getting closer to making it

what setting seems to work best for most. i think i game at correct level. should i lower the back leg levelers too ?

leg levelers should be all the way in, on all four legs to be at correct pitch.

If after that, and taking it up to 30 it is still not making it, contact the service department, there may be some other adjustment needed.

thx. i’ll try it!

Once leg levelers are all the way up on on 4 legs...take lower catapult back down to 26. When you unbox a new Houdini it has a set of paperwork telling you about this leg leveler set up.

The catapult does still make it at 6.5 degrees, at least on my game. Every once in a while It will brick the trunk, but that is more because of power variance issues at my house. My setting is at 26 as well, I believe.

thx for all the help. is there a catapult test? or do you just test while playing

I picked up one of the demo models from Cointaker at Pintastic. I agree with a previous poster in that there is not a lot of bass from those speakers. Sound clarity is there, and the amp they used is capable. It is the same amp that is in Rob Zombie, and that pin kicks. I can't do an external sub (house rules, nothing under the pins), so I am trying to come up with another (internal) solution. I could install my own cab sub, but I don't really want to drill through the botton of the cabinet....I need to think about this more....while I play this AWESOME pin.

Take off the glass, go into the service menu, go to settings and then coils. Pull out the interlock switch, drop the ball in the catapult, do it a couple of times, adjust settings and try again.

Tough house.

i have all levelers all the way in. 27 it has enough power most of the time but misses left sometimes. does not seem consistent

Variac time!

what is variac

AP has a good system of distributors, I count nine unique Houdini ads in Market and couldn't fit them all on one screen.

IMG_0429 (resized).PNG

Bro read a couple of posts up, I think it’s on this same page!

Or the line conditioner

The variac won't add power like the line conditioner will if it has a battery.

But it will smooth it out.