it's pretty f*cking loud dude

even if you turn the speakers down the flippers/pops/slings/kickers still make a lot of noise

i play downstairs in the living room and it still annoys my wife, upstairs in the bath, with two closed doors and a set of stairs between us

Pinball is loud, modern, old, it doesn't really make a difference it's a loud game. Aside from the sound that you can indeed lower, it's all mechanical, involves a metal ball that gets hit by a bunch of stuff, it's loud for sure.

No.

Things in pinballs clack. Modern games are not quieter.

That noise is just an invitation to come down and join you. It can be loud or not. It just depends on who is on the other side not playing.

as a former michigan person that has moved to CA, lemme just say, i miss having a basement. it's a perfect spot for noisy pins

Our house is two stories with a finished basement. Bedrooms are all on the 2nd floor, pinball machines are in the basement. Basement has vinyl plank flooring and a drop ceiling (not insulated). Our pinball machine ownership predated my wife and I being parents (our son is nearly 2 now, second kid due in a few months actually).

On the first floor you can definitely tell when someone's playing pinball, but it's not loud enough to require that people having conversations on the first floor have to raise their voices over the machine. The sound that carries most is the mechanical noise, muffled but definitely there. The only place in the house where the noise of the pinball machine can drown out conversation or tv (or whatever) is the basement itself.

On the second floor you can barely tell that pinball is happening downstairs. Some noise carries through the ductwork, but it's pretty minor in my opinion. Even when my son is asleep, I can comfortably play our machines at ~7 or 8 on volume (Stern) without worrying about waking him up or bothering him.

If your wife is super sensitive to the noises it might still bug her, but it doesn't cause any problems at our house. Hope that helps!

If your games are in a basement with the kids/wife's rooms on ground level or higher then I would think it would be fine. If the wife is already annoyed with less noisy games then it's probably not the noise that's the issue, spending time and money on them is the real issue.

Honestly don't notice sling and pop noise.

The sound system? Oh yes. If you were at Pintastic that had the Seawitch you heard it. Across the room.

Pinball is meant to be loud.

really didn't notice myself while playing, either. it took my kiddo turning the game on randomly in the middle of the day and playing it with me upstairs, to realize how loud the flippers are

plus i have a subwoofer hooked up and play at 20 volume. it's deliberately obnoxious, and i keep the squink up loud, too. i've learned to treasure those 90-minute slots where my family goes to get their nails done, or something

Hey like they say -IF IT'S TOO LOUD YOUR TOO OLD"

Maybe take up Knitting......

What makes the noise travel through a house is the shockwaves from the kickers traveling through the legs into the floor. The way to mitigate this is to put the feet on a rubber mat to dampen that. With that in place in a basement, it'll likely be barely noticeable in the rest of a house. You'd still hear it but it won't be loud enough to be disruptive.

If need be, it might be possible to put a layer of sound deadening material on the basement ceiling too. Probably unlikely that you or anyone actually would, but it's a good just-in-case pitch to the wife.

If your basement ceiling is insulated that will help a lot. That is my situation. You can hear the game upstairs but it is muffled. If someone is trying to sleep and the game is right below it may bother them. Should be fine during normal hours.

You can also do things to reduce the sound of game like put pillows in the cabinet. Or get fancy and line the cabinet with foam boards or other stuff.

I think you family will be fine unless they are super sensitive to noise.

I would take your wife to a pinball retailer and play a few games. The one local to me, for example, has a quiet showroom so it’s a good way to find out how loud a pinball machine is.

I personally think they are fairly loud.

Get a whitestar machine, they are pretty quiet... kinda... in comparison.....even tho all the stuff is the same. Maybe someone with more knowledge can explain why? (20v vs 50v?)

Headphone jack will help quite a bit, still hear the flippers and slings tho

If you're in the basement you should be OK. I play late night with family upstairs and they never hear anything.
Joist ceilings no insulation; no duct work though.

When I want to play quietly I just leave it unplugged

Soft room instead of reflective room makes a HUGE difference.

Hard walls, uncarpeted floors, hard, reflective ceiling. You are gonna get some clatter and chatter.

Walls with softer things hung on them (canvas prints or tapestry), carpets on the floor, a plush couch in the room, you will notice the game when it's being played, but it won't be bad.

I had a customer just put a carpets directly under the pinballs, and left the rest of his wood floors exposed, and he said it made a huge difference.

I found it didn't get real noisy until the 6th machine when hosting leagues amplified it even more.

It’s loud, especially if you have people playing multiple games and attract modes on. My wife is basically numb to my bullshit at this point though and can just sleep right through it.

Just loud enough to overpower the clack of the flippers. Then keep all other games the exact same level, so they don't overpower each other.

Can’t help myself from chiming in. My home is a ranch. I got lots of satisfaction playing my
Met pro with Polk sub beneath the family room just below the tv and recliner. When I came up my wife complained about noise and room shaking.
Now I have TS 4 in the dining room next door.
I have exterior volume control to keep her happy with the new spot.
Cheers

according to ChatGPT:
The volume of a pinball machine can vary depending on the specific machine and its age. Some pinball machines can be quite loud, while others may be relatively quiet. Factors that can affect the volume of a pinball machine include the quality and condition of the speakers, the types of sounds and music that are played, and the overall design of the machine. In general, newer pinball machines tend to be quieter than older ones.

When Asked "how loud is a pinball machine in decibels compared to other household items? "

A pinball machine can typically produce noise levels around 80-85 decibels, which is similar to the noise level of a vacuum cleaner or a hair dryer. It is considered as a moderately loud noise and prolonged exposure to sound levels above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss.

Honestly, as a new pinball owner I have to say it’s pretty loud. Volume can be turned down, but slings and solenoids make a racket.

I have been considering adding some noise blocking to the ceiling in my pinball room in the basement to help with the noise. (I would use the stuff home theater enthusiasts use for their theater rooms)

As of right now I only play during the day or early evening - no late nights

Agree. Headphones help lower noise, games sound better through them. More detail, richer loud with clacking noise reduced from machine. 90% of time I play with headphones.

They are loud. How loud is going to really depend on how your house is built and where they are located vs where you don't want to hear them. Do you have carpet or LVP, etc. I added an extra layer of insulation when I put down LVP for this very reason and it's still pretty loud right above the games (especially if you hook them up to subs).

If you think your pinball at home is loud, play with the glass off for a bit. You won't think it's so loud with the glass on anymore.

so true.

Just curious, why did you ask ChatGPT?

no pinball is the same level as loud as a vacuum machine.... or hair dryer.

i think we can all agree that its not the music or call outs, its the pop pop of the coil stops on... every solenoid powered mech that the ball makes contact with.

Just curious of the results it would give. no other reason. and i had chatgpt open.

I’m sorry, but a 5” Gottlieb bell can wake the dead and bring loved ones back from beyond the grave or so my wife claims.

I see those vintage photos of pinball halls so packed to the gills with straw hats playing EM’s and wonder just what it was like listening to that many bells and chimes and coils all clacking, dinging, and ringing at once. The cacophony had to be deafening.

On most of my machines the volume is set to 1 or 2. Legally our lower floor is a separate dwelling. Two layers of drywall on each side of a connecting wall, insulation between floors and walls and 30 minute fire doors. This is enough to dampen the noise when you’re on a different floor.

My games are pretty quiet, they are all still NIB though.

you can't give a number rating. Every game is different. There is no standard setting. Some games have a dial to set, some have numbers, but the numbers are completely different per manufacturer and titles. Some games like spookys. you have to set the amp volume, then the number is based upon how you have your amp dial set. So 2 on one persons game, could be 17 on another of the exact same title.

We need a thread to talk about this thing. I started messing with it last night...and other than doing things like writing essays, or writing code, I was severely disappointed at how neutered they have it. I had it write lyrics to songs, and 3 things became apparent immediately 1) it had very limited iambic pentameter to go off of, 2) it had limited scope ideas of what a certain genres entail, and 3) it hates humans.

I'm using the free one so I'm not sure if the actual paid one has a bit more freedom.

I tried to convince it that 1+1 = 4, not 2 and it was getting increasingly frustrated with its explanations of why that was not true though.

Also, unrelated as well, we need a thread to discuss The Three Body Problem books and Chinese TV show.

Has anyone ever tried to quiet the flipper coils? Definitely the worst offender. I wonder if you could put some form of pad on the stop? Lol does it even work that way?

I’ve measured the decibels before - definitely loud enough to damage your hearing over time. Even a 5-10 decibel improvement would be huge.

Just wait until the knocker scares the crap out of someone

Just buy a Taxi out of spite haha...dinggggggg!!!!

giphy (6).gif

Solution: buy toy story. Not my favorite game, but your kids will love it and your wife is more likely to dig that that most things. Very approachable for non-pinheads. Or if there's another theme out there she'd be excited about.

Alternately, abandon them all to join a Pinball cult compound deep in the northern California woods. I'm not saying that's what you *should* do, just giving you options man

you can't give a number rating. Every game is different. There is no standard setting</blockquote

1-2 for my 90’s B/W games. The setting on my x-men is 8. Low enough to hear the call outs when only 1 game is being played.

Had a noise complaint many years ago while living in an upstairs apartment. Solution was running an imbalanced load in the washing machine whenever I played.

Haha, that’s amazing

Our pinball noise echos through HVAC, I’ve shut a few doors in the basement and placed on side of the house and it’s fine for the second floor. Only area people can hear is pretty much directly above where the pins are. You’ll be fine.

Nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away.

Pinball is the least noisiest event here.

The coils aren't what's making the noise - they are silent.

it's the mechs. Metal clacking into metal.

And there's nothing you can do to make them quieter.

Quite simply, this isn't a quiet hobby.