Quoted from PinWoofer:There is no intended solution to power pop as a result of using our product and I don't recommend looking to our product as a solution to this problem. At the same time I would also not put it out of the realm of possibilities because it may be a timing thing (maybe coincidence, one off, if it has happened this way). If somehow the PinWoofer solves this on POTC / JJP, I'd like to thoroughly confirm it (correlate a few installs and I can dig into "why"). Also / if so, does it solve it for both the cabinet speaker and backbox?
I'd encourage you to read through the "New Amplified Subwoofer Kits by PinWoofer" thread. I get the take on cost of parts, but also want you to consider the ease of install, delivered to your door, having things exactly matched with spare connectors, tested and serialized. Our kit is common to many customers and is obscenely quick to install. All of these needles have been poked and discussed (and IV needle removed). There is room for the DIY'er and the guy who wants turnkey. We're here for the latter and just want pinball to get better like everyone. We also have product support for those who need it (some need a lot of it and that's OK). We strive to add value.
Thanks for the interesting post!
I feel like I need to keep reminding this thread that I'm not talking about the "pop". For a good 10 seconds or more after the power switch is flipped on my machine it makes many pops, cracks, loud whines, etc. My general volume is around 19 but I haven't been home to look at the individual levels, which has been discussed for another issue (audio clipping during the game). I haven't looked at the routing (nor changed it) of the audio cables, which I also intend to do. I mean, I obviously know what the pop sounds like.. my WMS games are very noticable and I could really care less about that, although it seems like it is somewhat easily solved on WMS games (per the other thread I linked) and probably should have been, and could be, solved on JJP games. I guess I'm anal, as apparently many pin folks are, so that would have been one of the things that I would have griped about during testing an original JJP game if that was my job. I mean, they revamped how a major pin manufacturer conceptualized componentry in an antiquated world, why still have the pop?
PinWoofer - how about offering a product to solve the pop? Might be a nice complement and I don't know of any other "audio" focused mod manufacturer so you seem like a natural fit. All of the older threads I've read from the WMS issue had bad links to people who maybe sold a solution at one time or another for WMS. I am betting that, much like your woofer kit, there could be a somewhat generic install that maybe just comes with the proper connectors for the various systems. You seem to have the knowledge and understanding of the audio and personally, if the cost was right, I'd be happy buying a kit if I didn't have to spend this tedious time trying to figure out how to resolve this. It seems like there are now (as compared to back when the WMS issue was hot) many options for these small chinese boards that do many, many things, so maybe there is a solution that can be easily produced. If not, it seems like the PCBs are stupid cheap to make... the prior thread (I think it was like 4-5 years old) had the cost of the PCB at like $30 a piece and there are only like 5 components on it.
Either way, I'll post my results when I get home. I've been kicking this around on reddit with folks way more qualified than I and they have proposed a few solutions but many of them above my pay grade, which is why I've been trying to source some sort of existing board. Since I don't know what exactly is causing my issue, and it could totally be a audio cable routing issue as it totally sounds like feedback, but I doubt I'll be able to get resolution any other way than fixing it myself. I'll definitely record it and post so everyone can hear and send it over to JJP for their comments, since the game is so new. But like I said, I'd nab 3 kits right now if they were $30. Heck, even if it was a componentry kit that I had to solder, if all the pieces were there and it was a printed PCB with clear instructions, sold. I mean, people are spending $60 on some plastic light up wands for TOM, $30 for a slick piece of componentry seems like nothing for this crowd.
(Oh.. and to clarify, I was lumping together the "pop" and the 10 seconds of craziness my game has in the "I'd pay $30 to fix this" because I was sort of falling back on the solution I am working on which is a power on delay circuit that would either keep the speakers from having audio or the amp from having power for X seconds after the game is turned on. I don't know, and reddit is mixed, if providing power to the amp later will still create the pop or if using a relay to disconnect the speakers will introduce another pop. The true fix for the pop on the WMS games seems to be something like this http://tuukan.fliput.net/nonoise_en.html and maybe that is the same for JJP, although the amp and such are completely different so not sure if it still applies)