How do you feel about the sound quality?

[msilcommand]

Zen went with a clean stereo sound for their Williams tables, rather than the nostalgic, semi-distorted boxy sound of a live machine that Farsight went with. I like both, personally. I think both approaches fit the style and experience of each game.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

One thing to bear in mind is that, while all those WMS tables had two speakers, they were never stereo - it was all mono. Farsight were able to emulate the sound directly from the ROMs, but chose not to because it didn't sound right.

 

[msilcommand]

One thing to bear in mind is that, while all those WMS tables had two speakers, they were never stereo - it was all mono. Farsight were able to emulate the sound directly from the ROMs, but chose not to because it didn't sound right.

Gotcha. I didn't investigate whether or not Zen actually converted the rom sound into stereo. It just has a clean stereo sound comparatively, so I assumed. I could definitely be wrong. I think what they both did sounds great for the style of their respective games. FX3 is more a clean and clear table sound type of game. TPA is more a nostalgia type of game.

Which do you prefer?

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Which do you prefer?

A real table with the volume turned right up? I can't really tell the difference and I've not played Zen or TPA on my PC in such a long time now that it's hard to remember what they sound like. I play almost exclusively on my tablet these days with the sound turned down because I'm watching TV.

 

[Gorgar]

On PS4, the sound quality on the Williams tables in Pinball FX3 isn’t as loud as other pinball fx3 tables and any of the Pinball arcade tables. I prefer the sounds in Pinball Arcade (post recent sound update. And I mean the rom-related sounds. Not the mechanical sounds. The mechanical sounds in TPA suck) and don’t even think it’s close.

Well, the sole exceptions might be Champion Pub and Party Zone, which are louder than the other Williams tables in PFX3 for some reason.

 

[msilcommand]

On PS4, the sound quality on the Williams tables in Pinball FX3 isn’t as loud as other pinball fx3 tables and any of the Pinball arcade tables. I prefer the sounds in Pinball Arcade (post recent sound update. And I mean the rom-related sounds. Not the mechanical sounds. The mechanical sounds in TPA suck) and don’t even think it’s close.

Well, the sole exceptions might be Champion Pub and Party Zone, which are louder than the other Williams tables in PFX3 for some reason.

Ah, I haven't bought pack 3 yet for fx3. I have all of those tables still on TPA, and figure I will wait for a sale. So, I will have to wait and see.

One thing in FX3 with sound that irks me sometimes is the volume disparity of some SFX or Voiceovers. Like the cell phone ring in Archer! It is like nails on a chalkboard.

On TPA, the biggest issue for me with the old boxy mono live sound is that it distorts speakers when cranked up, sometimes in the low end and sometimes in the high-mids. That said, I am pretty sure it does that on the live machines too, especially when the panels and parts get older and rattle.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

That said, I am pretty sure it does that on the live machines too, especially when the panels and parts get older and rattle.

When they were brand new, as well. I know it wasn't a WMS, but Jurassic Park with the volume up too high went from being one of the best sound packages around at the time, to an impenetrable wall of sound that deafened the entire room.

 

[msilcommand]

When they were brand new, as well. I know it wasn't a WMS, but Jurassic Park with the volume up too high went from being one of the best sound packages around at the time, to an impenetrable wall of sound that deafened the entire room.

Lol

 

[Citizen]

I like the Williams FX3 audio. The clarity and mechanical sounds make it the most enjoyable for me. Zen easily does mechanical sounds the best, followed by Zaccaria, then TPA in a distant third. I'd love to hear an EM in FX3, hopefully some day we get some. I agree with Gorgar that FarSight have definitely improved upon their ROM sound quality recently, but the horrible mechanical sound quality still makes their tables sound absolutely dead to my ears.

 

[MBeeching]

FX3's raw audio is superior but there are unusual balance issues and it's extremely variable on the WMS tables (ROM/Mechanical/Zen effects), custom leveling would be very welcome. I don't mind TPA but it's a bit thin and nothing special, I'm just glad they fixed Ghostbusters as that sounded dreadful.

I despise some of the sound effects on Party Zone, those pop bumpers offend my ears. I'd love to create a sound mod for that table...

 

[shogun00]

When they were brand new, as well. I know it wasn't a WMS, but Jurassic Park with the volume up too high went from being one of the best sound packages around at the time, to an impenetrable wall of sound that deafened the entire room.

Most Data East tables were like that. I remember at the local arcade they had to turn down the Robocop and Back to the Future pins because of the same problem.

 

[msilcommand]

Most Data East tables were like that. I remember at the local arcade they had to turn down the Robocop and Back to the Future pins because of the same problem.

Oh man, yeah that Robocop table was so friggin loud. Holy crap.

 

[MBeeching]

Oh man, yeah that Robocop table was so friggin loud. Holy crap.

I played Who Dunnit a few months ago and it was astonishingly loud. No idea whether that example was stock or modded, though I believe the original had powerful sound output. Heighway's Alien table was also fairly extreme in the volume department (@ Flip Out London).

 

[jaredmorgs]

Zen might make you feel like the whole package is stereo if you're playing in Zen Enhanced mode (animated boxer, sneaky creeping crook, etc)

Zen have made any sound effects they overlay over the original soundtracks in Stereo.

So explosions in Safe Cracker TNT Multiball have a stereoscopic effect to them for example.

I'll say that Zen must've done some audio clean up to the music in Champ Pub, but the voice files still sound a bit hissy and tinny.

I've been enjoying playing Zen through good headphones. You really get the bass and effects they've augmented in the games.

 

[shutyertrap]

Most Data East tables were like that. I remember at the local arcade they had to turn down the Robocop and Back to the Future pins because of the same problem.

If you watched the recent video of Brad from VPCabs unboxing that 25 year old Jurassic Park, when they turn it on the sound is on full blast right from the start. Didn't Data East make a big deal about having actual stereo sound?

 

[shogun00]

Didn't Data East make a big deal about having actual stereo sound?

Yeah, they coined the term "digital stereo". Not the form of stereo (aka true stereo) that we are are familiar with, but a clever way in using the sound card and ROM chips to make it sound like stereo.

 

[Citizen]

Williams played around with the same sort of thing with Jokerz but abandoned the concept after that 1 attempt.

 

[kimkom]

FX3's raw audio is superior but there are unusual balance issues and it's extremely variable on the WMS tables (ROM/Mechanical/Zen effects), custom leveling would be very welcome.

Yeah agree that the audio levels need sorting.

Don’t think we need more audio tuning options though, we just need Zen to level the table music volume across the board. Fine tuning mech volumes etc would be fine after that.

The problem is that music volume on most Williams tables is too low. I have it at max and it’s still being overpowered by other sound effects. Then the menu music at game end is much louder.

AFM is a good example of all of this.

 

[Echeos]

The sound on Black Rose is very grainy. Sounds better in TPA.

 

[shogun00]

One thing to bear in mind is that, while all those WMS tables had two speakers, they were never stereo - it was all mono.

Actually, they used three speakers (2 full-range and 1 woofer). One of the full-range speakers is in the bottom of the cabinet.