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TILT!Audio 1.25 with "red board" is out

steve45

Registered
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Messages
22
Location
Ettlingen, Germany
Hello uk pinheads,

I'm sure many of you also read pinside https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rebuilding-sound-for-de-jurassic-park-using-a-pi but I still feel this community deserves its own thread :)

For those how don't know what this is about ... TILT!Audio is a replacement sound board that works in almost all WPC and DataEast machines based on a raspberry pi, that is used for creating sound effects. For more information see here: https://tiltaudio.com

It's not a plug'n'play product, but a kit to build for yourself, but still not very challenging. Since this week the new "red board" is out:
IMG_20190510_175836s.jpg

and since yesterday also the new firmware 1.25 that adds some nice additional features to the web ui:

Better and easy Wifi Setup. The board creates its own hotspot, if wifi was not setup, so you can easily connect and configure everything.
TILT_Audio-wifi-setup.jpg

10 band equalizer
--------------------
For the main audio devices there is now an additional device, that integrates an equalizer into the output stream:
TILT_Audio-equal.jpg

These are only 2 new features of the web ui. more on the web ui see https://tiltaudio.com/web-ui/

Update file for 1.25 https://mega.nz/#!hh4EwKZa!y0zpyWfsMRV8Kr1p3touUfR9FXKJVoEEdTddDSQoF_s
Small Image:https://mega.nz/#!w9RlVa5Q!3kkSyMIoBbqQNsGQXv6x9hXZ-ZZsQIhS3K_MRZqIWiU to be used with 4GB sd card + usb stick for sound
Big Image: https://mega.nz/#!h85jGSSL!aQU2r7r7SLUHxQl_G453G-JKBSQEq6V6DmnvAQqky3I to be used with 16GB sd card for firmware and sound

If you like to upgrade your machine you have basically two options:
1. Get a kit from my shop: https://tiltaudio.com/shop/
2. Build it on your own. Schematics and Gerber are online at https://easyeda.com/steve45/raspisnd-i2s

Have fun improving sound on your games.

BR Steve
 
Welcome Steve!!

Whats the differences between 2.5C and 2.5D please... that was a quick update.... Was only a few weeks ago that I received 2.5c!!

Cheers
Paul
 
Looks great that Steve, will order one of those asap.
 
@Paul, @steve45, how does this compare with PinSound? I assume from the description that it is almost a 1:1 replacement, so can even use the pinsound tracks?

Have you tried yours yet @Paul?
 
Nope not got there yet... Might look at putting it together on the weekend...

@Vimtoman may be able to advise....
 
I've not yet put it in a cab but it sounds good out.
Quicker to boot than Pinsound.
great wifi GUI and now equaliser.
Ive plugged it into the TAF with remote speakers and plays sounds OK
I just need some original sound sets to compare properly.
You do need to descramble the Pinsound files.
 
Welcome Steve!!

Whats the differences between 2.5C and 2.5D please... that was a quick update.... Was only a few weeks ago that I received 2.5c!!

Cheers
Paul
Things are moving fast :) . The green board unfortunately had still some design flaws as describe on the tiltaudio.com web site. These were fixed, thats basically the difference.
 
@Paul, @steve45, how does this compare with PinSound? I assume from the description that it is almost a 1:1 replacement, so can even use the pinsound tracks?

Have you tried yours yet @Paul?
You can basically achieve something similar: getting better sound on your machine. I will not going to advertise mine is better than the french thing. Let others judge. Regarding sound packs: there a lot already available on the net and TILT!Audio supports also new altsound format from VPINMAME. Just recently there was a post in the german forum where a new site was announced: altsound.vpin24.com. So you should always have a good sound pack to start with. and with the builtin web ui its really easy to enhance this, just upload a new sound effect or change and existing one.
Br Steve
 
@steve45

Dc-Dc in position U8 - I presume this needs to be Set to an output voltage before connecting up. What voltage please?

Thanks
Paul
 
Another Question please @steve45 - There are two power options - DC-DC (U7) and also the Stepdown DC-DC in U8.

Ive already installed U6, however i have decided to go the Stepdown route and take power from J501. I havent installed the DC-DC stepdown in U7. If i put a 2596 in U8, can i leave everything else in place??

85630


Thanks
 
U6 or U8 is either or, but not both. For WPC I also choose to get 5V from the small DCDC, so you should also install U7.

Conclusion: for WPC getting power from the machine is either U6/U7 installed or U7/U8.

Br Steve
 
I finally took the time this evening and put one of my spare TILT!Audio boards into my msf game. Took only a few minutes to replace and it plays very nice.


My msf has a few more mods like extra leds in backbox speakers, big color pin2dmd and also the whole gi is rgb. But to be honest the biggest thrill is always the new sound. Of course I replaced the speakers as well to get more volume and clearer sound.

Enjoy Steve
 
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New boards arrived today. I build one for testing (for WPC) see below.
ta-2.5e-small.jpg

So all parts are in stock, first to order gets the already build board for no extra cost (saves 45 min soldering time ;-) )

Br Steve
 
EQ will make a huge difference, will good to hear some feedback on how this sounds.
 
They sound Ok . I have one in my T2 . I would say comparable to the Pinsound.
My hearing is not great so dont shoot me if it's not :)

I had to place a filter on the bass prior as it was not deep enough.
Not tried out the new firmware with the equaliser yet to see if that makes a difference.
I have found that equalisers on stuff like DAPs tends to attenuate the sound so I usually keep them off.

I am going to take it out and go back to the original sound board.
Not because of anything wrong with the system Just that I may be selling the T2.
I was hoping to compare with the original T2 soundset but not had one that worked correctly to test properly.

If I get a converted T2 set ;) to compare the original with the Tiltaudio set then I could give a better opinion.

I did have one amp pop on the board. Thought it was my speakers at first.
 
Just to let you know Steve, i've received the pcb and parts today. Cheers!
 
Just tested out the new v1.27 and it works first time out of the box.
No issues installing and easy to setup.

One thing for anyone new is to set the audio device to sndrpihifiberry to get the best audio.
Not tried the equaliser just yet but the sound I'm getting out of the standard DAC is pretty good.

Looks like its staying in the T2 .
 
Last edited:
Just wanna give a quick heads-up: I'll be out on vacation starting mid next week and the week after. No shipping of kits in this time,.

Also I'll have limited access to internet, slack, mail, so please expect some delay in case there are questions, support request, sounds ....

For those how like not yet finished announcements ;) I'm working on the next release of board and firmware already and it will support a new port extender, that can control up to 16 additional outputs (can be programed as inputs as well), that can be controlled by TILT!Audio. So for a sound effect you can trigger all kind of extra effects build with the new IO port.

Br Steve
 
New revision of the 2.5 board arrived today. :D
87801

new feature: support for a port extender:

with port extender option you can control up to 16 additional GPIOs that control additional lights etc. based on the played sound effect. The used mcp 23017 has 16 programmable GPIO that supports up to 25 mA each and max 150 mA all together. So if you want to drive bigger loads you need a driver board or relay board in between.

configuration is easy: starting with version 1.28 of the firmware, you can not only place serial commands per sound effect, but also PORT commands, to either switch on or off, or playback sequenes (pulses).

Port extender is optional and must be ordered separately from the main kit.

Br Steve
 
HI @steve45 , Great update thanks.
Can you shift the audio amplifiers further into the pcb away from the edge of the pcb as the potentiometers foul the ribbon cables of the display drivers. Thanks

Also the ribbon cable for the port extender is not easy to connect to.
Just a couple of standard single row connector like the one it sits next to would be better.
 
New firmware 1.28 is out: https://mega.nz/#!l4xyDI5I!qoBXKPpOlxKabubys3AqH6tNBpEhtj0eJvP5bU4uTSY
It has a few bugfixes and especially support for the port extender (with board rev 2.5f and newer)

To use extension port you simply can reuse the serialCmd field in the sound effect details. New 1.28 recognized a few additional commands:

1. all commands for the serial media server (like before): PLAY, STOP und PLAYONEOF
2. NEW commands for the port extender: PORT x ON, PORT x OFF oder PORTSEQ x n1 n2 n3 ...

You can also combine both comamnd types in one, just use a colon as separator. X is the placeholder for the port number with the range 100-115 -> 16 outputs. The n1, n2 ... values are timespans of milli seconds, in order to playback a sequence. The port pin then toggles on and off.

There is also a new settings page in the web ui, that allows for testing GPIOs and commands in general:
TA-port-screenshot.jpg

Br Steve
 
why are the board revisions moving so quickly? Worried that if I order now in two months board rev V will be out?
 
why are the board revisions moving so quickly? Worried that if I order now in two months board rev V will be out?
Why? Because I like to be innovative. Would it be better in your mind to stay with the old rev longer?

It's backwards compatible and also I still have a few 2.5e. So either wait or order now, it's up to you.
 
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