Most responsive DDR cabinet?

I'm interested in owning my own DDR cabinet someday, or possibly running an arcade at a local theater (just a little dream of mine), and I want to know beforehand which DDR cabinet has the most quality build. I want the most sensitive pads and no timing issues, and I want to be able to upgrade it to the latest DDR versions, mostly X2 or X3 vs 2ndMIX. I would prefer X2 for an arcade, as I feel its initial songlist is more welcoming to new players than X3 vs 2ndMIX, which is only japanese and whose initial songlist might be unappealing to players in my area (the kinds of people who don't know how to sort songs and check the other groups in the interface). I've heard that there is no US upgrade kit for X2 though.

the build quality on anything but US X and X2 cabs are fine

probably the best quality is extreme dedis

Considering they're more recent, are SuperNOVA2 dedis any better or about the same? Just wondering since they're the last CRT models and the last before DDR X which people complained about.

they're about the same

Yes, I recommend EXTREME or SN cabs, they're so resistant. You can see various EXTREME cabs today, that's the best reference of the quality

Having played on EXTREMEs and SuperNOVAs upgraded from 3rd Mix, and MAX2 respectively, I would say that (wo/co)uld extend to machines upgraded from JP mixes prior to EXTREME too (but would it extend to DDR USA cabinets? )

I've always wondered if I could use older dance pads from EXTREME dedis and whatnot on a newer widescreen cabinet, but then that leaves the timing issues with the LCD? I'm so curious as to how much worse a newer HD cabinets responsiveness is compared to an older model.

itg2 dedicabs

SN2 cabinets are extremely resilient and responsive when I played on them. Granted that this was six years ago, but my memories didn't fade. However, from what I've seen, the white cabinets, as sexy as they look, are also pretty awesome.

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Logged in to say the following:
This. So much this.

yeah if you can get one of these don't hesitate

I have a JP 5th mix cab and have nothing but great things to say about it. The cab's been through a flood and was very high traffic for a huge part of its life (was at TGA before they closed). I just removed and added foam to my brackets and had a party over the weekend, people were saying the pads were "literally perfect." I open them up once every 3 months or so for any sort of repositioning.

ITG2 dedicabs have literally renowned reputations for reliability. That being said, I'm a heavy (250 lbs) player who plays ITG 12-13's. It seems that some pads are optimized for "barely touching" the panels, only hitting the inside of the sensors, and are "hair-trigger" sensitive. I get pad way offs on pads like this - I do not step lightly, and ambient vibrations can be an issue. I think the moral of the story is, JP DDR pads and ITG pads have the potential to be perfect with the right care.

I've never played on a good quality US X or X2. I don't think they exist.

Betson (SN and SN2) pads tend to feel "more stiff" than JP / Korean cabs I've played on, but also tend to be very responsive.

Orlando Dave N Busters has a near perfect one.

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I actually did play on that ~3 years ago. When I played on it, it was in okay condition, but I remember getting a few pad errors. By far the best US X2 I've played on.

I've played on that DnB X2 cab. It was a roulette with the panels taking turns giving pad misses or just getting stuck and making you lose the round. Definitely not quality.

Get a 573-era cab and foam-mod the pads.

Nuff-said. You're now officially ready to beast those 18+ songs.

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It's in perfect condition now. The Employees fix it on the spot.

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Japanese 573 cabinets are probably the best quality ones you'll find, though US SN1/SN2 machines can be just as good with a little bit of work. Korean cabinets are pretty iffy but you can also make those work pretty well. As far as X and X2 machines, I'd avoid X machines like the plague, but X2's can be pretty decent if you're okay with constantly having to service the pads.

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As a note, as they were designed to reduce costs, there's no separate subwoofer volume control and much weaker subs on the X2 cabs. While the screens are beautiful, this would be a dealbreaker for me.

we have an DDR sn2 AC cabinet at my local bowling alley and the cabinet was perfect