DDR Soft Pad FAQ

Updated 7-23-2004.

Types of Pads
Types of Soft Pads
Vendors and Pads
Purchasing Recommendations
Use and Care
Pad Modifications
Modes of Failure
Credits

Introduction

This document should serve as a guide to help people decide which category of Dance Dance Revolution pad they want to buy, and where to buy it. I want to keep this document relevant and up-to-date, so please send your additions to me. Additions will be of the most value if they can fit within the framework of this document, and if they present information in terms of the pads that we already know about.

See also the DDR Freak Soft Pad Thread.

Types of Pads

There are three basic types of pads:

soft pads
hard pads - made of all plastic, these are worthless. They break very easily
metal pads - these have a metal frame, and metal, polycarbonate, or acrylic arrow panels

Soft pads can further be divided into two styles:

normal (thin)
ignition-style (thick) - these pads have thick (2 cm to 1 inch) foam inserts which can be inserted or removed by unzipping the pad. These pads also have foam inserts glued under each of the arrows, which raise them slightly.

Ignition-style pads are better than thin pads for several reasons. The thick foam insert gives the pad more structure, which helps to keep the pad flat and not wrinkle. This makes the pad more accurate and durable. It also makes the pad easier on your feet. The foam glued under the arrows makes the pad more durable, and most importantly, lets you feel where the arrows are with your feet, so that you never need to look down at the pad. The pad's increased weight helps it to stay in one place on the floor.

Since ignition-style pads are so much better than thin pads, and cost only a little more (at the cheapest), the rest of this document will be devoted only to ignition-style pads.

Ignition-style pads do wear out, so if you find them wearing out more quickly than you care to replace them, think about getting a metal pad. They last longer. I personally prefer soft pads and playing in socks, so I continue to buy new soft pads as my old ones wear out.

Types of Soft Pads

Soft pads are differentiated by these properties:

Shiny top surface. The smooth vinyl of these pads can be sticky or slippery, depending on your footwear: sticky for shoes, cotton socks, and bare feet; slippery for polyester socks. You can tweak the stickiness by choosing socks with a different cotton/polyester blend ratio.
Textured top surface. These pads will produce a bit of noise (like a record scratch) if you slide your feet on them. They are somewhat slippery for any type of sock, though you can probably tweak the slipperiness a little bit with different types of socks, as above.

Soft foam. Even so-called "dense foam" is often really just soft foam. Between 2 cm and 1 inch thick, this foam is definitely easy on your feat, but you will have a tendency to sink into the pad. This foam will wear out in a few months of heavy game-play, before the pad itself in most cases. Pad with foam weighs about 5 pounds. I prefer 2-cm foam over 1-inch foam, as you don't sink into the pad as much.
Hard foam. 1-inch thick hard foam still has some give to it, so it's not really hard on your feet. It is much more resilient than soft foam, so the pad will stay flatter (will not depress as much). This tends to make the pad more responsive and durable. Hard foam lasts longer than soft foam. It is recommended for all serious players. Pad with foam weighs about 9 pounds.

Vendors and Pads

Besides the properties described in the previous section, soft pads tend to be very similar in construction and quality.

	Top Surface	Foam Type
RedOctane Ignition 2.0	textured	hard	$100+	Not worth the money.
Level Six 2.0	textured	soft	(not avail.?)	This pad has thick inserts glued under the arrows, such that the buttons are only activated with a lot more force than the other pads require. It might be o.k. if you are heavy or play in shoes.
Level Six 3.1	textured	hard	$39	Same thick arrow inserts as above.
BUYnSHOP Ultra DX-Xtreme	shiny	hard	$49
DDR Nation Ignition 2.0	shiny	soft	$33	Apparently the same as BUYnSHOP, except for the soft foam. It appears that eBay seller discount-auction sells these pads, but waiting for confirmation.
CypherGames Ignition 1.0	??	??	$30 or 2 for $50
CypherGames Ignition 2.0	??	??	$40 or 2 for $70
eBay random generic ignition	either	usually soft	2 for $47+ shipped	You take your chances with eBay, as the pads seldom come with a warranty, and sometimes are of cheaper construction than other pads.
eBay seller yang32096	shiny	soft	2 for $50 shipped	These pads wore out very quickly (1-2 months).
MyMyBox 2.5	??	??	$90	too expensive
MyMyBox 3.0	??	??	$90	too expensive
Vortz 2.5	textured	soft	$40 shipped	Beware the thick arrow inserts like Level Six pads.
Vortz 3.0	textured	hard	$46 shipped	Beware the thick arrow inserts like Level Six pads. Review. Sells for less on eBay sometimes.
Level Six hard foam			$10	This is a great addition to any pad with soft foam, and the price with shipping is very reasonable.

Purchasing Recommendations

Cheapest: DDRNation from eBay seller discount-auction. 2 for $50 shipped. Shiny top, soft foam.
Textured top: Vortz 3.0. When available from vortz on eBay, 2 for $55 shipped. Hard foam. Beware the thick inserts under arrows (read above)
Discount shiny top: DDR Nation from eBay seller discount-auction. 2 for $50 shipped. Add Level Six hard foam, $10 each.
Deluxe shiny top: BUYnSHOP Ultra DX-Xtreme. $49. Hard foam. This is probably the same pad as DDR Nation, but it comes with hard foam and a 30-day warranty.

The great thing about ignition-style pads compared to thin pads is that they don't require modification to play well and last a reasonable length of time. The following modifications are strictly optional.

Add hard foam. Level Six's hard foam is highly recommended.
Add padding on top of the hard foam. Take any old non-slip soft pad, and cut out a section of the bottom foam layer in the shape of your hard foam. Insert this into your pad atop the hard foam. This makes the pad slightly softer and easier on your feet, without sacrificing sensitivity.
Reinforce wires with tape. Open the pad and cut around the perimeter of the thin white plastic layer that covers the bottom of the pad. Be careful not to puncture the layer underneath. Peel back the plastic so as to expose the bottom circuit layer. Using clear plastic packing tape, cover all of the wires and contact pads (the large areas underneath each arrow), being very careful not to allow your taping to preserve any creases or wrinkles in the plastic circuit layer. This serves to strengthen the wires, remove creases in the wires (which are prone to failure after long use), and remove and prevent creases in the contacts, which could stick through the holes in the foam towards the other circuit layer, causing sticking buttons.

Soft pads are made of soft materials, which will not last forever. A good soft pad with hard foam should last through 6-8 months of heavy daily game play. Beware the modes of failure:

Deformed / compressed soft foam. Eventually the air gets squeezed out of the bubbles in the foam, leaving it permanently compressed and not springy in some places. Replace the foam, preferably with hard foam. Soft foam will wear out after just a few months of heavy daily game play.
Failed controller. Failure of the electronics in the controller or a wire in the cable will usually cause complete pad failure. Replace the entire controller and cable with a spare from one of your old pads. Failure of the controller electronics is uncommon. In some cases the problem is the connection between the controller and the pad: see this fix.
Unresponsive buttons. A broken wire inside the pad will cause one or more buttons to stop reacting some or all of the time. This is almost impossible to fix.
Sticking buttons. This happens either when the foam between the circuit layers is ripped or stretched, or when the circuit layers have wrinkles in them which stick up (or down) towards the other layer and make contact through the holes in the foam when they shouldn't. Ripped foam can be replaced, though you'll need to seek out the right kind of foam and cut the holes in it yourself. Wrinkles can be corrected by flattening them and putting layers of clear tape atop them. Wrinkles in the bottom circuit layer can be easily corrected, as this layer is easily accessible. Wrinkles in the top layer are very hard to get to. If your pad is suffering from either of these problems, it's probably on its way out. A fix probably wouldn't keep the pad alive for much longer. See this soft pad repair guide.
Torn / cracked top surface. The top surface will eventually get cracks in it from the repeated flexing. Clear plastic packing tape atop the cracks will easily correct this, and stick well if you have a shiny top surface. If your pad is so worn as to have lots of cracks, it probably has only a month or two left before the innards will be shredded to bits.
Drifting arrow inserts. Reportedly if the foam inserts glued under each arrow are not glued well enough, they can drift. You could try to fix this yourself, but you'd need to almost completely disassemble the pad to get to the inserts. If it happens soon after your purchase, return the pad for a replacement. I've never had this problem.
Slow recovery. Stepping on an arrow compresses the foam between the circuit layers, causing them to touch at the holes in the foam. When you release your foot, the foam expands, pushing the circuit layers apart and opening the circuit. Sometimes quick or sustained repetition of very hard presses (e.g., jumping with both feet) will compress the foam so much that after you release your foot the foam doesn't expand quickly enough to open the circuit in time for your next step, causing you to miss that next step. This is hard to diagnose, because the pad may work correctly for most of a song, and fail only during certain sections. This may be caused by wrinkles in the circuit layer, or ripped/stretched/compressed inner foam, which also cause sticking buttons. If the sticking button fixes don't fix it, I don't know what will.