TILT!Audio – Page 5 – Best audio for your pinball machine

Test a TILT!Audio board

In order to test your TILTAudio board including the WPC bus interface to the pinball machine you can use an arduino mega board.

Just connect the mega with the TILT!Audio board like this:

Connections from the Arduino mega to WPC bus on TILT!Audio

Connecting also the 5v power line is optional. You need to choose either to power everything from on source or just skip the red 5v wire and power the 5v on the TA board and the Arduino separately.

For the address decoder (the smd chips) to work the raspberry pi needs to be plugged in as the 3v3 power for the decoder comes from the pi’s onboard regulator.

Also the resistor network RN3-5 must be installed, without them bus connections are not there. 12V can be skipped for testing, which means amps will not work, but you could also connect a speaker either to the PI’s audio jack directly or use the audio jack on the DAC module.

Then load the following ino script to the Arduino:

void setup() {
   // set gpio mode
   DDRC = 255; // switch port c completely to output
   DDRA = 255; // switch port a completely to output
   PORTA = 255; // high
   PORTC = 255; // high
   pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}
int data[] = { 0x01, 0x20, 0, 0 };
int ledState = 0;
void play(int start, int end ) {
   for( int i = start; i <= end; i++ ) {
     delayMicroseconds(900);
     PORTA = data[i];
     PORTC = 0b01011100;      // sound address + rw = low, with wden high
     delayMicroseconds(20);
     PORTC = 0b00011100;      // sound address + rw = low, with wden low
     delayMicroseconds(30);
     PORTC = 0b01011100;      // sound address + rw = low, with wden high
   }
}
void toggleLed() {
   digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, ledState);
   ledState = !ledState;
}

void loop() {
  play(0,1);
  delay(2000);
  toggleLed();
  data[2] = random(4);
  data[3] = random(256);
  play(2,3);
  delay(4000);
}

void setup() {

// set gpio mode

DDRC = 255; // switch port c completely to output

DDRA = 255; // switch port a completely to output

PORTA = 255; // high

PORTC = 255; // high

pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);

}

int data[] = { 0x01, 0x20, 0, 0 };

int ledState = 0;

void play(int start, int end ) {

for( int i = start; i <= end; i++ ) {

delayMicroseconds(900);

PORTA = data[i];

PORTC = 0b01011100; // sound address + rw = low, with wden high

delayMicroseconds(20);

PORTC = 0b00011100; // sound address + rw = low, with wden low

delayMicroseconds(30);

PORTC = 0b01011100; // sound address + rw = low, with wden high

}

void toggleLed() {

digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, ledState);

ledState = !ledState;

}

void loop() {

play(0,1);

delay(2000);

toggleLed();

data[2] = random(4);

data[3] = random(256);

play(2,3);

delay(4000);

}

This way you can emulate sound effect commands to would normally come from the pinball machine.

I will upload a more detailed example on the github repo: https://github.com/sker65/tiltaudio-extensions

Connections needed:

Arduino	TILT!Audio
PA0:22	CD0 wpc15
PA1:23	CD1 wpc13
PA2:24	CD2 wpc11
PA3:25	CD3 wpc9
PA4:26	CD4 wpc7
PA5:27	CD5 wpc5
PA6:28	CD6 wpc3
PA7:29	CD7 wpc1
PC0:37	CA0 wpc25
PC1:36	CA1 wpc23
PC2:35	CA2 wpc21
PC3:34	CA3 wpc19
PC4:33	CA4 wpc17
PC5:32	RW:wpc31
PC6:31	WDEN:wpc29
GND	GND

Quick Start

What is it?

TILT!Audio is a free time project that aims to get you a replacement for your audio board in your pinball game. It works with data east, wpc and white star games.

What do I need?

You need a board (PCB) and a couple of electronic components (SMD chips, resistors and some pre assembled modules), a raspberry pi (3B or newer recommended, but 3A and even zero also works) and a micro sd card for the software and the new sounds to use. Maybe some additional wires as you are going to get stereo sound on old wpc machines.

The PCB designs are free and you can create one or order one on your own if you like. Just checkout out https://oshwlab.com/steve45/tiltaudio. Alternatively you can order a kit including all required components and a PCB in my shop.

Finally to run the software without licensing hints for more than just 10 minutes you need a license (also available in my shop).

Can I do it on my own?

Some soldering skills are required. Some basic understanding of your pinball electronics (it is not plug and play). Some computer knowledge on how to flash a micro sd card with an “image” and maybe extracting a zip file.

Step by Step

Assembly: First you need o assemble the board, there are a couple of hints and also a video available on the assembly page on this website. As there were already many board revision, be sure that you only look for your board revision not older outdated ones.
Prepare the micro SD Card for the pi: get a 16GB micro sd card a flash the latest image onto the card using a tool like balena etcher. Add a sound pack for your machine into the data/sound directory on the sd card. Sound packs are available from the virtual pinball community on http://altsound.vpin24.com. Just look for your machines rom abbreviation (see on https://www.ipdb.org/).
Optional for sd card: add an update.zip to the sd card update if there is a patch update newer that the latest image available. Latest versions see below.
Check the initial setting for your machine: (only for board rev < 3.5, newer boards can skip this step): there is a jumper on the board that needs to be set to DE if your machine is data east or white star and to WPC for all wpc machines. Open the raspisound.ini file in the data/sound diectory and add one line with “vendor=0” for data east, “vendor=1” for WPC, “vendor=5” for WPC DCS and “vendor=7” for white star.
Prepare speaker wiring: for old wpc machines you need to change the speaker wiring, as you will get stereo in the backbox plus mono in the cabinet (2.1 sound). see here. Lookup out for the speaker connectors on the bottom of the board and change your speaker wiring accordingly. You could also think of replacing the original speakers with better replacement ones to get even better sound (and you really should!!)
Turn down the volume: before putting the board in and start up the pinball turn down the volume to almost minimal by turning to two onboard pots to the left (CCW) and then slightly back to right some degrees.
Apply the raspberry pi: put the micro sd card into the pi and then put the pi upside down onto the board.
Replace the sound board: pull out the old sound board from the pinball machine and replace it with the new TILT!Audio board. Note: not all the former connections are needed / are the same. For WPC the speaker wiring is changed (see 5) also the logic power connector (on the left) is not needed only the aux power J501 at the bottom.
Switch on the pinball machine: for WPC boards you should see the DC power module led and in any case the led on the DAC module light up. If you installed an OLED status display shortly after boot the TILT!Audio logo should appear. After 20 seconds you should hear a boot sound.
Configure via Wifi (optional): if your pi has wifi (normally always the case) after a few minutes you should see a new wifi network “TILTAUDIO”. You can connect your computer or smart phone using the password “tiltaudio” and then connect to http://192.168.42.1:31008/ to get to the webUI. This is only necessary if you some of the initial setup steps above did not match your machine setting or for more expert configurations. if you have the right vendor setting applied and a sound pack installed you should already be able to play your first game with new sound experience.

Latest image version is 1.34 can be downloaded here: https://tiltaudio.com/file/firmware-latest

Latest update patch (see changelog) can be found here: https://tiltaudio.com/file/update-latest please be sure to rename the zip file to update.zip before copying to the update folder onto the sd card.

Troubleshooting

I can’t hear any sound, not even boot chime.
Check speaker connection wires. Check on board pots if volume is not completely down to zero (all to the left).
If you have access to web UI goto audio device settings and try a different audio device.

I can’t hear only boot sound, but game does not start playing music or react to game play
Check if jumper setting matches your game type (see 4 above). Also check the vendor setting in the raspisound.ini file. If you have access to the web UI you can also check vendor settings on the config page.
Also check the connection of the data cable (ribbon cable).

Raspberry pi does not boot and no led is lighting up on the DAC module.
Check power supplies: on wpc check fuse. (older boards also data east). Check correct connection of power supply connectors J501 for WPC and CN2 for data east.

Data east cabinet pot for volume control does not work
Check CN3 connector to cabinet pot (top side of the board). for newer boards: is the ADC module applied? for older boards: enable_dataest_volume set to true?

I hear sound triggered in the web ui, but not in the game.
Check data connections and the jumper must be set accordingly (DE or WPC)

Please also check the FAQ.

TILT!Audio is back – what’s new in version 2.0

First and most important: we did invest quite some time to debug the communication problems with WPC pinball machines. It turned out that it was a small timing glitch introduced by a charge of smd decoders I used in my kits. We heavily improved the PCB design (thanks to Lucky and David) and can now present a completely new design with much improved bus timings, bus termination or to say it simple: IT WORKS with wpc.

New 2.8rev of the PCB, completely assembled with optional DSP applied

More PCB improvements:

logarithmic pots to easier adjust speaker volume
bus termination
HF noise filtering for amplifier outputs
removed unnecessary WPC digital power connector
finally adjust dimensions & hole position to exactly match original sound cards
cleaner layout

Improved remote volume control (for DataEast)

Cabinet pot is now read via a real analog to digital converter that talks to the raspberry pi via i2c, so TILT!Audio can adjust audio volume very precisely.

Switch soundset on button click

For data east it is now possible to change soundset by just clicking the button on the board. In WPC machines this can also be done by just pressing the VOL- button in the cabinet again, if the volume is already zero.

Optional support for DSP sound output

Instead of just using a stereo DAC 5102 that converts from digital audio TILT!Audio now also optionally supports creating sound via a DSP (digital sound processor) ADAU1701 from analog devices. This way sound for cabinet and back box is digitally routed and processed separately with custom mixing and frequency based filtering each sound path.
The DSP is optional an gets recognised by the firmware automatically.

Enhancements in the firmware

Embedded sound editor

You can now simply edit every sound effect in place by just one click

Ducking per sound effect

It is now possible to reduce the volume of the background music (ducking) for each sound effect individually.

Full support for altsound

“Altsound” the new default standard sound format for sound packages is now completely supported and the preferred format. Just as a reminder: altsound stores all sound properties in a very simple CSV file along with the actual sound files. It is also compatible with pinmame (or VPinMame) for virtual pinball simulators and you can find various sound packages on http://altsound.vpin24.com

Country setting in WIFI

In addition to set wifi passphrase you can now also provide a country setting to adjust usage of channels and transmission power.

Wifi config file is now additionally exposed on the data partition (or USB stick) so that expert user can adjust it on their own.

Simulate sound output in the browser

If you TILT!Audio in not connected to the real machine (or just running on the raspberry pi alone) you can choose to get sound from the browser in the web UI itself. This way TILT!Audio UI can be used as standalone sound pack editor with or without pinball machine connected.

Cleanup of UI and controls

All slider control are now also have tool tips / labels the provide the current setting as number as well as button to restore defaults.

Nice clean slider with number batches & sound simulator switch

Better structure on config page

You can actually take a look on the new web UI in the live demo. All changes are of course reset every 10 minutes.

Optional bigger OLED display

The oled display that is / was part of the kits so far, was quite small so you can now also choose to use the bigger ones with SH1106 controllers instead of SH1306.

Bugfixes

Wifi passphrase with exotic characters are now working
Moving sound effect from one category to another is working also for altsound.