Data East pinball machines are known to have a distinct hum, and my Star Wars is no exception. I replaced the original sound board with a PinSound Plus board. This took care of the hum (mostly), improved the sound, and added the option to load different effects.
- The Data East hum with the original sound board
- Sounds of the game
- Updating the firmware
- After the update, with original sounds
- Disco sound concept by Vader77; stay to the end for a special appearance
The PinSound Plus is more particular about the power supply than the original sound board. PinSound sells a power booster for systems that need it. My sound board–model 520-5050-00 rev C–has power in at connector CN2. I measure the voltage at pin 1: +5 VDC, pin 2: ground, pin 3: -12 VDC, pin 6: +12 VDC. So I do not need the power booster.
There is still some hum. That could be helped by replacing the original dot matrix display and speakers, both things I am planning. The DMD I’ll replace with a color display.
