Greetings fellow pinball enthusiasts,
I just want to let you all know about a product I've been working on for almost a year now, that's now shipping. I have developed a new line of pinball audio headset adaptors for Bally/Williams WPC, WPC95, Stern White Star, and Stern SAM pinball machines. I call the product the Buckwerx Pinball Audio Adapter.
The Buckwerx Pinball Audio Adapter allows audio headphones and ear-buds to be plugged into many solid state and most DMD pinball machines. By using headphones users can optimize their ability to hear the pinball audio soundtrack.
The need: In home pinball collections players are often limited to the volume they can play pinball audio without disturbing others. In any environment, such as an arcade, where two or more pinball machines are being played, it’s nearly impossible to listen to the sound cues and background music. Both of these problems can be immediately addressed by using a Buckwerx Pinball Audio Adapter. Furthermore, modern headphones often provide far superior audio quality in comparison to typical pinball speakers—improving the overall audio experience. Many competitive pinball players have found that their overall scores improve when using headphones attached to a Buckwerx adapter.
The Buckwerx Audio Adapter was designed to plug into a pinball machine with about 10 minutes of effort. No permanent modifications are required—meaning the system can be easily removed or moved to another game.
The Buckwerx audio adapter will be made available through two US resellers: Pinball Life (
www.pinballlife.com), an internet pinball merchant; and at pinball shows via Rob Anthony (aka Borygard) and his company Pinball Classics (
www.lockwhenlit.com). Introductory list pricing will be $55 USD for WPC and WPC95 games such as Attack From Mars™, Scared Stiff™ and Twilight Zone, and $65 USD for Stern Pinball games such as Lord Of The Rings™, AC/DC™ and Pirates Of The Caribbean™. If sufficient market exists, Buckwerx expects to offer the Audio Adapter on Data East games such as Tommy™ and Guns ‘n Roses™ and Capcom games including Pinball Magic and Big Bang Bar. Buckwerx products come with a one year return to factory warranty.
Games on which the product can be installed must have an open dollar bill acceptor panel on the front door. For games lacking a bill acceptor, a replacement coin door can be obtained from Pinball Life.
I have always been interested in mechanical design, and pinball machines. Even as a kid, I loved to take things apart to see how they worked. My family has collected pinball machines for as long as I can remember, and I believe that it was pinball that helped to spur my interest in mechanics. Today, I work part time as a pinball repair mechanic, and hope to go to school for engineering in the near future. My dad had ordered a Jersey Jack Pinball Wizard of Oz machine (serial number 221), and Jack had mentioned that it could have a 3.5mm audio jack. I thought—that’s a great product, but why can’t we have that on our existing games?
Last year, I decided that I wanted to make something – some fun aftermarket gadget to interface with pinball machines. In 2011 I met with Kim Mitchell (aka Mr68), the creator of Wrong Crowd Productions, to brainstorm on the subject and soon came up with the idea for a Pinball Headphone Audio Adaptor. After some research and prototype work, and with the help of family members, friends, and co-workers, we soon had working prototypes. After a long beta test stage, the Buckwerx Pinball Audio Adapter is finally ready. I hope this product can help to make your pinball experience more fun!
More information including users manuals for the Buckwerx Audio Adaptor can be found at
www.audio.buckwerx.com
Sincerely,
Buck