Sound Voltex Alpha - How to DIY an arcade cabinet with LattePanda?

**This article was originally written by Giovanni Shawn. All rights belong to the original author.

Project demonstration on YouTube

I decided to design my very own cabinet inspired from the Valkyrie Model for the latest SDVX release “EXCEED GEAR”, because why not? A tiny version of a Valkyrie cabinet would be awesome and super cute. This is what became my experimental phase for my business Frequency Style Arcade, my passion with music arcade games is not only shrinking them but also optimizing them for homes. Not everyone can shove a giant dance arcade machine in their living room.

Introduction of the project

Sound Voltex Alpha is a DIY mini arcade machine specifically made to run the Sound Voltex simulator “USC” (Unnamed_SDVX_Clone), it is a lot smaller than a real SDVX arcade machine. This is meant to be a smaller, compact, and portable version of SDVX gaming with a full fledged arcade machine design.

Hardware and software

HARDWARE:

- LattePanda Alpha

- Amazon parts list for items used on the unit

- Bluespringexpress 20g SDVX Springs (you WILL need this for hardcore gameplay!)

- DIY SDVX Knobs from SpeedyLabs

- Any NVMe SSD for additional storage (SDVX content takes up around 40GB of storage!)

LattePanda is a wonderful single board computer for many reasons, including running Windows for starters. Windows is my main operating system, so I’m most comfortable using it. Thankfully the LattePanda fully supports Windows which means I can play most of my favorite rhythm games on it easily. The size is also a huge important factor, as I build smaller arcade machines from time to time.

SOFTWARE:

- Unnamed_SDVX_Clone 

- VoiceMeeter - creating 2 outputs for headphone and HDMI out audio

Tutorials:

1. Purchase the SDVX Alpha files from Frequency Style Arcade’s Etsy shop to print at your local makerspace or CNC machine.

2. Once printed, the cabinet will be in a bunch of wood pieces, plus acrylic for the wing and marquee lights, the speaker covers, and the monitor protector.

3. Using a small sander, you’ll need to sand some holes to properly fit the buttons. This is to ensure the button holes aren’t too big, otherwise the buttons will not lock properly; so sanding the holes will be required for the cutouts. Make sure you don’t overdo the sanding or the pieces may not lock.

4. Use the appropriate wood screws to secure the control panel, monitor base, and marquee.

5. You will need to drill some holes for the following: headphone port, marquee light wire, wire travel on bottom of each wing, and standing feet. Find an appropriate drill bit to create these holes by measuring the physical items.

6. With the buttons and knobs ready, follow this guide for assembling your controller hardware.

7. Use an Arduino Pro Micro to hook up the LEDs and travel the wires through the bottom hole created on the wings, use the following code:

#include <FastLED.h>
#define LED_PIN     7
#define NUM_LEDS    30
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];

void setup() {
  FastLED.addLeds<WS2812B, LED_PIN, GRB>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
  FastLED.setBrightness(255);

}

void loop() {
  for(int i = 0; i < NUM_LEDS; ++i){
      leds[i] = CRGB(10, (10*i), 150);
  }
  FastLED.show();
}

8. Using white LED strips, you can wire them up in rows for even light distribution. Travel the wires through a small hole you made on the marquee piece.

9. Download VoiceMeeter and Unnamed_SDVX_Clone from the provided links onto your LattePanda Alpha, make sure your monitor is set to Portrait as SDVX is a portrait exclusive game! You can find songs for Unnamed_SDVX_Clone using Google.

10. After installing VoiceMeeter, make sure your two outputs are either HDMI or your main sound device and then your USB audio (headphone port). Test your volume to see what level is appropriate for your headphone port, you do not want it too loud!

11. Using the templates package, you can use a local print shop to print the designs. The marquee topper requires it to be translit as light will pass through it. 

12. The 8 inch monitor used will be mounted using some mounting tape due to the monitor using a metal frame, mount the monitor carefully as you may cut off part of the picture if it’s not aligned right.

13. BE VERY CAREFUL! Acrylic is very delicate when drilled, drill the final set of holes on the following to secure on the wood pieces: marquee topper, wing plates, speaker plates (optional, as I glued mine).

14. Test your controller by going into Unnamed_SDVX_Clone’s input settings menu, you can test any song when all songs are added and loaded into the game.

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