Somes questions ....

[LarryCasey]

Hello,

Here are a few questions on the subject...

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Watermarks

- I don't understand the presence of the "pinsound preview" audio watermark on the PSpacks for the Back to the Future pinball machine, for example. Most have them, but not all!

They're present on the one from the official website, but also on those found in the "community" section.

Furthermore, some come from the VPX + ALTSOUND community, or vice versa... They have the same sounds, but without the watermark.

Will they not be audible on the pinball machine, or do you need a version without the watermark?

Could this be the reason for the choice we have to make when ordering the board?

I got it from pinball-parts.shop without any files, so how do you get a watermark for Back to the Future?

Right now it's in my Star Trek collection, and the PSpacks available on the official website and in the community don't have watermarks! Is this system difficult to understand?

Watermark or no watermark?

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
- By the way, you can no longer create a pspack with Pinsound, so you have to put an "original" pspack on your USB drive, but it doesn't correspond to your WAV files, right?
Or maybe nothing is needed, but during my tests I had no sound in that case :|(:

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
- It's still poorly documented The website, for example, where and how to connect a subwoofer to a Pinsound card for a DATA EAST connection? To one of the L/R outputs of your choice?

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Validation to Pinsound PRO

- It's been almost 10 days since I validated the registration for the PRO version of Pinsound and still nothing... it says 72 hours :9): :9):

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Lifetime warranty or not ?

- The worst part is the outright lie, or rather, the false advertising, about the lifetime warranty! Yes, lifetime, but a limited lifetime.

"PinSound PLUS is covered by a lifetime product warranty! As long as this product is manufactured, it will be replaced if an incident occurs due to defects in materials or workmanship."

What are we supposed to understand from this? Will a v4 no longer be under warranty when the v5 is released? What about the v3s???

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- And as mentioned before, what bothers me is turning on a pinball machine and not having any sound for 30 or 40 seconds... And then you lose the intro:

For example, when you turn on Star Trek At 25, you immediately hear the line "Scotty here" with the beep of the famous Star Trek communicator... all of this disappears with the pinsound... and spoils the fun of having this card.

It's a shame there isn't a solution that would allow this 🥲

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
- The community forum isn't very responsive or as efficient as other communities, which is a shame. I posted on December 28th and it's still not published, pending approval. As a result, some questions are no longer relevant, but you can't delete your pending post.

For example, this interesting post, like many others, doesn't get a concrete answer. You feel alone sometimes. ...

 

Furthermore, I get the impression that many people make their own mixes but don't share them 😳

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- Pinball machines like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Checkpoint (Data East) appear on the site, but without any files available. This means you can't load a cartridge into them.

Pinsound?

 

2020 is still unanswered on the forum ::,((: ::,((: It's really sad not to have an active forum for this Pinsound card.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************The pspack structure, organized into folders, is well done, like Star Trek 25, for example, but for Back to the Future it's a disaster. There's no sound/action association like in the others! It's true it's not really useful, but all these "-unlabeled_xxxxx" tags are a deliberate attempt to confuse the user, preventing them from making their own modifications. It's an unfinished project or simply an impossibility. Technical?

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Personal Opinion

- I admit I'm having trouble with this Pinsound concept, which seems to be becoming increasingly closed off.

I'm torn between satisfaction and disappointment. Satisfaction with the product itself, but disappointment with everything else... ::|: ::|:

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Conclusion

These are all points to open the discussion and get your feedback.

 

[Florent.Pinsound]

Hello LarryCasey,

Here are some pieces of answers for your questions and feedback:

1) PinSound watermarks

Some sound packs are watermarked but it’s only when you preview each file on the PinSound Studio Pro software. Once the sound pack is installed on a PLUS or NEO sound board, no watermarks will be heard when you play on your machine (of course!).

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2) Creating and using PS packs

There is a dedicated support page on our website explaining how sound packs work, including a tutorial video:

Sound Pack Information

If you wish to create your own sound pack and convert it into a single PSPACK file, you can contact us and we will be happy to help you with that.

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3) Documentation and hardware connections

Many answers can be found in the support section of our website, on the dedicated page for each product. Actually, everytime we received a specific questions, we add it to the F.A.Q. of the related product.

For example, information about connecting an external subwoofer to a Data East pinball machine using a PLUS sound board can be found at the bottom of the PLUS support page, in the FAQ section:

Pinsound NEO & PLUS help

If you still need assistance after checking the documentation, do not hesitate to contact us directly.

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4) PinSound Studio Pro activation

We apologize for the inconvenience regarding your PinSound Studio Pro registration. We will look into this issue and activate your license as soon as possible.

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5) Lifetime warranty

As long as the PLUS sound board is still manufactured, it is covered by a lifetime product warranty, regardless of the hardware revision you own (v2, v3, v4). And for your information, we stand behind all our products. For any other PinSound product, even when the regular 2 years warranty is expired, we always find a way to help our customers.

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6) Startup delay and missing intro sounds

The PLUS sound board requires approximately 15 to 20 seconds to boot. You can add a custom boot sound file to customize your init sound sequence:

→ Pinsound NEO & PLUS help

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7) Community forum activity

Community activity depends largely on user participation and availability. While we try to check this forum, responses and shared content naturally vary over time depending on community engagement. Thanks for your participation by the way !

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8 ) Games listed without available sound packs

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Checkpoint are currently listed on the website but are not yet compatible with the PLUS or NEO sound boards. We are actively working on these titles, and progress is ongoing.

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9) Sound pack structure and unlabeled events

The overall organization of sound packs (music, jingles, sfx, etc.) is important and consistent. However, the labeling of individual sound event folders is done manually.

If you would like to help rename or identify some unlabeled events, as other community members have done in the past, you are very welcome to contact us and share your findings.

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Thanks for your feedback, everyday we just do our best to deliver the best products for pinball collectors.

[LarryCasey]

1  - Ok, but don't answer that if need a pspack or not :

"By the way, i can no longer create a pspack with Pinsound, so need to put an "original" pspack on myUSB drive with my own directory with new .wav files, but it doesn't correspond to your sound files, right?

Or maybe nothing is needed, but during my tests I had no sound in that case :|(:"

 

 

2 - "The PLUS sound board requires approximately 15 to 20 seconds to boot. You can add acustom boot sound file to customize your init sound sequence"

But no sound as soon as pinball are plug, init sound sequence come after 15/20 seconde booting sequance, so not sound until this ?

Edited January 6 by LarryCasey

[Florent.Pinsound]

1 - Once you open the PSPACK, it expands into its own folder with the usual structure. From there, you can make your changes. Make sure you use .OGG or .WAV files. Other file types, such as .MP3, will not be detected.
You can share your work in progress with us if you need feedback or troubleshooting: https://www.pinsound.org/contact/

2 - Unfortunately, this booting sequence is unavoidable for our sound boards to operate properly.

I hope this helps.

[LarryCasey]

So afterwards, we have to put a pspack file in the directory structure that no longer corresponds to my new WAV files? Or can we delete it? That's the question.

 

[LarryCasey]

No more from 12/23/2025 😵‍💫

 

[LarryCasey]

The original Star Trek 25pspack is truly the original, but for the Back to the Future pspack has modified with some "HD processing" that makes it no longer strictly identical to the original.

Is it not possible to get the "real" version without any modifications?

[LarryCasey]

1892272727-unlabeled_uwexer in pspack Back to the future are "strange" 

 

 

[Florent.Pinsound]

Concerning the PSPACK file: once you have opened it, do not move or remove this file from the directory. It works like a key that allows the PLUS and NEO sound boards to read the sound pack. Simply leave it where it is.

Other than that, you can place your WAV files wherever you want, and they will be used instead of the original files.

We validated several numbers last night. Could you please check if it works now? If not, could you send us an email at support@pinsound.org with your information so we can investigate more precisely?

The HD sound pack for Back to the Future is essentially the same as the original one, but with cleaner audio and enhanced voices. The "strange" sound you mentioned in the folder 1892272727-unlabeled_uwexer is actually part of the original sound pack used with the original sound boards. It corresponds to the sound "d0" if you are familiar with the original sound set.

So, as odd as it may sound, it is indeed part of the complete sound pack. That said, not every sound is used by the actual game. Some sounds are placeholders created by the original developers and do not necessarily have any in-game use.

I hope this makes things clearer.

[LarryCasey]

Do I need to use Pinsound Studio after each change to WAV files directly in the directory structure, and therefore recreate the Pinsound config file, or is that unnecessary?

[Florent.Pinsound]

On 1/10/2026 at 11:59 AM, LarryCasey said:

Do I need to use Pinsound Studio after each change to WAV files directly in the directory structure, and therefore recreate the Pinsound config file, or is that unnecessary?

It is not necessary. PinSound Studio Pro lets you adjust specific volumes and other actions such as adding your own shaker events, but when you simply replace wav files you don't have to worry about opening it. 

Just a piece of advice: try to adjust the volume of the new files you add in your custom sound pack. If your new background music is louder than the original, you will have trouble hearing the original call-outs and sfx if their volume has not been adjusted.