@Laban You’re honestly the greatest person I’ve ever met in my life right now. I legit thought I was going to have to pull off Scorpion’s vortex on the PS4 Dpad. The Hori sticks actually look pretty legit too, I thought they were just cheap alternatives until this thread.
I pre-ordered both the Hori Pro 4 KAI and the standard TE2 PS3/PS4. I will most likely be selling one if I can’t convince my wife that I need both 
. I might sell it to someone here if anyone is interested. I’m not trying to flip anything (will sell it for the same price).
I’m planning on keeping both but married guys on here know how that turns out sometimes.
No way dude Hori sticks are legit.
I’m not sure if this is allowed but… Amazon is selling the KAI version again and it says they will be in stock March 14 for those that are interested.
Looks like Amazon is also taking preorders for the TE2 USFIV Edition.
People have asked me about my opinion on what is good. I’ll keep it out of the main post, but it’s tough to judge right now.
The #1 thing I look for in an arcade stick is the PCB, and we just don’t have enough knowledge on them yet due to insufficient testing/reporting.
I love the plastic base of the Hori RAP 4 Kai - Hori RAP.V - Hori DoA5LR series but only because I have a dremel.
I’d still prefer a Sanwa JLF and Seimitsu or Sanwa buttons though instead of the Hori Hayabusa & Kuro products.
TE2 confirmed common ground PCB, but I don’t like hinges. VLX is sexy as expected.
Honestly, I don’t like anything yet enough for purchase.
Then again, in my opinion, no retail stick will come close to the best of all time (Madcatz TE1/TE-S series)
Yeah I said it.
My TE1 feels more solid and less flex than my TE2, I find the shape is more comfortable, I’m not big on the TE2’s gimmicky plexiglass(who needs to swap artwork that often) and makes the plexi shift around because the buttons don’t hold it to the metal plate.
Opening the stick is nice on the TE2 but if I plan to do something inside of the stick 6 screws isn’t a big deal.
TE1 has more room to mod and add stuff like Neutrik inside the the cable compartment and more roomy inside(If you cut some of the plastic inside it)
Though I like the looks of the TE2 better
My Fightstick Pro though is growing on me, I like the texture on the plastic, the shape is nice even though it feels a bit small but still has space under the buttons for your palms before the slant of the plastic(something that kind of annoys me on the Hori sticks) and light, it feels overall solid too and it was cheap when they had all those sales for $89.
Are the TE-S the same as the TE but without the sides?
Yeah and a few other cosmetic changes like no bezel but the Tekken TE-S version had one and foam padding on the bottom that the normal TE didn’t have, don’t think the TE-S had foam either.
I think the TE-S had a better PCB also.
Man I could list all day on how good the TE1 is… I’ll make it simple and quick.
Also feel free to check out my post on "[TUTORIAL - FrankCastleAZ’s revitalization of 11 TE and 2 SE Madcatz sticks documented -IMAGE HEAVY-](TUTORIAL/PROGRESS - Revitalization of 11 TE and 2 SE Madcatz sticks -IMAGE HEAVY- COMPLETE to see what I’ve done with many of them.
Case-
Madcatz Tournament Edition 1 Case (All TE1/TE-S models)
=Individual heavy duty plastic pieces screwed together (Top base, Mid base, Side Left, Side Right)
=Cases could be broken down and can easily be dremeled in strategic areas to make room for hardware
=Space available to mount PCBs on bottom of mid base between itself and metal back panel, or on top of mid base between itself and top base and metal top panel
=Can easily mount a Neutrik USB or RJ45 adapter on Select/Start button areas or plenty of space to drill a hole for one
=TE cases came with either flat sides or curved sides
=All sides are interchangeable and alternate colors can be ordered via Madcatz website
=Plastic colored bezel was available for certain models of TE1
=All bezels are interchangeable and alternate colors can be ordered via Madcatz website
=Tons of 3rd party support from PCB creators (Toodles with TE Kitty, Phreakazoid with TEasyStrike etc) making easymode mods for beginners and more
=Tons of 3rd party support from visual improvement creators (Replacement Turbo area from guys 3D printing and tons of plexi options by Tek Innovations detailed below)
Metal Panels-
+Both top and bottom metal panels
-Sanwa screw-ins not compatible with Kick1 due to nut being in way of joystick mounting plate
Plexi/Art-
=No default plexi
=Default artwork can leave a sticky residue when removing
+Tek Innovations has a TON of plexi options for top, back, and bottom. Top plexis can be done in regular in bezel, extended (replacing bezel), or full top, and has all options from removing the turbo area, only using cooler (6 button) instead of dick (8 button) etc. The back can be done over the Start/Select button area. The bottom can be full and still use default feet.
Bottom Padding/Feet-
=No padding
=Four small rubber feet
Joystick-
=Sanwa JLF-TP-8YT
Buttons-
=Sanwa OBSF-30 and OBSF-24
PCB-
=Common ground. Easy to dual mod using either PS3 or 360 versions.
=Early version of PS3 TE1 (Round 1 and Round 2) didn’t work on most PCs but not an issue after a dual mod.
=Easy to remove main PCB from base
=Utilizing a quick disconnect terminal strip made the wiring easy and allowed us modders to solder to the points under the terminal strip.
Wiring-
=20 wires in 10 colors (1 signal, 1 ground) plugged into the quick disconnect terminal make it easy and clean
USB Cable-
=Wire and cord compartment
I agree with almost all the above frank…
but almost ALL pcb’s in the Madcatz TE series (2009-2010 revisions) suck. (PS3 not functioning properly on PC, Xbox360 dying buttons)
I love top panel tho : )
I mentioned the PS3 on PC stuff on the post, but that’s not really an issue when you dual mod since you have a 360 board to do the PC work. Never heard of dying buttons on the 360 PCB.
That all makes sense. what do you think Of the SE and brawsticks? ( obviously not the buttons and joystick hahaha). As far as case, wires, pcb? I have found those convinient to mod and have enough metal to make them feel solid. I have never worked on a TE so basically what I’m asking is, does it feel like a larger version of the SE or is the build quality a lot better?
There’s a different feel to the case, but the se/tvc/brawl shell is very solid. I would not at all say that they feel cheaper than a te shell.
Well it feels lighter and the absence of a cable compartment can lead to frayed usb cables if you wrap the cable. The smaller size also makes lap play a lot less comfortable. Only advantage I give the SE over the TE is the depth of the case.
it was a known issue on the 360 TE1s. Roundhouse or the x3 buttons would just die out. plugging it back in sometimes fixes it. i unfortunately had one of those and had to do some weird grounded tricks to fix it permanently. but nonetheless the TE1 is still awesome.
Couple days ago I got my RAP4 Kai and decided to void warranty 5 seconds after opening the box.
From what I’ve seen compared to the DOA5LR, it uses the same PCB, the pins for the analog sticks are right above where the buttons solder in.
Hopefully this is the right place to put these:
Spoiler
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy322/Rudeshadow/Joystick/20150308_112009_zps569onaly.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy322/Rudeshadow/Joystick/20150308_112028_zps6killhom.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy322/Rudeshadow/Joystick/20150308_112100_zpssleoi2tj.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy322/Rudeshadow/Joystick/20150308_112124_zpsh9vi7tpg.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy322/Rudeshadow/Joystick/20150308_112456_zpsjc4kklzc.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy322/Rudeshadow/Joystick/20150308_112556_zpsug6rbdpl.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy322/Rudeshadow/Joystick/20150308_112655_zpstxclleum.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy322/Rudeshadow/Joystick/20150308_112243_zpsgniy0fgw.jpg
http://i804.photobucket.com/albums/yy322/Rudeshadow/Joystick/20150308_112224_zpsso3neds5.jpg
hows the stick feel? cheap or well put together?
Yeah, I prefer the larger size as well, I was just saying that the se doesn’t feel cheap. And I use neutrik pass throughs anyways, so I didn’t think about the cable storage.